Seriously? Seriously?  Have we really become a nation that operates without using our brains?  Without using common sense?

A boy made a hat honoring the military and wore it to school.  They do not have an anti-hat policy so he was safe.  They do, however, have a zero common sense tolerance policy.  The boy was informed that his hat (which included toy soldiers with guns) was in violation of their zero tolerance policy...because it had guns...on the plastic toy soldiers.

See the hat for yourself:



What do you think?  Did the school go to far?

For worried family members, I thought I would clarify my current status as a gun owner (or not).

While I do staunchly support the rights of anyone to own a weapon and conceal such weapon per the 2nd Amendment, I do not currently own a handgun for my own personal use as a concealed carry weapon. Yes. I said handgun.

I do own a shotgun (okay...DH does) that he intends to use for hunting. I also have a FANTASTIC bbgun (okay...daughter does) that she doesn't use for hunting (unless you count used water bottles). :-)

Feel better, Nana & Gma & Gpa? Sorry. I should have warned you or posted this note BEFORE you began having nightmares of me "carrying" while out with our kids.

I am not saying that I will never own a handgun for my own personal use as a concealed carry weapon. I'm just saying I do not currently own one. I'll have my Kitchen Aid or Bosch mixer before I have that! So you can feel better for the time being.

I do own a mean can of mace that I carry on my purse, though. So dream away about THAT!

-Me

On June 19th, Limalife posted an instructional video for moms who carry...guns and babies. She knew there would be some who would have a problem with it, but figured there'd be enough moms who needed the info to justify posting the video.

She herself has since said she had NO idea how much this video would blow up! It's become viral of sorts. I felt it only right to do my part and encourage that. (The viralness of the video, not the controversy.)
As I've said many times before, I am a STAUNCH supporter of the 2nd amendment. Gun permit? I have one...it's called the 2nd Amendment.

For those moms who are interested, the video is below. You can also find it on YouTube if you prefer to view it there.

I am aware that some of you reading my blog won't agree with this woman nor myself and our stance regarding the 2nd Amendment and the right of moms to carry...whether they have a baby or not. That's okay.

You have the right disagree, and as always, you're more than welcome to let me know of your disagreement either by commenting here or e-mailing me.

-Me

I did it again! I was writing today and made a mistake. I realized my spelling error upon re-reading what I had written. I was horrified! How could I have done such a thing! I KNOW how to spell that word!

Everything should be blamed on the gun. Err...the pencil.

Then, another thought occurred to me. I admit I probably shouldn’t think quite as often as I do. However, I’m far too fond of thinking to stop now…despite the trouble it sometimes gets me into. But I digress. I was thinking, and another thought occurred to me. There are potentially millions of children using a pencil every day. I’m sure you’re wondering what my point is. How could it be a problem for children to use pencils? Aren’t they supposed to use pencils? How else will they do their work if they don’t use a pencil? Honestly, I can’t answer that question. I can, however, tell you that there’s a problem.

These same children who are using pencils every day are turning in school work that is sub par. There are incorrectly spelled words, grammatical and punctuation errors, run-on sentences, sentence fragments. And we haven’t even started talking about the kids using pencils for math, yet! I could go on. You get my drift. The things kids are doing daily with pencils is atrocious!

There’s something worse, though.

These poor, innocent children who don’t know any better are getting BAD marks because of their work with these pencils. Does NO ONE see it but me? The CHILDREN are not the source of the problem here!

To top it off, children are jabbing each other with these pencils. Injuring one another in the name of childhood...and having no control over these actions.

IT’S THE PENCILS!

I’m telling you once in the hands of a child, a pencil takes on a life of its own. It’s especially fond of going crazy in algebra, geometry, & calculus classes. And the CHILDREN are being blamed!

We need PENCIL control! IMMEDIATELY! If we do NOT rid children of these pencils IMMEDIATELY, destruction will continue to come! How can we expect our children to learn in this type of an environment? Of COURSE our public schools are getting failing grades! The kids are subjected to daily pencil use!

High-caliber pencils (the fat ones used in kindergarten classes as well as any containing color) as well as all ammo for pencils (lead &/or graphite) needs to be banned or highly taxed first as we cannot reasonably expect all pencil-toting children to just give up their pencils. After that, though, it will be easy. If they never touch the high-caliber or pretty pencils when they start school and don’t have the lead &/or graphite for the pencils when they’re older then what good will their pencil be? NONE! And therefore, it cannot do them any harm.

Will there still be leaded pencils out there? Of course, but they will only be allowed fully leaded in the hands of a trusted teacher because teachers never make mistakes.

I know what you’re thinking. If they don’t have a pencil, then they’ll just grab another device (i.e.-a pen) which will yield even MORE tragic results as it cannot be erased. Have no fear. That’s on our agenda next.

It is no surprise to those who know me that I am a STRONG supporter of the 2nd Amendment. I believe in the right of law-abiding citizens to own a gun and to do so without restriction or governmental interference.

Today I'm featuring a guest blogger, my brother, Matt. He is also a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. He sent me an e-mail last week featuring an article he intended to publish on his own blog. Thankfully, when I asked if I could also feature it on my blog he gave a resounding, "Yes!"

I hope you enjoy his piece as much as I did.

-Me

Why I Carry a Gun?

By Matthew Llewellyn, Founder
America's Conservative Movement
Read more about and from Matt at his website.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid about the government; I carry a gun because my government is paranoid about me.

I don't carry a gun because I know people will listen to me; I carry a gun because when I cry for help, I know in this world those walking by will not listen.

I don't carry a gun because I think the police can't do their jobs; I carry a gun because when precious seconds count, the police are minutes away.

I don't carry a gun because I can't wait for the moment to shoot someone; I carry a gun because criminals can't wait for the moment to shoot us.

I don't carry a gun because I want to be a road side hero; I carry a gun so if I come by a criminal overpowering one of our brave police officers, I can quickly save their life.

I don't carry a gun because I don't care about my families safety with a gun in the home; I carry a gun because I do care about my families safety in the home.

I would like you all to know that the "I don't carry a gun... " idea was not mine. I read it and I decided rather than copy someone else's work, I would base it on my own beliefs and spin them into the "I don't carry a gun because..." methodology.

So why do I carry a gun? The true answer is I am protecting individuality. I am protecting the very existence of the individual itself.

When someone is taking away your gun, when they are saying you can't have one, they are not protecting others from you. They are protecting themselves from you. Because they know they have a reason to fear you.

If any of you have children and they are receiving their government brain washing at one of our fine government indoctrination centers (aka public schools), then I am going to ask you to do two things.

1) Pull your head out of your donkey and get your children out of those schools!

2) Call your child's principal and ask them, "If my child is being physically bullied, and they stand up for themselves and physically defend themselves, what will happen to them?"

I'm going to tell you what will happen because I already know. I've seen it, read about it, and heard about it thousands of times.

Your little boy or girl is going to be punished. It doesn't matter that your child did not start the fight. Your child took place in a fight, and fighting is wrong. They are going to be punished.

Side note... the school is right. Fighting is wrong. Kicking someone’s butt in defense of your own is not. Murder is wrong. Shooting a punk, thug criminal in the head before they get a chance to kill you or an innocent person around you is not wrong.

So why are the government schools now punishing kids for defending themselves? For the same reason they are trying to, and in some instances have, unconstitutionally take away our guns.

When you deny someone the right to defend themselves, you deny them their freedom. When you deny that most basic of our founding, God-given tenants to defend one’s own self against the onslaught of another; you deny them their individuality.

Why would someone want to deny, or, eradicate, the individual? Very simple.

It is impossible to have a government which rules over the people with unquestioned supremacy if the people are individuals. Being an individual means having the right to own land, having the right to start a business, having the right to invest in capital interests and have a capital return. It means having the right to choose what faith to believe, to choose what how to educate your children, to have the freedom to say "yes" or "no". It means being 100% free to decide how to live your life. It means you answer to no one but your God, yourself and the court. Being an individual means having the ability to be owned by no one; to be guided in life, within the letter of moral law, by your own heart’s desires. And, it means, if a force comes against you, and your neighbors, you know you have the right to kick the crap out of the person doing it to protect your freedom, your, individuality, your life.

The men who formed our country were not fools. They understood this very well. Because we have not grown up with an (openly) tyrannical government, most of us do not understand the preciousness of individuality. We take for granted these things held so dear to the founding fathers’ hearts that they were willing to be hanged to defend them.

Those men knew what it was to have your freedoms taken away, to have your individuality threatened. The King saw the freedom in the colonies, the growing commerce through capitalism, the growing power of the colonies because of it...and he didn't like it. The King wanted to control it; he wanted to own it. He tried things like imposing more and more laws against the people's rights in the name of protecting the general public. He imposed tighter regulations on free trade; capitalism. He imposed taxation without representation (this means, the people were not represented in government, had no one speaking for their interests or to say what could and could not be done with their collected taxes), and he raised the taxes higher and higher. There was no way to stop him.

He placed standing armies among the people during this time to control anyone who might cause dissension within the colonies against the King. He recognized early on, as anyone of that time did, that he can control the masses and capitalize off of them basically through enslavement through legislation. But only if he could do away with those pesky rebels, those horrible, traitorous, unholy radicals, who believed in freedom of the individual, and a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For they knew in order to have these things, the government can never be more powerful than the people. The acts of the people had to benefit the people first and if the people so desired, the government second. They knew this was the only way to protect themselves from having their monies wrongly taken away, from having one human force which all men must answer too without question, and from religious persecution (particularly, the movement of the Catholic church to do away with Protestant faiths through forced government religion) ...

(I know, I know, I know... every single one of my Catholic friends and family are going to want to react to that... I can't blame you, I just said something about your faith. Please keep in mind, I am not speaking of you, or the Catholic church today. I am speaking of a particular time within the church history in which it shouldn't be real proud. However, because people like me would not let the church forget about these times in their history, they have honorably weeded out those within their ranks who desired religious oppression of the protestants. ALL... note again... ALL religions, cultures, etc, have moments in time of which they are not proud. Don't take it personally, take it as it is-history. If, by some chance, you weren't aware of this, simply google, "protestant oppression; 18th century" and make sure you have time to read. Remember... those who know not their history are doomed to repeat it.)

Moving on...

Our founding fathers were individuals. They were every single definition of the word individual and they believed in individuality with resolve unseen in most of today's world. So what did they believe the individual had to do when they saw a tyrannical government coming at them? When they saw their very freedom, and potentially their existence for believing in this freedom being threatened? Let's go to that treasure, "The Declaration of Independence" for that answer. (I've copied and pasted the second paragraph below, with the exception of the last sentence which basically says "here's why".)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. (Pay attention here!!!) But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States...."

There it is from the horse’s mouth. You will note I placed in "red", those areas which you really needed to pay attention to, and those in blue were showing how often "rights" comes up as a word with these men who believed in freedom, in individualism.

One of the first actions of the King, as all my fellow historians will know, was to disarm the colonies. Why? If the people don't have weapons equal to or superior to the government’s, the people cannot defend themselves. His next decree was that all the rebels be rounded up, charged as traitors and executed as such. Why? Inflict fear on enough people and remove those who know how to rally the people and sure enough, you'll find yourself to be a King.

Personally, the only King I will bow my knee to is the one who's temple was torn down and rebuilt in three days...Can I get an amen?

Why I carry a gun... the title of this column. I carry a gun because I recognize there is evil in this world. I carry a gun because I know there are people in power who want to have absolute control over our lives. I carry a gun because I know that my carrying a gun scares these people. Because they know their history, and they know that people with a gun also have the ability to, and most certainly will, defend themselves against tyranny.

I don't carry a gun because I hope to use it. I don't carry a gun because I want to battle my government. In no way, shape, form or manner is that why I carry a gun.

I carry a gun to remind those in power who have become power hungry, that I, and people like me, have those guns. And I pray that so long as we keep reminding them we have the power to defend ourselves; that we will ultimately never have to.

I hope my gun, your gun, and all the guns in the country, will be just like you and I, peaceful to the day we are laid in our graves... hopefully, at a ripe old age.