Guns, Prayer and Revisionist History  (updated) 
By Hank Silverberg

Guns are a hard issue to write about. I am not a gun owner and never even thought about owning one. I don’t see the need.

But I understand the argument by some that they are an option for self-defense of your home. Sports shooting, and hunting are legitimate activities, assuming you are in season, licensed, understand the rules and will eat any animal you kill.  

What I will never understand is some people’s need to own an arsenal, including military-style weapons. I don’t see black helicopters coming to take away everybody’s gun, and those who say guns are needed to protect us FROM our government would be better off hiring a good civil rights lawyer. 


Despite the political shift to the right, the danger in some of President Trump’s policies and all those high-profile mass shootings, crime has been on a downtrend over the last decade. And so far, the rule of law is still the best weapon against Trumpism.


Frankly, I feel more threatened by amateurs running around with guns on their hips than I do from radical extremists on the right or the left. 


This week’s gun rally in Richmond, on the traditional “lobby day” at the Virginia State Capitol is a good example of a philosophy gone wrong.

Many of those protesting apply the “slippery slope” concept toward gun control. “If we give in on ANY gun control then they will soon be knocking on our door to take away our guns,” they say. 

It’s a pretty ridiculous argument. A Small Arms Survey,
http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html
indicates there are 393 million privately held firearms in the United States. That’s 46 percent of the civilian gun ownership in the world with more guns in the United States than there are people. https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2018/06/small-arms-survey-guns/ It is therefore physically impossible for ANY government to confiscate them all. 

But pro-gun advocates have labeled Virginia ground zero in their battle this year because the Virginia General Assembly is considering some common sense gun control laws this session. 

Here are a few of them that have already passed through committee and are awaiting a full vote in both chambers of the General Assembly:  

   1) Require background checks on all firearm purchases in the state (but not on guns that were “transferred”—a loophole you could drive an 18 wheeler through).  

   2) Allow law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from anyone deemed a risk to themselves or others.

   3) Allow the state’s municipalities to ban weapons from certain events or government buildings, including schools.

   4) Reinstitute the “one handgun a month” limit on purchases, which is aimed at gun runners and was highly successful the first time it was imposed between 1989 and 2012. It was repealed after a heavy push by the NRA and the gun lobby.                                                                                               

One proposal, to ban the sale AND POSSESSION of assault weapons, has already been withdrawn because it would have required those who already own such weapons to give them up—a political and logistical impossibility. 

But the others all seem practical and common sense to me. 

Of course, most pro-gun advocates believe ANY restriction on guns violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But frankly, that is debatable. The Amendment does give Congress the power to “regulate” guns, though just what that means is where the argument lies. 

All of this would just be politics as usual if there was not one added factor. President Trump’s encouragement of right-wing fanatics prompted at least six men in two different groups, to plan an attack during the rally. All six of them, members of a neo-Nazi organization, have been arrested on gun charges. And we shall see how the rally comes off. I suspect the new majority in the General Assembly, the Democrats, will not be influenced much by this rally, no matter how large it is. Last November’s election, which gave Democrats a majority in the General Assembly for the first time in 20 years, gives them a mandate to push ahead with some gun control.  

Update:

      The precautions apparently worked well. Despite thousands of people demonstrating on capitol grounds, perhaps the largest such event ever in Virginia's capital, there were no arrests and no incidents. It should be noted that thousands more ARMED WITH GUNS were watching and walking on nearby Richmond Streets.  Law enforcement in this case acted right on target, arresting those with violent intent, before they ever got to Richmond. Small groups of gun right advocates got to meet with lawmakers they requested as usual on "lobby day".  The right to petition the government to redress grievances--a main principal of the First Amendment--prevailed despite all the screaming from gun advocates about their rights being denied.  

News Notes:

Lots of people pray. They pray at home, they pray at Church, they pray on the street. Faith is important and comforting to many people, and that’s ok.  But they should NOT be praying in public school. That, the Supreme Court has ruled time and again, is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state mandate. Allowing a prayer in public school would be endorsing religion—it doesn’t matter which one--that is specifically prohibited in the Constitution. It frankly amazes me that anyone doesn’t understand this concept. 

We got another example this week when the Trump administration tried again to promote the return of prayer to public schools, distorting it with the idea that somehow people are being prevented from praying.  

What confounds me over and over, is that the same people pushing the “prayer in school” throwback also seem to love the most immoral and unethical President we have ever had. It’s hypocrisy at its worst. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/01/17/transcript-trump-announcement-school-prayer-there-is-growing-totalitarian-impulse-far-left-that-seeks-prohibit-religious-expression/

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/religion-in-public-schools/prayer

In the United States, there are NO restrictions on praying.  It just can't be government sponsored or school organized (see above). 

This issue was settled decades ago. Public school sponsored prayer of any type is against the U.S. Constitution. Period. No retake. 

If you believe prayer is an important part of your children’s education, then supplement their public education with classes at a religious school, or simply take them to church, synagogue or mosque.  No one is preventing you from doing that.

Then there is this:

Take a close look at this picture. If you can blow it up enough you will see that some of the protest signs in the picture that are critical of President Trump have been intentionally blurred.    ___________________________________________________

US National Archives

✔@USNatArchives

We made a mistake.

As the National Archives of the United States, we are and have always been completely committed to preserving our archival holdings, without alteration.

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 ___________________________________________________

That was an attempt by the National Archives to censure criticism of our President. The Archives is part of the government and is charged with preserving historical documents and information vital to the study of our history. They are supposed to be non-partisan and objective. Surely this as not the case with the picture. This is the same building where the original U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence are stored, preserved and displayed for the public to see.   

The picture had been very well publicized after the Women’s March in 2017 and the change was easy for a reporter to spot. Now the Archives management has apologized for the error and has removed the altered picture. They say they won't do it again. 

https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2020

 That is not enough. Someone, whoever made the decision to distort the picture, needs to be fired and a message needs to be sent. YOU CANNOT CHANGE HISTORY. Unless, of course, you are like Stalin or Hitler, who used such revisionist history as part of their murderous efforts to conquer the world. 

         (Your comments and suggestions are welcome. )

  

(Copies of my book “The Campaign” can be purchased at Amazon.com, BN.com or from me at a reduced rate with a signature by emailing me at hanksilverberg@gmal.com for instructions. )