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The more I see and hear about the conversation on guns and gun control issues, the more I see that emotion has taken charge. When a Senator says that we should put the National Guard in our schools, I know that she is not thinking, she is reacting emotionally to what has happened. Of course there are also the folks who say that NRA members should be shot, or they are the new KKK, which is patently outrageous, and of course there are also the folks who are saying that all guns should be taken away and no one should have a gun for any reason at all.

Somewhere in the middle of all the rhetoric, is where we need to be. Now let me say this, as a rancher in South Central Texas, just a few miles from the Mexican border and the violence that happens there on a regular basis, when I go out to feed our deer and other animals I go armed. We have had illegal persons caught on our ranch by the border patrol, some were armed some not, but the ones that were armed were smuggling drugs. They were more than willing to exchange bullets with the agents chasing them. The other side of that coin is wild animals that we may run into. Namely wild boar, Mexican Mountain lion, and of course the ubiquitous rattle snakes. So please get real about taking away my guns thank you.

So now that we have established a place where conversation can be held, let us look at what is going on here. A person who, legally could not own a firearm, stole them from his mother, killing her in the process. He then went to the school, shot out a window in order to bypass the security of the locked door, once inside he went to the school office where he killed the women inside, before going to the classroom. He then killed 20 children and their teacher, finally, killing himself.

Had there been just one person in that building who was armed, the picture might very well have been very different. I do not suggest that we put the Army or the National Guard in our schools, nor a police presence per se. What I do suggest is that we have those folks who are retired police/sheriff deputies/military who know about guns and how to safely use them. I would think that at least some of these are also grandparents of young kids and would be glad to volunteer to guard the schools that those children are in, even the schools that other children are in. I know that many teachers do not like or want to handle firearms, I don’t see why they should have to do so if that is their feeling in the matter. I know that I would be glad to volunteer my time one or two days a week to help protect our local schools. Of course you might want us to have an authority to answer to, say the local sheriff or Police Dept.

I think that would solve the problem, while costing next to nothing, you might want to feed us lunch, and of course you want to do a background check to be sure that none of those folks have any problems around children. Of course concealed carry, requires a background check, as does the purchase of a firearm. Let us understand too that we cannot stop people from doing crazy or stupid things, but we can stop them from doing these things in our schools.

One other thing I have heard a great deal about is the gun show loophole, supposedly you don’t have to have a background check if you buy a gun at a gun show. I have purchased guns at gun shows, every time I did I had to give ID and they did a background check on me. It is a requirement if you want to purchase a gun. What do you think about all this? Leave a comment, join the conversation, become a part of the solution, because our politicians seem to thinking emotionally, not logically. The sad part is that as a member of the NRA, I am disappointed in Wayne La Pierre. His statements about placing police persons in the schools, does not take into account the reality of how thinly our Police Departments are already, and the cost of doing so is prohibitive for any Government entity to do. You are talking many millions, if not billions of dollars to accomplish this.

So lets hear what you have to say, thank you for reading this blog of mine, I hope it has been helpful in the midst of a difficult time in our nation.

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