Armed, Trained & Responsible: The Forgotten Half Of American Gun Culture

It’s not enough to merely own guns, you need to know how to use them, and how to use them responsibly.
American gun culture is often reduced to a debate over rights. Who has them, who shouldn’t and where may the government draw lines … if anywhere? But, historically, rights were only half the equation. The other half was responsibility.

Early Americans were not merely expected to own firearms. They were expected to know how to use them, maintain them and exercise judgment in their use. Gun ownership was active not passive. Competence was assumed. That tradition deserves revival.

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Hysteria Reigns Following Hegseth’s Announcement

When I was in the Navy, I lived on base but, like most service members, my social life was off base. At Portsmouth Naval Hospital, at least when I was stationed there, going out the main gate led to a plethora of options. Straight ahead took you toward the bulk of the city. Turning left took you to an old part of the town with historic buildings and one really great pub, among other things. Hang a right, though, and you’d best have your next of kin on standby.

I didn’t have a gun back then, and I kind of wish I did, but with living on base, it wasn’t really much of an option. There were ways to own one, but to carry it anywhere? Forget it.

Later, I worked at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany as a contractor. I had to drive through some sketchy areas, but carrying a gun to and from work wasn’t an option. I just had to pray that I wouldn’t be one of those unfortunate souls whose luck ran out. Thankfully, I wasn’t, but it was dumb that I had no other options.

Now, things have changed following Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s announcement on Thursday that bases were no longer gun-free zones.

Unsurprisingly, though, some people are having absolute hysterics about it.

“Troops can now request to carry their own personal firearms on base for personal protection, without having to explain why they need to protect themselves on base,” wrote Reuters chief national security correspondent Phil Stewart.

“If someone is not safe on a military base with armed guards, fences, walls, a personal police force, everyone who comes on base has their id checked, needs a sponsor if non military then we are truly screwed as a country,” wrote California congressional candidate Eric Garcia.

“Hegseth is telling us here that God gave us our legal rights as Americans including gun rights,” wrote USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy senior fellow Barbara Starr. “He might be interested in some of the military concerns about the relationship between having personal weapons on base and suicide rates.”

“Obsessed with every culture war issue while an actual war is stalled out overseas and his boss just gave a complete belly-flop of a speech on it,” wrote The Atlantic staff writer and former Naval War College professor Tom Nichols.

I swear, it seems Nichols gets more insufferable as the days go by.

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Maybe the people saying Black people are too stupid to get an ID to vote…
are the racists.

Maybe the people saying married women can’t figure out how to get a birth certificate…
are the sexists.

Maybe the people calling everyone else a threat to democracy…
are the ones trying to rig it.

Maybe the people obsessed with “equity” while ignoring merit…
are the ones holding people back.

Maybe the people who can’t name a single limit on immigration…
are the extremists.

Maybe the people who say they’re fighting for the working class…
while flying private, actually aren’t.

Maybe the people who say they care about the poor…
have run every major American city for 50 years and made them ALL worse.

Maybe the people calling for more gun control…
travel with armed security paid for by taxpayers.

Maybe the people who claim to love science…
but can’t define what a woman is aren’t following it.

Maybe the people demanding unity while calling half the country fascists…
don’t actually want unity.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Maybe it was never about justice, equity, tolerance, or democracy.

Maybe it was always about power.

And maybe the way you know that, is that they never stop accusing YOU of exactly what THEY are doing.

Matt Van Swol

I figured the demoncrap would

Gov. Beshear vetoes bill seeking to lower age for concealed carry permit

FRANKFORT, Ky. —
A bill that would have lowered the age to obtain a concealed carry permit in Kentucky has been vetoed by Gov. Andy Beshear.

Beshear announced Thursday he vetoed House Bill 312.

The bill sought to lower the age to get a concealed carry permit from 21 to 18.

He vetoed it alongside House Bill 78, which sought to “establish liability protections for manufacturers and sellers of firearms against specified legal actions arising from criminal or unlawful use of firearms or ammunition.”

“Three years ago, a senseless act of gun violence took the life of my friend Tommy and four others. Tonight, at an event honoring Tommy and his impact, I vetoed House Bills 78 and 312,” Beshear wrote in a post on X. “While I believe in the second amendment, these pieces of legislation would allow minors under the age of 21 to carry concealed deadly weapons and protect firearm manufacturers and sellers from liability for gun violence. We must take steps to protect our people and allow them to seek justice for deadly acts like those families have suffered from. Vetoing these bills was the right thing to do.”

While Beshear vetoed the two bills, lawmakers can override them once they reconvene on April 14-15.

With Bondi out, I hope we see less schizophrenia when it comes to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

‘Gun Free’ Zones Herd Citizens Into Physical and Legal Danger.

Never mind the homelessness, drug use, and routine violence … according to Empire State politicians, New York City’s transit system is a “sensitive place.” As such, law-abiding gun owners are not allowed to carry a firearm for self-defense on trains or buses or in subway or train stations – lest they impose some semblance of order on the anarchic scene.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s discretionary carry licensing regime and made clear that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry outside the home for self-defense. In their opinion, the Court acknowledged that carry may be barred at some “sensitive places,” citing “schools and government buildings,” specifically, “legislative assemblies, polling places, and courthouses.”

Of course, whether banning firearms in these locations is sound policy is another matter. It’s NRA-ILA’s position that government can demonstrate a location is in fact a “sensitive place” by providing weapons screening at all ingress points and armed security to protect those inside.

Needless to say, none of the Court’s enumerated “places” was akin to public transit. And only a delinquent government, like New York’s, allows a city’s subway system to deteriorate into a place for vagrants to domicile and soil with human excrement, while citizens just trying to reach their destinations fear for their health and safety.

Despite the Court’s command, in the wake of the Bruen case an intransigent New York set about prohibiting firearms in all manner of what the state dubiously defined as “sensitive locations.”

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Virginia gun bills take aim at the Constitution

As a Virginia resident and a longtime advocate for the Second Amendment, I’ve spent decades covering the gun debate from every angle. I’ve spoken with lawmakers, law enforcement officers, gun owners and crime victims. And I can tell you this: What happened in Richmond this legislative session was both unnecessary and unconstitutional.

Virginia is the home of James Madison, who boasted that, unlike the monarchs of Europe who were “afraid to trust the people with arms,” the United States recognized the inherent right of the people to keep and bear them. It’s through that lens that we should look at our current situation.

Politicians in Richmond have advanced one of the most sweeping gun control packages our commonwealth has seen in years. Clearly, they don’t understand what the words “keep and bear” in our Second Amendment actually mean. Those words mean “it’s ours, and you can’t take it.” Supporters claim these bills are necessary to make our communities safer. But recent feedback from actual Virginians tells a very different story.

According to a new survey of Virginia voters, 90% say the criminal is responsible for violent crime. A firearm being used in the commission of a crime is only a tool for the havoc they cause, whether it’s a hammer or a handgun. That distinction is crucial.

Public safety starts with prosecuting violent crimes and putting offenders in prison. Dreaming up new restrictions on law-abiding citizens who already follow the rules should play no part in it and is against every principle of American freedom.

In fact, 63% of Virginians say tougher sentencing and better enforcement of existing laws is the most effective way to reduce crime. Only 16% believe adding new gun regulations will make the biggest difference. That’s not close, and we shouldn’t tolerate these infringements from a moral standpoint or a constitutional one. We already have the necessary gun laws on the books; what we should do is actually enforce them.

Just look at Senate Bill 749, which now awaits Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signature to become law. The bill would impose a broad and unconstitutional ban on a number of commonly owned guns under the politically loaded and vague label of “assault firearms” — a phrase that is completely meaningless. The result is that Virginians would no longer be able to purchase or transfer some of the most popular firearms in the country, and that’s just the first step towards prohibiting their possession too. Reclassifying and banning widely owned firearms based on arbitrary criteria does not disarm criminals. It penalizes peaceable citizens who have complied with every regulation already on the books. And voters know it.

Sixty percent of Virginians oppose an “assault weapons” ban. Strong majorities oppose gun-related taxes which disproportionately impact regular families. Pricing a constitutional right out of reach for working adults isn’t justice, and it’s not about public safety. It’s political retribution for exercising a right too many Democratic lawmakers find objectionable.

Pakistan says a new round of peace talks with Afghanistan is underway in China after deadly fighting Pakistan says a new round of peace talks with Afghanistan is underway in China after deadly fighting

There are also efforts underway to undermine federal law which protects lawful businesses such as family-owned gun ranges and firearm manufacturers. This is not what we want, and it’s not who we are. The right to self-defense is not a fringe idea. It’s a mainstream value deeply rooted in our constitutional tradition.

Public safety and constitutional liberty are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand. Violent crime is plunging across the country and commonwealth, while the number of guns in the hands of lawful owners is at an all-time high. Spanberger should veto these bills and work to keep Virginia safe and free instead of fruitlessly searching for security at the expense of our fundamental civil rights.

Cam Edwards of Farmville has covered the Second Amendment for 20 years as a broadcast and online journalist, and serves on the board of directors for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.