Balog
April 26, 2004, 01:33 AM
I recently submitted the following article to S.W.A.T. magazine. Although it was rejected (very kindly, I might add), I hope to be able to improve it to the point that it will be accepted for publication in another periodical. To that end, I post it here for the enlightened literary criticism of my fellow High Roaders. Flame away, I need all the help I can get. :p
One of the most pervasive bits of discrimination in today’s culture is aimed at a surprisingly diverse group: gun-owners. The mainstream media goes out of it’s way to portray those of us who choose to exercise our God-given, Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms as illiterate trailer trash who have wet dreams about killing Bambi’s mom and want to join the Ku Klux Klan but can’t afford clean sheets. As incredible as it may seem to our more logical readers, a common assumption is that mere possession of an inanimate object is proof of the owner’s social status and political viewpoint. This is akin to the idea that everyone who rides a Harley Davidson is a “Hell’s Angel”.
This ignorant and biased attitude should come as no surprise to students of our great nation’s labyrinthine gun laws, whose origins are deliberately ignored by the bigots who are trying so hard to disarm the law-abiding citizen. Just like requiring poll taxes and literacy tests to vote, CCW permits and “Saturday Night Special” laws are perfect examples of legislation designed to put a “reasonable” façade on the chilling of liberty for a select group. Personally, I find it highly amusing to imagine one of the anti-freedom race-baiters who occupy so many governmental offices attempting to explain their support of laws whose very name came from combining the terms “Suicide Special” and “****** Town Saturday Night”. However, the results of these embarrassing remnants of Jim Crow are no laughing matter. Both my wife and myself can attest to this sad fact from experience.
Growing up as the brown-skinned descendant of a legal Mexican immigrant, my wife experienced more than her share of racial harassment. Although she had confided to me that this had occasionally gone beyond mere name-calling, I was unprepared for the harsh fact that having the “wrong” skin color (or dating someone who does) can still get you into a world of trouble.
It was a balmy spring day and I was running a few errands with my wife, who I had just started dating. Sitting at a stoplight, I was in a blissful daze until a lowered Chevy S-10 came screeching to a halt in the lane to my left. With a cursory glance into its cab, I took in five white men in their late teens or early twenties, all with shaved heads. Now, I’m not one to jump to conclusions; after all, I am a white male in my early twenties who has had a few “high and tight” haircuts. Regardless, my heart skipped a beat when my gaze shifted to the bumper and I noticed a bumper sticker bearing an emblem of the Waffen SS. It was around this time that they took notice of us. Blocked in on all sides by the heavy afternoon traffic, I could only watch in alarm as the goblins alternated between staring at my wife and talking excitedly amongst themselves. Just as they were opening the passenger door and reversing to draw even with my door, the light changed, the car in front of me pulled away, and I drove off right on his bumper.
I don’t know if having a pistol with me would have given me victory of five young, strong opponents should the light have taken longer to change. I do know that every reliable source of information on the use of force in self-defense says that merely producing a gun would have most likely sent them running without a shot being fired.
I also know that it is the very same racist laws designed to render newly freed black slaves defenseless that are now today placing millions of honest citizens of all colors at the mercy of violent predators. However, all is not lost! While the night has been long, the light of reason is beginning to break through at the state level. Thirty-three states have non-discriminatory “shall issue” concealed carry permits. Two states, Alaska and Vermont, don’t even require the citizen to beg the government for permission first. It’s far past time for the millions of responsible gun-owners to claim our rightful spot at the front of the bus.
One of the most pervasive bits of discrimination in today’s culture is aimed at a surprisingly diverse group: gun-owners. The mainstream media goes out of it’s way to portray those of us who choose to exercise our God-given, Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms as illiterate trailer trash who have wet dreams about killing Bambi’s mom and want to join the Ku Klux Klan but can’t afford clean sheets. As incredible as it may seem to our more logical readers, a common assumption is that mere possession of an inanimate object is proof of the owner’s social status and political viewpoint. This is akin to the idea that everyone who rides a Harley Davidson is a “Hell’s Angel”.
This ignorant and biased attitude should come as no surprise to students of our great nation’s labyrinthine gun laws, whose origins are deliberately ignored by the bigots who are trying so hard to disarm the law-abiding citizen. Just like requiring poll taxes and literacy tests to vote, CCW permits and “Saturday Night Special” laws are perfect examples of legislation designed to put a “reasonable” façade on the chilling of liberty for a select group. Personally, I find it highly amusing to imagine one of the anti-freedom race-baiters who occupy so many governmental offices attempting to explain their support of laws whose very name came from combining the terms “Suicide Special” and “****** Town Saturday Night”. However, the results of these embarrassing remnants of Jim Crow are no laughing matter. Both my wife and myself can attest to this sad fact from experience.
Growing up as the brown-skinned descendant of a legal Mexican immigrant, my wife experienced more than her share of racial harassment. Although she had confided to me that this had occasionally gone beyond mere name-calling, I was unprepared for the harsh fact that having the “wrong” skin color (or dating someone who does) can still get you into a world of trouble.
It was a balmy spring day and I was running a few errands with my wife, who I had just started dating. Sitting at a stoplight, I was in a blissful daze until a lowered Chevy S-10 came screeching to a halt in the lane to my left. With a cursory glance into its cab, I took in five white men in their late teens or early twenties, all with shaved heads. Now, I’m not one to jump to conclusions; after all, I am a white male in my early twenties who has had a few “high and tight” haircuts. Regardless, my heart skipped a beat when my gaze shifted to the bumper and I noticed a bumper sticker bearing an emblem of the Waffen SS. It was around this time that they took notice of us. Blocked in on all sides by the heavy afternoon traffic, I could only watch in alarm as the goblins alternated between staring at my wife and talking excitedly amongst themselves. Just as they were opening the passenger door and reversing to draw even with my door, the light changed, the car in front of me pulled away, and I drove off right on his bumper.
I don’t know if having a pistol with me would have given me victory of five young, strong opponents should the light have taken longer to change. I do know that every reliable source of information on the use of force in self-defense says that merely producing a gun would have most likely sent them running without a shot being fired.
I also know that it is the very same racist laws designed to render newly freed black slaves defenseless that are now today placing millions of honest citizens of all colors at the mercy of violent predators. However, all is not lost! While the night has been long, the light of reason is beginning to break through at the state level. Thirty-three states have non-discriminatory “shall issue” concealed carry permits. Two states, Alaska and Vermont, don’t even require the citizen to beg the government for permission first. It’s far past time for the millions of responsible gun-owners to claim our rightful spot at the front of the bus.