Sometimes in life you will be met with adversity and may even be discriminated against. Confining any group into a category is ignorant at best and tends to expose a judgmental person’s true demeanor.
Not like it’s new news, but to those that somehow missed the press release, there was a shooting in Norwich a few days ago. As most shootings happen, there was a gun where it should not have been and it was in the hands of someone incapable of controlling their actions. When things like this happen, many people blame the gun instead of considering the fact that we all use deadly weapons daily. An inanimate object is never to blame because the person behind the weapon controls its every action.
Another thing that burns me is how folks discriminate against an entire group of people when the party is composed of less than one percent of bad eggs. Looking into the past can give an entirely new perspective towards a group of people you judge without having done the research.
I’m going to start with a public service announcement; to all the gun owners out there that think it’s a good idea to take a gun to a bar, think again. Guns have their place, but the bar is definitely not one of them. How someone could alter their state of mind with alcohol and think it’s a good idea to even handle a gun is completely beyond me. To take a weapon out at a bar is just plain stupid.
In my world, a gun is just a tool. By having one it doesn’t elevate your status above an unarmed person. In fact, the unarmed gun owner attending the bar is definitely far cooler than the idiot that carries a gun into one. As small town gossip goes, and I’m not 100 percent sure if this information is accurate, that the man accused of attempted murder actually dropped his gun while showing it off, presumably starting the whole incident when another man said to get away from his friends and to put the gun away. This isn’t the first time I have heard of this happening around here, but hope it will be the last. Once again, showing off a gun isn’t cool. It makes you a danger to others and solidifies your status as an idiot.
You may be asking yourself, how does this tie into the outdoors? When I was looking online, I saw people kept using the words “redneck” and “hillbilly” to describe the shooter. This was highly offensive to me and to most outdoor lovers I know. I’m proud to be a hillbilly or redneck, whichever derogatory name you choose to use. You see, one of the reasons I stay in the woods and on the water is to separate myself from people that would use such terminology. They are the kind of folks my ancestors died for to ensure our freedom.
When the American Revolution took place, it was the country or minutemen that saved our butts. They are now called hillbillies and rednecks, but let me assure you that nothing has changed. If it all goes down in this country again, who do you think will put their lives on the line for others? You guessed it. It will be us rednecks and hillbillies. We are the ones with the guns, the ability to accurately use them, coupled with the instincts and know how to get in and out unseen.
