Children and Guns—Part I

This is part of a four-part blog series addressing Children and Guns. Part I – want to ensure your kid never commits a crime? Give him a gun. Part II addresses myths of gun safety – what you must know in order to truly protect your children. Part III addresses when it is safe to educate your child on firearms. Part IV explores what’s really responsible for the death of our nation’s children. If you enjoy what you read, please comment and share on your blog or Twitter. Thank you.

I have been shooting firearms for about 8 years now. As a woman who’s convinced this is the best method of self-defense, I regularly communicate with other women on this topic and frequently hear 3 primary reasons why women are fearful of owning a firearm. The most common reason is the safety of their children. Rather than seeing a firearm as a method of defending their children, they see it as a willful danger that they bring TO their children. Rather than simply telling them that such wasn’t the case and they were simply falling for the mainstream media story of the day, I decided to do some very, very specific research on what really happens in this nation when it comes to children being around guns. Frankly, my research astounded even me. So much so that while I intended to write one article about it, I realized that there was far too much information to cover in just one. So I’m breaking it up into a 4 part series as follows:

Part I—Want to Ensure Your Kid Never Commits a Gun Crime? GIVE Him a Gun.
Part II—The Myth of Gun Safety. What you must know in order to truly protect your children.
Part III—When is it Safe to Educate Your Children on Guns?
Part IV—What’s Really Responsible for the Deaths of Our Nation’s Children?

Part I—Ensure your child never commits a gun crime by actually giving him a gun? Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Of course you would NEVER hear the media spout off such a statement, but in a GOVERNMENT study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention revealed the following bit of valuable information.

Fact: Children who get guns from their parents don't commit gun crimes (0 percent) while children who get guns illegally are quite likely to do so (21 percent).

Fact: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to commit any kind of street crime (14 percent) than children who have no gun in the house (24 percent) – and are dramatically less likely to do so than children who acquire an illegal gun (74 percent.)

Fact: Children who get guns from parents are less likely to use banned drugs (13 percent) than children who get illegal guns (41 percent.)

Fact: Boys who own legal firearms have much lower rates of delinquency and drug use (than boys who own illegal guns) and are even slightly less delinquent than non-owners of guns.

This study covered a period of 3 years (1993-1995).

When you take the mystery out of a gun, you take the mischief out of the child.

Presenting a firearm in an appropriate manner, as a tool of critical self-defense, along with the appropriate safety rules, means that you don’t have to worry so much about your life being turned upside down by your child living a life of a gang-banger criminal. Why? Legal gun owners tend to take their right of owning a gun very seriously. As such, they do not want to do anything that will compromise that right. They are typically a very law-abiding people. Bringing your child into that culture will enable them to associate with other like-minded, law-abiding people that you can count on being an example to them even when you’re not around.

Now, let’s talk about the other aspect of gun ownership… a sound knowledge of appropriate safety rules. Whether your child has a gun or not, this should be taught to them ad nauseam until they truly get it. Every single “accidental shooting” that has EVER occurred has done so as a result of a violation of one of these gun safety rules.

First rule: Always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction.
Second Rule: Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
Third Rule: Always treat a firearm as if it is loaded
Fourth Rule: Always protect your firearm from unauthorized use.

Learn for yourself and teach these rules to the children in your life to ensure their safety and to foster a respect for firearms. It is also important that you teach these rules in this particular order as well. One leads to the other.

Stay tuned for Children and Guns – Part II.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Do You Have Enough Ammo to Last You 4 Years?

3/18/09 Update: While we're ecstatic to hear that the NRA-ILA and a couple of good politicians have rectified this wrong, there's still merit to this particular blog below in showing just how vulnerable we are to the minds and wills of a select few.

I would suspect that there are very few readers who do. And that’s a huge problem with the latest twist in the government soap opera.

As you may know, Obama previously proposed as a Senator that ammunition would receive a 500% tax hike. He did so as a crafty way to essentially take away our guns. Obviously, without ammunition, gun owners had better get good at throwing our firearms at an assailant or using them as batons without ammo. You and I both know that with his penchant for taxing the American people worse than any president ever (even through the liability of his spending packages), he’s not likely to get past a deaf and moot Congress this proposal for a 500% tax hike on ammo. So what does he do? Nothing. He doesn’t have to do anything because his Secretary of State is interpreting a Department of Defense directive to favor this new administration’s distaste for guns. And it’s done without Congress having any say in it. As of June 11, 2008, the Department of Defense is to no longer allow the military to sell fired casings to ammunition remanufacturers until they have been “mutilated”, aka shredded into scrap brass.

Let’s break this down a little bit.

In order for you to shoot, you have to have ammo. Duh, right? Bear with me here. When you practice shooting, you will typically use remanufactured ammunition because it’s less expensive. For example, 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammo (115 grain) which is remanufactured costs $207, while new ammo, 9mm (115 grain) costs $269 at a bargain price. So the savings can be substantial. The key to the pricing advantage of remanufactured ammunition is that the remanufacturers are able to buy their once-fired casings primarily from the military. As you can imagine, the military uses a LOT of ammo and due to their rules they can only use new ammo. This makes them an ideal source from which to purchase used casings. However, now that the DOD has determined that they are only permitted to sell their ammo casings AFTER they have been shredded, this means a whole lot to your wallet.

1) Yes, the “remanufactured” ammo will be more expensive (as if the past year of price increases haven’t been bad enough.) The reason being is now there is an extra step in the process in order for the remanufacturers to have foundries turn the shredded brass (and other metals) into the casings they need. The reason why I put the “remanufactured” in quotation marks is that it’s doubtful to me that the new product should be called “remanufactured” as opposed to new since this additional process entails what new-ammo manufacturers have to do to produce their ammo.

2) Your tax dollars now pay for the shredding of the casings which the military will now perform on all of their casings prior to selling it.

3) The remanufactured ammo represents approximately 65-75% of the ammunition market among civilians AND law enforcement. Law enforcement regularly uses remanufactured ammo for their target practices. Thus, now law enforcement is paying a higher price either for the remanufactured ammo, or a higher price to buy new ammo. Guess whose tax dollars pay for that?

4) Due to the interpretation of this DOD directive, there are a great deal of ammunition remanufacturers who will have to lay off a sizeable portion of their employees. Hello, unemployment. Hello, extra foreclosures. Hello, extra bankruptcies.

5) This all presumes that since the casings are being shredded they will still be sold to the remanufacturers. This is doubtful as China is the largest buyer of such metals from us in its shredded condition. Don’t think for a second that they won’t get first crack at buying this shredded brass. After all, we owe them for buying up so much of our debt, right? This means that we may have put out of business ALL of the remanufacturers in the U.S. with this one strategic directive. If the remanufacturers go out of business, then we have the small number of new-ammo manufacturers to provide all the rest of us with ammo. And the military gets first shot in front of any buyer to obtain their ammo. Now think about this economically. You have what used to represent about a third of the ammo sales in the U.S. and now they are the primary source to handle nearly all of the ammo manufacturing. That’s called a serious supply-and-demand problem. If you talk to anyone who buys ammo, you will undoubtedly hear stories of empty shelves, and hard-to-find ammo. Are you starting to see why ammo is so hard to obtain now and why prices have increased substantially? Expect an even greater supply-and-demand imbalance as the dominos continue to fall, folks.

So why do I ask if you have enough ammo for 4 years? Because if you don’t, that situation is not likely to change unless this administration reigns-in how the directive is being interpreted, or an administration change occurs four years from now. It won’t matter how much money you have. You simply won’t be able to buy enough with the military standing in line in front of you. NOW some of you may know why I predicted that there would come a time when a bucket of ammo would be worth more than a bucket of gold…on so many levels. (see http://www.preparednesspro.wordpress.com/)

Clearly the economists who thought this one through are on the same team as those who are running Wall Street and are devoid of much in the form of patriotism or intellect.

See the link below the draft of this directive.
www.dla.mil/j-6/dlmso/Archives/JSACG/meetings/11Jun08/ADC_220_Small%20ArmsDefinition_DRAFT_JSACG_11June2008.doc

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Why This Woman Carries a Firearm

This is a derivation of a very well written piece by “Syd” on a fellow blog. I felt that it was very indicative of many of the reasons why sensible people do carry a firearm, but I felt that it needed some insight spiced with a tad bit of estrogen. :)

I carry a firearm to ensure my children are educated about firearm safety so they never become the victims of some other child’s (or adult’s) ignorance. I know that the best way to teach a child about firearm safety is to remove the air of mystery from it and truly educate them about the “when’s” “why’s” and “how’s” of a firearm. I know that if I am not educated on the use of a firearm then, should I come across one in the hands of a child, my ignorance may add to a dangerous situation instead of eliminating it.

I carry a firearm because I know what looks good on me—confidence. Possessing the ability to defend one’s self has an amazing affect on confidence. The opposite of confidence is fear. I’ve discovered that fear masks a great deal of my wonderful attributes, such as kindness, love, and charity. When I’m more confident, I’m a much better person to share with everyone else in my life.

I carry a firearm because I don’t trust my “gift of the gab.” As great as I am at talking to complete strangers in ideal circumstances, it’s unlikely to do me any good against someone intent on causing me harm. However, there is a great deal of research that says a firearm is a much stronger negotiator than I could ever hope to be.

I carry a firearm because I am a mother (or an aunt, grandmother, sister)—a calling which I take very seriously. As a mother I have no other more critical responsibility than to take care of myself AND those entrusted in my care. Should something threaten to eliminate me from this earth and my influence upon my children, or threaten to remove them from my arms of love, I am sufficiently armed and adept to ensure this does not happen. If some harm does come to my children, it will not be because I could not overcome my own fears or foolish prejudices. I cannot stop everything awful from happening to them, but I can ensure that I am the best prepared to stop most. Only then are my hands clean before my Maker, knowing that I truly did my best to protect them. In doing so, not only do I raise my children well, but I give them a chance to do the same with their own families.

I carry a firearm to help the nation I live and raise my family in to be strong and secure. Protection of a nation begins with protection of an individual. What good is sending my husband, father, brother or son off to fight in a war—whether in a foreign nation or within our cities—if I’m not willing to do my part to protect our nation as well? This nation is strong only because of our freedom. I carry a firearm to ensure I keep my freedom should someone else attempt to usurp it.

I carry a firearm because I know my physical limits. While I may run the equivalent of several miles every day and work out regularly to strengthen my muscles, none of this prepares me sufficiently for a violent encounter. Whether I like it or not, the prospect of a 6’4”, 280-pound, drug-crazed criminal acting against my freedom is realistic. A good right hook or kick to the groin, however well planted it may be, may just be the provocation my assailant needs to kill me. That’s unacceptable—unacceptable that the criminal’s actions against me could eliminate my freedom to live. I’m not willing to gamble with the use of weaker forms of defense. A firearm may be exactly what I need to stop the assailant because I fight back to win unequivocally, not to wonder if I have done enough.

I carry a firearm because I prefer my close encounters to be for love, not fighting. I prefer to never have to remember the alcohol and drug-induced breath, or the color or rage in the assailant’s eyes, or the feel of his powerful fists against my head. Instead I prefer to let the bullet do the fighting for me. I believe I will be much more stable after such an encounter.

I carry a firearm because I hate waiting and wondering. Given the number of police officers who work in any community at any given time, I know that the number of criminal offenses out-number law enforcement an average of 10 to 1. Only after I’ve done my part to ensure my safety do I wait on 911, instead of relegating my safety to the unlikely odds that someone else can defend me in my time of need.

I carry a firearm because I am an independent woman, not a statistic. I refuse to be weak, afraid, and naïve and insist on mastering my domain by asserting my time and talents to take responsibility for my own safety and peace of mind. Too many women are statistics of crime rather then examples of strength. The only one that can stop this false impression from perpetuating further is me.

I carry a firearm because as a woman, I’m all about being prepared. That’s the reason why I never let my gas tank go down below half, never open the door to someone I don’t know, and I never give out my credit card number to someone I didn’t call… just in case. If you were to look in my purse you would see band-aids (just in case) lipstick, face powder, hair brush, and hair spray (even though I leave my home properly made up... it’s just in case), more cash that I would ever think to use in a day (just in case), a fuel credit card because I don’t believe in using credit… just in case… and a small sewing kit with safety pins… just in case. Suffice it to say that I rarely use my “just in case” items, but I sure hate being without them when I need them. If you were to delve further into my handbag you would also find a knife, an Asp, red-dyed pepper spray and a firearm with a spare magazine. You guessed it…just in case.

I carry a firearm because as a woman I have the privilege of giving life. That’s right. I don’t carry a gun to take life, but to ensure that it’s fully given to those who choose to live.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

News Flash

This is simply one of those things I just can't keep to myself. While it does involve a bit of “she said, she said” I still believe it’s credible and wanted to pass it along to all of you. As a forewarning, this issue may be considered disturbing by many, so you may want to wait to read this message on a blasé day.

Yesterday, (March 11, 2009) I went to get my nails done. As soon as I walked in, Heather, the gal who has done my nails for nearly three years, got a call on her cell. Seeing Heather regularly over the last couple of years has allowed me to meet and come to know her family and even friends of the family. When Heather looked who was calling, she noticed it was her daughter, then apologized to me for the delay and took the call, while she readied herself for our appointment. As I waited patiently, I could easily hear her side of the conversation.

“What?!
“When?!
“Are you SERIOUS?!
“Why isn’t this on the news here?!
“OK. Just calm down. There’s nothing we can do about it from here. I’m so sorry!
“No. It’s not even on the news here. I’ve seen no coverage of this.”

The conversation was brief, but clearly disturbing. When she got off the phone she shared the conversation with me. Keep in mind that after three years of doing business with her, Heather knows me and my firm beliefs. (After all, what else is there to do while you’re getting your nails done but talk, right?)

The Story the News is Not Telling You DOES Affect Your Life

Heather's daughter’s best friend is from Mexico, who I’ve met on several occasions at Heather’s. Part of her family is here legally in the U.S. while a great many more are in Mexico. Apparently her Mexican friend had just recently spoken with her family in Mexico. They conveyed to her some atrocious facts that have serious bearing here in the U.S. Heather’s daughter was clearly shaken up by a recent conversation she had with her Mexican friend which was relayed to Heather.

The drug cartel are attempting to take over the Mexican government…all of it. They are on the run throughout parts of the country and are intent on their design, senselessly killing Mexican citizens in their wake. Entire small cities have been completely abandoned as many have left their homes and fled in hopes to find safety from the power-crazed drug cartel. Along the path of flight from these cities are piles of decapitated bodies.

Here are some of the ramifications of these atrocities. As you know, illegal immigrants have become more flagrant in their attempts to enter our nation. With the drug cartel's actions to compel them, obviously fear will spread throughout areas of Mexico. Our borders are not prepared to handle or defend against a mass exodus of fearful Mexican citizens. If sufficient communication is conducted between the U.S. and Mexico government officials prior to a completed coup, I suspect that our nation may even intend to permit a massive flight of Mexican citizens across our borders. If that were the case, how do we differentiate between the innocent citizens trying to flee for safety, albeit illegally, and the blood-thirsty members of the drug cartel? If the cartel successfully takes over the Mexican government, what kind of international neighbor will we have on our hands? I don’t know about you, but it makes me very concerned to think we may have a tyrant for a next door neighbor who has committed Nazi-like atrocities on its own citizens.

While I was able to find one piece of news on the 11th of March about the “improving drug cartel crack down in Mexico,” the article stated that “90 percent of the killings in Mexico are drug related.” This would have you believe that only “bad guys” are being killed. Bad guys, even in Mexico, don’t get decapitated by officials, folks, and they certainly aren’t left in piles on deserted city streets. This is certainly NOT the report being conveyed by citizens of Mexico seeing it first-hand. Innocent citizens in the vicinity of the attempted coup efforts are indeed suffering heinous deaths. These violent gangs are apparently increasing in their level of–and demographic spread of—sheer violence. In Arizona, kidnappings at the hands of Mexican drug cartel members have increased significantly in the first part of this year along with the number of all-out assaults on the U.S. border. In Mexico, reports show that twice as many deaths have already occurred in the first 8 weeks of 2009, compared to the same time last year, with over 1,000 deaths reported. Some of the decapitations are reported in the cities on the U.S. / Mexican border like Tijuana and Juarez and surrounding cities. A small online newspaper reports that a note attached to a pile of decapitated bodies said, “For each one of mine you kill, I will kill 10 of your soldiers.” The beheadings were also accompanied by serious mutilation of the bodies.

Considering that Mexico has an agreement (albeit highly unconstitutional) with the U.S. government to use Mexican forces on American soil to aid in anticipated massive civil unrest and the event of the declaration of martial law, this is even more frightening in my opinion. These “aiding military” members could be corrupted officials by the drug cartel, or could be the cartel members personally.

I’m also concerned about a potential mass exodus (illegal or not) and an escalation of violence in our neighborhoods here as a result. At present, over 60% of all violent crimes are committed in the U.S. at the hands of illegal immigrants. Over 90% of all criminal shootings throughout our nation are committed with a weapon illegally imported into our nation from Mexico!

Over 90% of the cocaine in the U.S. comes from the Mexican drug cartel. 90%! This means that the drug cartel has been alive and well within our own borders for some time, and with the financial pinch they are feeling from heightened attempted crack-downs by their government—as indicated by fighting in a never-before-seen manner in Mexico—you have to believe it’s going to affect you here as well. The drug cartel is clearly becoming more desperate and brazen.

So, what is my point in telling you all of this? It is not to make you afraid. It is to make you aware and thoughtful of the consequences of the violence in Mexico and its effect within America. A crisis of significant proportions can be at our doors much sooner than you think. So here’s the question: are you ready for it? Do you have appropriate food, water, and medical supplies should your normal way of life be interrupted by chaos or other unexpected events? And most importantly—DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF? If you have martial arts training, great, but that’s simply not going to help you in a street fight or a violent domestic break in. Women especially, since they are the top of a criminal’s list of easy targets, MUST learn how to protect themselves and not rely on someone else to do so. That requires women to become familiar and skillful in the use of a firearm. Such a tool is the only appropriate equalizer against the level of violence that the Mexican drug cartel is willing to wield to get what they want. Your peace of mind and safety can no longer afford to be the result of your perceived environment. It is the result of the environment of safety you proactively create for yourself. If you have not fortified that environment with the skills and mindset that will better protect you, then you will not have the peace of mind you seek. Simply having fired a gun out in the field or on a gun range doesn’t cut it either. It’s important that you take the acquisition of such a skill just as seriously as you would a babysitter for your children. Get expert training that you can use in a real-life situation which will undoubtedly involve an emotionally climatic situation. Contrary to some common notions, preparing yourself to fight such a battle doesn’t give you nightmares; it gives you peace—peace, knowing that if the time did come for you to use such skills, you’re going to know exactly what to do and how to do it in order to protect you, your family, and, if necessary, your community.

To your peace and safety,

Kellene Bishop

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

Media Hype or Firearm Facts—You Decide

Fact: 100% of ALL firearm “accidents” occur as a result of someone violating one of the four most critical safety rules in the ownership and use of a firearm. Firearms don’t kill people as the media would have us believe, any more than pencils are responsible for making spelling mistakes. Your ability to STOP an firearm accident is strengthened by your knowledge of a firearm. In contrast, if you are not familiar with the workings of a firearm, you may actually encourage a deadly accident if you encounter one in the hands of an unauthorized person. That said, why don’t we ever hear a news report that says something like “There are over 80,000,000 gun owners in the nation today, and only 5 accidents were caused as the result of error on the part of the gun owner”?

Fact: Every person in the U.S. has the right to defend themselves, their family, and their property. Fit or fat. Blonde or brunette. When a drug-crazed criminal has a gun point at you, your political affiliations do not lessen the impact on your body or your mind. A bullet will sufficiently kill you regardless of whether you voted for McCain or Obama. So how you supposed to fight back under such circumstances?

Fact: According to FBI statistics, over 5,500 violent crimes are PREVENTED EVERY DAY by the mere presence of a firearm. So why are our newspapers and television screens only reporting the horrific scenes of crime and bloodshed at the hands of “crazed gunmen”? All we ever hear about are the terrible and criminal uses of firearms – school shootings, gunmen clipping off innocent bystanders one by one in a mall or a neighborhood, or gangs who murder and plunder with guns. Why aren’t we being given a clear picture of the use and importance of firearms in America? Why aren’t we hearing the real stories from the media – like the 83-year-old woman who shot a would-be rapist in her home. Or the woman who was raped, then given a rifle by a friend, and when the rapist RETURNED to her home she was able to defend herself and killed the rapist. Or about the female convenience store employee that was able to save her fellow co-workers from abominable acts at the hand of a robber by grabbing for the gun, and shot him. Or when a concealed-carry permit holder was able to thwart a massive shootout between police and a liquor store robber because he was willing to draw his gun and shoot the body-armored gunman squarely in the skull. Violent crime rates have fallen dramatically in right-to-carry states.

Why do we only hear about the terrible encounters with firearms? Because blood and sex sells. And it can’t simply be just anybody’s blood. No, it needs to be the blood of an innocent person, not a violent criminal. Yes, the so-called education of the facts of gun use for self-defense in America is being steered by money and mindless sheep, plain and simple.

Why aren’t we hearing about the real firearm stories from the media? Follow the same money that goes abundantly to the media and you will see that many members of our government fear the legal possession of guns by its citizens. Why? Because the government have committed acts in violation of the U.S. Constitution and thus have reason to fear reprisals from its citizens. The majority of the media act as mindless minions to our government. And since the government has trampled mercilessly on the freedoms and liberties guaranteed to us through the U.S. Constitution, left to their own designs with no accountability required from the media, it is clear that the media is a willing accomplice in these acts. Violation after violation have occurred at the hands of each administration that have stripped many of our Constitutional freedoms in a clandestine manner, and yet the media and entertainment industry have failed to produce any headline which even questions such acts. Do the media even know what’s it like to actually be courageous Americans anymore? Or do they merely write about it in hopes that it earns them lauds of glory from their peers?

Fact: Having a firearm and knowing how to use it does not make you a violent person. In fact, you will find that responsible gun owners are peaceful, law abiding individuals because they are able to function without fear hanging over them. Yet firearm owners are never portrayed such an image in the national news.

Instead we hear the irresponsible and oppressive mantra of, “Don’t resist.” “Don’t fight back.” “Just give them the money, it’s not worth your life.” What they forget it that while money may not be worth your life, the freedom to be free IS worth your life. Ironically, what Thomas Paine and his associates did to the king of England to protect free speech (particularly of the media) is actually being used to give us a false education and thus strip us of other freedoms because of the false and criminalized picture of gun owners that we are confronted with every day.

According to Thomas Jefferson, history has proven time and time again before us, the ability of the citizens to arm themselves is what ensures protection against a “tyrannical government.”

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
(Thomas Jefferson Papers p. 334, 1950)

You see, not only can this type of “preservation of property” give you peace in your ability to defend yourself against violent acts, but it also gives you peace in defending your nation against the loss of freedoms as well.

"Forty years ago, when the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great
Britain, the British Parliament was advised… to disarm the people; that it was
the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it
openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and
neglecting the militia…” (In Virginia’s Ratifying Convention, Elliot
p.3:379-380)

“The militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in
other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless - by
disarming them.” (Elliot, p. 3:379-80)

The men and women of America are not only the sole stewards over their own lives and that of their families – they are also the sole guardians of the Constitution. In the ultimate act of freedom, specifically for the women of our nation, I say that we must take on a more proactive stance in order to fulfill our roles appropriately. With the increasing numbers of women raising families single-handedly, the extended hours our husbands are forced to work to sustain us, the increasing threat of brazen crimes being committed against women and children in broad daylight, the consistent attacks which are made on our freedom, for all of these reasons, women need to become informed and skilled in the use of a firearm—not just in matters of self-defense use and safety, but also as a Constitutional right. We cannot relinquish our safety, our lives, or our freedom to the hands of strangers who may or may not be available to defend us when the need arises. We must take this responsibility for ourselves. After all, when all of our liberties are gone, there will be nothing left to protect.

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.