I wrote this article over a year ago and submitted it to and was published by the "Tennessee Patriot", a quarterly publication, in it's July 2010 edition. I hope it gives all TEA Party Patriots food for thought.
One of the anti-gunners favorite arguments against open carrying (OC) of handguns is
that society will revert back to the old ways of the Wild West, with daily gunfights in the
streets. Heeeelllloooo, do we not already have such events in parts of the country, now?
Gang bangers and drug dealers shooting it out in the streets in turf wars and such already
inundate many large cities. And the crazy thing is that this activity goes on in areas with
the tightest gun restrictions in the nation. Now I find it hard to believe that these antigunners
are so stupid that they haven’t figured out by now that the criminals don’t obey
gun laws. (There’s a reason why they’re called “OUTLAWS”).
The thing is, back in the days of the OLD West; there simply weren’t that many
gunfights in the streets. The stories of such activities were greatly exaggerated by novelist
that needed something exciting to write about that would sell back east. To add to the
distortion of history Hollywood later continued to sensationalize the exploits of various
legendary lawmen, outlaws, and assorted gunslingers. How many ways has the “Gun fight
at the OK Corral” been told? In some of the latest movies, the gun battles are spread
around a livery stable and nearby corral and last around 5 to 10 minutes. In actuality, it
took place in a small dead end alley and was probably over in about 30 seconds after the
first shot was fired. Yes, many of the stories of the old west were terribly exaggerated,
while others were totally made up fiction. If the novel writers had written the truth about
the Old West, they probably wouldn’t have made enough money to buy a train ticket back
east.
And gunfights weren’t something they wanted to get into, willy-nilly. Back then, one
could die from a gunshot wound that today would be considered minor. The skills of the
medical profession weren’t near as advance as they are today. There was no blood bank to
replace what you lost from a wound, Surgery was primitive at best, and infections from
wounds were common as well as often fatal. No, I don’t think shootouts in the streets
were a popular past time.
No, I don’t believe that the anti-gunners are afraid of gunfights in the streets. I think
it’s something else. There was something else about life in the Old West that they dread
like the plague. Something that they cannot control or fight back against. Something that
we rarely see these days in modern society, and the anti-gunners want to keep it that way.
At least the folks that started the whole anti-gun movement don’t want the Old West
ways to return. And these people would be the utopian Marxist who have been pushing
hard for a totalitarian nanny state. Disarming the masses is very important to the cause,
but it’s not what they really fear.
What is it about the Old West Ways that has the anti-gunners and their puppet masters
shorts in a wad? It’s the attitude and character of the people that settled the West during
the 1800’s. The same attitude that led all pioneers of this country to move West as the
Eastern part of the country became more populated. The early pioneers were independent,
resourceful, self-reliant, and full of grit. They had to be! Because they were literally on
their own as they ventured Westward into the wilderness of the Great Plains. They had
little, if any support when they had problems. A family’s nearest neighbor might be 5 or
10 miles away; the nearest settlement or town could be 20 or 30 miles away. That’s a 2-
day trip, one way by horse drawn wagon. (One day on Horseback) There were no grocery
stores so they had to grow their own food and/or hunt it. What ever they needed to work
with they made themselves. Government did little for these people, but that was all right.
They didn’t want governments help, otherwise they might have stayed back east.
The early pioneers that settled the Old West were a tough and rugged lot. They had to
be to survive. The weak didn’t fare so well, many died. Life in the Western Wilderness
was harsh at times and these people that made the decision to brave the rigors of it needed
courage and perseverance to make a go of it. There were no “Welfare” programs back in
those days. No social safety nets for the slackers of society to depend on. If you didn’t
want to work….you didn’t eat. It was that simple.
I think we would be hard pressed to find that kind of independent, self-reliant,
resourcefulness in large quantity these days. It seems that our people have come to
depend too much on government to do for us what we should be doing for ourselves. The
puppet masters of the anti-gunners want to keep it this way. Should the people of the
country start to re-adopt the same independent spirit of the early settlers of the Old West,
those that believe government is the end all of societies ills would be horrified. Their hold
on power over the people would dwindle quickly. The weaker, dependant citizens among
us would have to start fending for themselves, and they don’t want to. In the days of the
Old West, these would have been the people that would have perished quickly, either
from their lack of resourcefulness to make their own way or by the hands of those they
tried to steal from.
No! It’s not so much the return of gunfights in the streets they fear. It’s the
independent, self-reliant, resourceful, and gritty spirit of the pioneers that settled this
country that they don’t want to see return. And having an armed population of such
character is something they can’t control. That would be a fate worse than death to the
power hungry Marxist puppet masters, and their anti-gun followers.
There are still many of us that don’t want the government to do anything for us,
except get out of the way. We don’t want “guvment” to be telling us what to do, when to
do, or how to do. We believe we can figure that out for ourselves, and probably better,
Thank you very much!
So what if this country starts looking like the “Old Wild West” again, with most
citizens carrying side arms on their belts. It worked well in the past; it can work just fine
now. The criminals and power hungry politicians may not like it, but oh well. And if the
independent spirit of the people of that period were to come to life again in present day
society, so much the better. To those that fret about the return of “the Old Wild West
Days” I say SUCK IT UP! Bring on those Good Old “Wild West” Ways!
