The proper use of a firearm

With all the debate in congress and other places about the "Sporting" uses of a particular firearm, I thought I'd give a brief explanation of a proper use of a firearm. But first some thing a firearms proper use is not.

A firearm is not "just" for hunting.

It is not for personal defense.

It is not for plinking.

It is not target shooting.

It is not for the police.

It is not for the military.

It is not for the overthrow of the government.

It is not for criminal use.

It is not for informal shooting.

It is not for organized shooting.

These are just a few of the things the proper use of a Firearm is NOT for.

A firearms proper use is the projection of the threat of injury or death. By it's very existence, it empowers the person holding it. It allows them the ability to stand up to criminals and thugs. And even allows them to stand up to governments if the need arises. For most of firearms owners in the United States, it can be used for hunting, target shooting, and even self defense. But those are not the proper uses for a firearm.

To quote V from the movie V for Vendetta, "People should not be afraid of their government, the Government should be afraid of it's people."

The proper use of a firearm is to keep everyone honest. Especially Governments.

It is governments who fear the idea of weapons in the hands of it's Citizens who usually have a reason to fear their Citizens. For many Governments, if the Citizens knew exactly what their Government is doing, they would be outraged. Therefore those Governments restrict their Citizens access to firearms. What does the Government have to hide? That they do their best to restrict Law abiding Citizens from exercising rights affirmed, not given, but affirmed, in our Constitution. They tell us it's reduce crime and firearm accidents. Yet in the days before the gun control measures were enacted, violent crime involving the use of firearms was very low. Why? Because a vast majority of the citizens of our country were armed in one fashion or another. An armed society is a polite society. Our police officers could count on the support of almost every Citizen. And those Citizens would usually provide their own weapons for the Posse.

And yet with more and more laws limiting and restricting our rights to own firearms, crime has escalated. Trust in our police officers has lessened. And many police forces have developed an "Us versus them" mentality. The Blue Code of Silence has arisen to the detriment of law enforcement. David Codrea has his Only Ones, showing how police officers abuse the public trust through corruption and even breaking the very laws they have sworn to uphold.

As these times progress I see more and more things. More abuses by the officials who are sworn to defend our laws and us, of the very laws they swore to uphold. Members of our legislature to whom their office is more for graft and corruption, than representing the true interests of their constituents. I see law enforcement officers who abuse their authority to punish citizens who dare to speak out against the crimes of their officials. And yet these same officials rely on the old boy system to maintain their authority.

So you tell me. What do you see as the proper use of a firearm? When more and more of our rights to own or posses them is restricted and eroded every day?


Mark