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by Charles Riggs
(reproduced with permission of the author)
Not so long ago and in a pasture too uncomfortably close to here, a flock of sheep lived and grazed. They were protected by a dog, who answered to the master, but despite his best efforts from time to time a nearby pack of wolves would prey upon the flock.
One day a group of sheep, more bold than the rest, met to discuss their dilemma. "Our dog is good, and vigilant, but he is one dog and the wolves are many. The wolves he catches are not always killed, and the master judges and releases many to prey again upon us, for no reason we can understand. What can we do? We are sheep, but we do not wish to be food, too!"
One sheep spoke up, saying "It is his teeth and claws that make the wolf so terrible to us. It is his nature to prey, and he would find any way to do it, but it is the tools he wields that make it possible. If we had such teeth, we could fight back, and stop this savagery." The other sheep clamored in agreement, and they went together to the old bones of the dead wolves heaped in the corner of the pasture, and gathered fang and claw and made them into weapons.
That night, when the wolves came, the newly armed sheep sprang up with their weapons and struck at them and cried "Begone! We are not food!" and drove off the wolves, who were astonished. When did sheep become so bold and so dangerous to wolves? When did sheep grow teeth? It was unthinkable!
The next day, flush with victory and waving their weapons, they approached the flock to pronounce their discovery. But as they drew nigh, the flock huddled together and cried out "Baaaaaaaadddd! Baaaaaddd things! You have bad things! We are afraid! You are not sheep!"
The brave sheep stopped, amazed. "But we are your brethren!" they cried, "We are still sheep, but we do not wish to be food. See, our new teeth and claws protect us and have saved us from slaughter. They do not make us into wolves, they make us equal to the wolves, and safe from their viciousness!"
"Baaaaaaaddd!", cried the flock,"the things are bad and will pervert you, and we fear them. You cannot bring them into the flock. They scare us!". So the armed sheep resolved to conceal their weapons, for although they had no desire to panic the flock, they wished to remain in the fold. But they would not return to those nights of terror, waiting for the wolves to come.
In time, the wolves attacked less often and sought easier prey, for they had no stomach for fighting sheep who possessed tooth and claw even as they did. Not knowing which sheep had fangs and which did not, they came to leave sheep out of their diet almost completely except for the occasional raid, from which more than one wolf did not return. Then came the day when, as the flock grazed beside the stream, one sheep's weapon slipped from the folds of her fleece, and the flock cried out in terror again, "Baaaaaaddddd! You still possess these evil things! We must ban you from our presence!".
And so they did. The great chief sheep and his court and council, encouraged by the words of their moneylenders and advisors, placed signs and totems at the edges of the pasture forbidding the presence of hidden weapons there. The armed sheep protested before the council, saying "It is our pasture, too, and we have never harmed you! When can you say we have caused you hurt? It is the wolves, not we, who prey upon you. We are still sheep, but we are not food!". But the flock would not hear, and drowned them out with cries of "Baaaaaaddd! We will not hear your clever words! You and your things are evil and will harm us!".
Saddened by this rejection, the armed sheep moved off and spent their days on the edges of the flock, trying from time to time to speak with their brethren to convince them of the wisdom of having such teeth, but meeting with little success. They found it hard to talk to those who, upon hearing their words, would roll back their eyes and flee, crying "Baaaaddd! Bad things!".
That night, the wolves happened upon the sheep's totems and signs, and said, "Truly, these sheep are fools! They have told us they have no teeth! Brothers, let us feed!". And they set upon the flock, and horrible was the carnage in the midst of the fold. The dog fought like a demon, and often seemed to be in two places at once, but even he could not halt the slaughter. It was only when the other sheep arrived with their weapons that the wolves fled, vowing to each other to remain on the edge of the pasture and wait for the next time they could prey, for if the sheep were so foolish once, they would be so again. This they did, and do still.
In the morning, the armed sheep spoke to the flock, and said, "See? If the wolves know you have no teeth, they will fall upon you. Why be prey? To be a sheep does not mean to be food for wolves!". But the flock cried out, more feebly for their voices were fewer, though with no less terror, "Baaaaaaaadddd! These things are bad! If they were banished, the wolves would not harm us! Baaaaaaaddd!". The other sheep could only hang their heads and sigh. The flock had forgotten that even they possessed teeth; how else could they graze the grasses of the pasture? It was only those who preyed, like the wolves and jackals, who turned their teeth to evil ends. If you pulled their own fangs those beasts would take another's teeth and claws, perhaps even the broad flat teeth of sheep, and turn them to evil purposes.
The bold sheep knew that the fangs and claws they possessed had not changed them. They still grazed like other sheep, and raised their lambs in the spring, and greeted their friend the dog as he walked among them. But they could not quell the terror of the flock, which rose in them like some ancient dark smoky spirit and could not be damped by reason, nor dispelled by the light of day.
So they resolved to retain their weapons, but to conceal them from the flock; to endure their fear and loathing, and even to protect their brethren if the need arose, until the day the flock learned to understand that as long as there were wolves in the night, sheep would need teeth to repel them.
They would still be sheep, but they would not be food!
America where some people equate an item designed exclusively and expressly for the taking of human life to swimming pools, cars and the plethora of other things all designed for peoples pleasure rather than their death.
It's not the guns fault but the nuts that can far too easily purchase them. You're not allowed to own Abrams tanks or nukes either, ever wonder why?
Keep heading down your road of regression and one day you'll need one of those tanks just to observe your right to "self defense". You'll be much happier then I suspect, regardless if you can carry the thing or not.
Guns were designed to send a projectile in as straight a line as possible over a distance. Who or what the shooter aims it is not the gun's fault. None of my guns have ever taken a human life. A few I inherited have taken the lives of animals.
Guns were designed to send a projectile in as straight a line as possible over a distance. Who or what the shooter aims it is not the gun's fault. None of my guns have ever taken a human life. A few I inherited have taken the lives of animals.
You can own a tank.
When 2A was written, you could, and were encouraged to, own a ship of war. I don't think anything a civilian can own now is as powerful as the ship cannons of the time.
The position of people who still whine for govt "gun control", is that if America isn't 100.00000000% safe, we must make laws forbidding all gunz.
The fact that only law-abiding people will obey those laws, is never considered by the whiners.
I find it strange that significant numbers of killings are occurring by the so-called, law abiding people.
Yep; it takes a real man to carry a weapon and all those who suggest otherwise are "whiners". I remember that tactic being used in public school to describe why some cozied up to the bully in the playground.
You people are confusing as all get-out. Just one wrongful death by a firearm should be one too many but here you are describing them as acceptable losses compared to cars and such.
With a baseball bat?
With a knife
With a gun
With a bomb?
With a police force?
With a drone?
With a military?
With a nuke?
Stop me when you believe we can get beyond crazy people having access to anything with which they can harm you.
Your bifurcated question notwithstanding I am not for limiting anyones personal freedom to protect themselves and their friends and family.
There is a nice phrase in a pop song from the 1980s. " If looks could kill they probably will in games without frontiers, war without tears." I think that there is something very silly about saying that we shouldn't make guns safer or make it easier to solve gun involved crimes by making sure that every firearm has an owner of record who must make sure that the gun is not abused because there are so many ways we can kill others or orselves that we don't control. There is another way I can kill and it is with may bare hands. I can strangle someone or break his or her neck or a powerful punch in the wrong place can also send someone to the pearllie gates. So what are we to do cut off these deadly weapons like Muslims sometimes punish thieves?
So this nut got a gun permit? This is why the entire issue needs a fresh look. Who needs a gun and exactly what did the creators of the Constitution intend with the 2nd amendment? This is a different world than it was all those years ago.
really? the 2nd Amendment is needed now just as much as it was 200+ years ago. with all the freedom robbing laws passed by congress, we need the 2nd Amendment more than less.
Wouldn't you as a responsible gun owner rather not see crazy people armed?
there should be no firearm laws at all, not at the state, local or federal level. don't want a criminal or crazy person to have one, then keep them committed or in prison then.
Guns were designed to send a projectile in as straight a line as possible over a distance. Who or what the shooter aims it is not the gun's fault. None of my guns have ever taken a human life. A few I inherited have taken the lives of animals.
You can own a tank.
Aaah; I beg to differ, not an Abrams or a functioning weapons, tank you can't.
We're not talking hunters here though are we? We're talking about a demographic who desires to carry a weapon for the purpose of defending themselves against their fellow citizens, who could easily be that nutbar ex cop, responsible gun owner, taking umbrage at your cel-phone usage.
keep on keeping on with the proliferation of them and soon you'll be afraid to make eye contact lest you have to perform a quick-draw to protect yourself from another legal gun owner who felt dissed by your casual glance and pulls his because he felt threatened.
Loonie tunes.
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