Let Me Make This Clear

Dear Readers,

I really do try to answer as much email as I can. Some of you have written to ask why I don't write about politics as much as I used to? As many of you know, while I've said that this is also a place to celebrate Conservative politics, I've stayed away from politics recently. In reality I've focused more on my love of history, especially Old West history, then politics lately.

I did write a blog right after the Parkland Florida school shooting which I said why I think we as a society should be teaching morals and values in schools instead of Liberal indoctrination and using kids as political activists. I stated that we should especially be teaching the Golden Rule of treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated.

I mention how we should teach the value of human life. Of course, I immediately got all sorts of hate mail regarding "the need for abortion." As hard as it is for me to believe, a few angry writers told me that "children being killed by a gunman is a separate subject and completely different from children being aborted by a doctor."

I think they say it's different to make themselves believe it is. After all, shouldn't all lives matter? Or really, do we now live in a world where the lives of High School students matter more than a baby about to be born? That seems callous. At what age do people get the distinction of mattering or not?

As for mattering, all lives matter except for those who take the lives of others in a criminal act. And frankly, I'm tired of being told that guns are an evil when in fact guns are just tools. They are just a piece of machinery. They have no soul. They have no personality and are not crazed. Of course the psychopath who became known as the "Son of Sam Killer" claimed his a handgun "told him to kill people." But friends, he was a psychopathic killer. And frankly, I always thought he came up with that line of crap to get off on an insanity plea.

Fact is we use guns to keep all sorts of people and places safe everyday. We use guns to defend lives everyday. We use guns to stop rapes, assaults, robberies, burglaries, car thefts, home invasions, to combat drug violence, to defend against a number of threats including from abusive husbands who have threatened to kill their wives and and children.

We all know the President of the United States has armed security, people trained in the use of guns to stop assassination attempts on himself and his family. We have similar protection for Senators, Congressman, and State officials such as Governors and Judges. Court rooms have armed security, so do banks, office buildings, hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, factories, parks, and countless other venues that require armed security. Ever go to a concert and not see armed security, or a sporting event that doesn't have armed security? Of course not.

So why is it that School Districts don't spend the needed funds and increase the security on schools in their districts? Some do as they know that it's ultimately their responsibility to do so. But why is it that others don't and schools don't have the armed security guards that a concert or a football game does? Why is it that we allow city buildings such as city hall, and state buildings even as low on the totem pole as the Department of Motor Vehicles to have armed security, but not schools?

It is not the President of the United States' job to make sure that our High Schools here in Calaveras County have security. It is not up to Congress to show up and make sure that our High Schools here in Calaveras County has security guards patrolling the campus. It's the same with all of California and the other states.

Across the United States there are about 90,000 Elementary Schools, and there just as many Middle Schools. They are 26,407 public High Schools and 10,693 private High Schools. That's according to the Digest of Education Statistics from 2001.

The largest number of public secondary schools were California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, and New York. There are 4,495 high schools in California alone. That number is made up of 3,523 public schools and 972 private schools. California ranks as the 1st state in terms of student enrollment and 1st in terms of total number of schools. California is almost dead list in quality of education, but that's a topic for another day.

My point is we are not a Communist Government where a Centralized Supreme Command attempts to supervise our every move. Thank God, we have individual states. Each state has counties, or in the case of Louisiana it has parishes instead of counties. Each county, or parish, has School Districts or a form of such that cares for the schools in their area of responsible.

So when I say it is not the job of the President of the United States to make sure our High Schools or our Middle Schools or our Elementary Schools have security, it's just a fact. It's not his or the rest of the Federal Government's job. Locally, the responsibility of securing schools falls to each state and then to each county. It's at the county level that School Districts should be working with their County Sheriffs Office to ensure that the school administrators at the individual school have security. It is up to them to provide armed security.

What does armed security do? It meets the threat with comparable force.

So now, people can go to Washington D.C. and scream until the cows come home, but frankly they're talking to the wrong set of bureaucrats. If they are really concerned about the lives of students, then they should be talking to the people in charge of security for those students. And frankly, Congress and the President aren't the ones who need to be talked with because it's not their responsibility.

In the case of the Parkland, Florida, shooting which took place in February, students and teachers and administrators organized to confront the President and Congress about gun control. Why? Because they wanted to make it a "gun control" issue and steer it away from the reality of the problem being a "security issue."

Please understand, those same people did not confront their School District regarding the lack of security provided to the schools there. They have not yet confronted the Broward County Sheriffs Department about their incompetence regarding their not taking action in regards to the gunmen who could have been arrested for making "terrorist threats." If the suspect had been arrested for that crime alone, then he would have never been able to commit the crime nevertheless get a legal firearm. And no, they have not really talked about the lack of response, some say "cowardice", that's built into the Broward County Sheriffs Department's response plan.

So now, we have children, children, who cannot legally own and/or purchase firearms calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. And sadly, we do not have adults who have the guts to tell those children that they need to address security problems in their school systems before attempting to rewrite our Constitution.

As insane as it is, this is the first generation of Americans to have actually marched in protest to demand that the United States government TAKE AWAY their Constitutional rights. And as insane as it is, there are politicians and others wanting to push a no-gun agenda for America who are supporting these children.

Right now, because of these children and the fact that Liberals want to seize the opportunity to further their anti-Gun agenda, there is a move to lower the age of gun ownership in America to 21 years of age.

Let me make something clear, this isn't right. We ask young Americans, both male and female, to serve our nation by joining the military. Right now a member of our armed forces cannot have a beer during lunch with his family at a restaurant in many states. He or she is old enough to sacrifice his or her life for us, but many states believe they are not old enough to consume alcohol. Imagine the hypocrisy!

So now, by raising the age limit to purchase and own guns, we have people in our society who are saying you're not mature enough, nor knowledgeable enough, nor responsible enough to own guns, but you in our military can die for us on the battlefield. The hypocrisy of the Left has no bounds! Fact is, by raising the age limit, the law would make it impossible for mature and responsible and very knowledgeable Americans serving in our military to exercise their rights of gun ownership. Yes, raising the age like would forbid them rights that they are willing to fight to preserve and protect for you!

These children are either being duped or being used by the anti-Gun crowd, but either way they are now appearing on television to give us their "wisdom" regarding banning guns. Please understand that these children who are not mature enough, nor knowledgeable enough, nor responsible enough to own guns are wanting to make gun policies for the entire nation. And worse, their are Democrat politicians using these children to actually talk seriously about a repeal of the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

Friends, they blame guns but not the shooters. They haven't figured out that it's students killing other students. The students who are doing the killing are in many case their outcasts, those bullied, those scorned, those shunned in schools. Yes, their creations.

Instead of raising to legally purchase a firearm to 21, how about we lower the age of those who can be tried as adults? Instead of wanting to ban guns, how about we ban bullies and have students treat each other with respect in schools?

The problem is not a gun problem. It is not even a mental health problem. It is a security problem. Fact is, guns and mental health issues are external problems that proper security protects against if addressed properly.  To scream about guns and anything else is just passing the buck and not doing one's job of providing the best security one can for our children. Yes, something that the NRA has endorsed for years now. 

So people on the Left can make the NRA and guns the enemy. As they surely will. But none of what they say, or more accurately try to convince us of, is true. Their attempt to get you to focus on guns and other external problems is meant to divert your attention from their failures such as securing schools or having police departments that do something when told that threats have been made. 

Students are returning to their schools to shoot the people they see as being the one's responsible for tormenting them, shunning them, bullying them. Students are returning to schools where they know the security formats, and subsequently avoid them, to shoot those who they see as their enemies. Should students who created these wannabe killers take some responsibility for creating the problem in the first place?

Instead of wanting to repeal the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution, how about we teach our children why we have the 2nd Amendment in our Constitution in the first place. Why not teach them the errors of those who gave up their arms and became slaves of the state? Why not teach them why Communism failed and Venezuela is confiscating guns right now? Why not teach these know-it-all kids history of countries who didn't have the means to defend themselves against criminals or tyranny?

Friends, like all of us, I've seen a wonderful groundswell of support for Conservative ideals, for Republican candidates that are not Republicans in name only, for bringing back Christian values that we need so badly, for the love and support of President Trump who wants us all to put America first. And even though everyone knows that I support all of this, I find that you're writing me to ask where I stand on these issues? Yes, including that which pertains to attempts at repealing the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.

So let me make this clear. Here's where I stand.

I swear to Almighty God that I will work against, campaign against, vote against, and actively oppose, anyone, any member of either party, both politician and donor, Democrat or Republican, who supports gun control. I will oppose anyone who attempts to impose further restrictions on gun ownership by raising the legal age limit to 21. I will oppose anyone who attempts to impose further limitations on our ability as citizens to own and purchase guns to defend ourselves against criminals or a tyrannical government. I will oppose anyone, no matter what caste, who supports and encourages the repeal of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.

That's where I stand. So help me God.

Tom Correa