Guns have been part of America since the beginning of our nation. Our forefathers wrested freedom from Britain by guns and they recognized how important to freedom was the right to be armed. They did the best they could to protect this right for future generations. They wrote it into the same documents as they wrote all the other freedoms they sought to secure for the new country they were founding. They also tried to protect the people in future generations from the unchecked power of government. They believed that the right to have guns was crucial to that objective.

Guns made possible the settlement of the vast lands of America. It was part of and has come to be a symbol of the fierce independence of the American pioneer. The firearm has been idolized in the literature of the American West. Firearms are a part of the fabric of our society.

Now there is terrorism in our land. Evil people kill innocents. We need to protect ourselves from evil people. Some of our leaders think that taking all the guns away from people is the answer. That will not solve the terrorism problem. Rather the opposite. Terrorists seek out people who do not have guns and places where guns will not be present. It seems to me like the safest places would be those places where people have guns. People with guns are harder to terrorize, because they know they have the ability to defend themselves.

Our founding fathers were smart guys. They did a lot of things right. They established a new form of government where the power resided with the people. They believed that there are rights God gave to all human beings; the right to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They knew that an armed populace was necessary protect the people from any foreign aggression or from any future government that develops into tyranny.

I have a ringside seat on the violence in our county. I have seen the evil guns can do and the good. Guns are necessary. We need them in our society to protect us. Because there are evil people who are willing to kill us because we do not believe as they do, we need more law enforcement men and women to carry guns and be willing to use them if necessary.

Guns are not the problem. Evil in the hearts and minds of people is the problem. We need our guns now, more than ever. The founding fathers were right. The right to bear arms is necessary for our safety and ultimately to protect our freedoms. Our leaders should respect what they said.