All in the Family

History of the Second Amendment

The Second Amendment provides U.S. citizens the right to bear arms. Ratified in December 1791, the amendment says:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Guns have been in my family for as long as I can remember. My Grandfather, my Grandmother, my father and all 4 of my uncles, all shot firearms. My family hails from the American West, New Mexico to be exact. Lots of land, nothing much to do but explore and shoot guns. My Grandmother Anne and Grandfather Lloyd were the proud parents of 5 boys, all very active in the boy scouts and loving the outdoors. My family was/is very responsible when it comes to gun protection. Training, safety and personal, is required to even lay one finger on a gun.

Where my Grandfather was employed, they had a club. This club had a newsletter stating all the events and goings on in this said club. It was fun for the employees and their families to get together and enter in shooting competitions, they would make a whole day of it. My own father was a avid sharp shooter back in the day, almost entering into the Olympics for the sport of it.

It was not violent, it was a sport. Not the same as it is today. Today there is more gun violence and less fun. What happened to just shooting for fun? Why do people have to hurt other humans with their firearms? They must be sick or confused in the head to abuse their right to own a firearm.

At the ripe old age of 18, my firearm training began. My Father took me to the local outdoor shooting range and taught me everything I needed to know about shooting a gun. He taught me himself, after all, he grew up with guns, he was THE best teacher. As it turned out, I was a natural, it was in my blood. I learned to shoot rifles and handguns both. I shot skeet with a rifle and targets with a handgun. I preferred handguns personally, less kickback. I entered one competition and won numerous trophies my first time around. Both as a team and as a individual. I learned the right way to use firearms appropriately, as fun and sport and not for harm and malice.

One Christmas, many years later, my Father gifted me my one and only handgun, I keep it in a safe, locked separately from the bullets, as I have been taught. I don't look at it, I dont play with it, it stays locked up for my protection and my childs protection. I know its there, if I need it, in case of an emergency. My child knows its there, he doesn't ask anything about its presence and I don't tell. When he turns 14, his Grandfather or I will teach him gun safety. Teach him the rights and wrongs of firearms, of owning a firearm, his Second Amendment. He will learn responsibility and then as he grows into adulthood, he will know that owning a firearm is a privilege that no one can take away unless he gives them a reason to.

END GUN VIOLENCE