Beachcombing

Cousin Gary Stouffer in Newbury Park shared with me the reason why grandpa carried a gun:

Grandpa said to me, “Son, there comes a time in every man’s life when he stops bustin’ knuckles … usually it’s when he becomes too old to take a whipping.

I don’t carry a gun to kill people; I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil; I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government; I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry; I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone; I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man; I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate; I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it; I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Police protection is an oxymoron: Free citizens must protect themselves because police do not protect you from crime; they just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I’m too young to die and too old to take a whoopin’!

Grandpa lived a long and happy life.

Without saying that I do or don’t have a gun, two of my favorite Dirty Harry one liners are “Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” and “Go ahead, make my day.”

The Second Amendment states that as an American citizen, you have the individual right to arm yourself. But when it was established, they had one- and two-shot muskets; they did not have automatic weapons like AK-47s and AR-15s capable of discharging hundreds of ammunition rounds. It is way past time for those weapons of mass destruction to be banned from individual ownership – limited to SWAT and military use.

Guns don’t kill people; wackos kill people. Enact laws that keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill while honoring the Second Amendment. Do this by (1) mandatory background checks, (2) enact red flag laws to keep guns from less-than-sane owners, (3) require “smart gun” technology so that only the owner can use it and (4) make all ammunition traceable to the purchaser.

Why are we running out of money for Social Security and Medicare and not for welfare, illegals and free college? There must be a coin shortage – America is officially out of common sense.

publisher@beachcomber.news