Quote:
Originally Posted by Jazuela
I was shot in the back by a guy with a BB rifle, when I was in high school. We were at a strip-mall parking lot near the school and I was walking back to class after lunch, he and his buddies were also returning, but a little bit behind me.
I never reported it because these were known bullies, and I knew if I reported it and one of the kids got in trouble, the others in the group would have made the next 3 years of high school a living nightmare.
They weren't mentally ill, and they were legally allowed to own the rifles. No one stopped them, no one called the police when they heard the shot (BB guns aren't silent afterall).
The BB lodged around 1/10th inch deep into the flesh under my shoulderblade. If it had gone two inches to the left I would have suffered permanent spinal damage.
He was aiming for my buttocks.
Fast forward to my early marriage years, when I was in my 30's. Beloved spouse had a BB gun but kept it in storage in the condo basement, which was a shared space under the building, each unit separated by chicken-wire walls.
Some kid from the next building broke into the cellar, broke into our unit, and stole the BB gun. He then proceded to go up the hill to another building, and shot through the screen window of a neighbor. The neighbor's infant child was sitting in a high chair at the table near the window.
I do not, have never, and never will approve of guns, for anyone, for any reason. But I acknowledge and appreciate that they are a necessary part of law enforcement and military. I also acknowledge that - especially in today's mess of a society, people need to maintain their right to own and carry guns to protect themselves against a tyrannical government (which is what the 2nd Amendment was written to do in the first place).
|
I get the 2nd Amendment and its well regulated militia. The Founding Fathers studied Roman and English history and knew what could happen under a bad king, emperor or demagogue. They also put a lot of checks-and-balances impacting the armed forces so that an Emperor, King or demagogue in the USA could not get control of the military like what would happen often in the Roman Empire. One year the Roman Empire had four Emperors and each had his own army. Another had five Emperors. And one six.
Year of the Four Emperors - Wikipedia Year of the Five Emperors - Wikipedia
Year of the Six Emperors - Wikipedia
But a group of private citizens taking on the US military in 2019 is very hard to believe. Could have happened in the 1790s I suppose and maybe up through the 1890s but after the machine gun and tank and other even more horrible weapons were made widely used by the military....