Again, I am departing from the standard theme to bring attention to another issue just as important and which may impinge on troop morale.
In a U.S. military base somewhere in Iraq… sometime in the near future.
Commander: (hears knock at the door) Enter.
Sergeant: (head and arm bandaged) Reporting as ordered, sir.
CO: Oh, yes, Sergeant; come in and sit down.
Sgt: Thank you, sir. I am glad to be out of the hospital.
CO: (pushes his work papers aside) I can well understand that. I have put you in for another medal—will not tell you what it is yet—because you saved many lives with your heroic actions last week. I am not interested in denials, so save your breath.
Sgt: Yes, sir.
CO: But now I have bad news for you and I want to go over it with you myself. (The CO leaves his desk and pulls over a nearby chair, facing the Sergeant).
Sgt: (Appears startled) Is it my family? Are they all right?
CO: Your family is fine; it is not about them. I understand that you are a hunter and a target shooter when you are back in the States.
Sgt: (Smiles weakly, still nervous) Yes, sir. My grandfather, father, and two uncles make it an annual even back home. It is always a wonderful experience. As for target shooting, it relaxes me and helps me develop the patience I need in dealing with stress. Besides, it helps me a great deal in combat situations in which I do not have time to aim.
CO: I can understand that. Both are great American pastimes, I am a hunter myself. My family was a family of farmers and hunters. If they did not hunt, we did not eat meat. That brings me to my unpleasant task, Sergeant.
At home, you have a perfectly clean well-oiled hunting rifle and target pistol, both in locked cases, secured from your kids.
Sgt: That’s right. Did something happen? (Slides forward to sit on the end of his chair)
CO: I am going to give it to you straight, Sergeant. Yesterday afternoon, Federal Marshals with a search warrant entered your home and confiscated your hunting rifle and target pistol. (He watched the Sergeant’s eyes carefully)
Sgt: (After a moment’s hesitation) Why did they do that, Sir? I have never done anything to anyone, never broke any laws, and do not even have a parking ticket.
CO: Sergeant, apparently the American people do not watch Congress closely enough. The House passed the McCarthy Act HB 2640 a little while ago[1]. The Act has many indecent parts, one of them affecting you. You have just been wounded in action and the medics say that you and your team were subjected to some vicious mortar and RPG attacks. According to Stateside doctors, that was enough for them to conclude you had a concussion and that you undoubtedly suffered from depression following your medevac after the fighting.[2]
Sgt: But what has that to do with my hunting rifle and .22 target pistol?
CO: According to the new bill, the old HR 2640, passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President, because of your wounds, concussion, and possible depression, you have been placed on the list of people ineligible to own firearms.
Sgt: They put me on the Criminal and Crazy list?
CO: I am afraid so, son. The base commander back there assured me that they did everything they could to prevent the seizure. When the marshals showed up, your wife called and the C.O. sent SJA attorneys to see what they could do. The marshals only ignored them and warned them to stay outside the taped perimeter they set up. I imagine your neighbors thought it was a drug raid or something.
Sgt: My poor wife and kids. It must have been a horrible experience for them.
CO: Well, it did not stop there. The SJA people called the MPs and they sped to your house and pulled down the tape. The marshals threatened them with arrest, but the MPs told them they did not have enough people for that, even though they were outnumbered. Why it took a dozen marshals to confiscate two firearms while you were overseas recovering from wounds, I will never know.
The marshals called the city police, who managed to fill your street with police cars. The SJA people described your house and grounds as Grand Central Station with people in black clothing, boots, and guns.
In the end, the city police took the two firearms as evidence, over the objections of the marshals who claimed them because they were the ones who confiscated them in the first place.
Sgt: All of this craziness going on in my house! Was anything worth all of this? My poor family! Who caused all of this?
CO: Son, some nitwits in our society think that taking the option of self-defense away from people is worth any price they have to pay. People are making laws when they themselves are not grownups mentally. They have a child’s view of the world and probably always will. While you are overseas fighting for their lives and rights, they are at home watching Teletubbies, Sponge Bob, or the Cartoon Network.[3]
Sgt: My kids watch them; at least, I think they still do.
CO: Well, I cannot say anything more about our civilian leadership.
Sgt: Can I ever get re-instated and off the Criminals and Crazies list?
CO: Not without 86-ing the law.
Sgt: And what about my two firearms? What happens to them? They were both very expensive.
CO: I wish I could tell you. I do know that the marshals did not get them. It seems the police misplaced them somewhere between the time they took them from the marshals and the time they reached the police station. By the way, your wife says to call your brother.
Sgt: What kind of country is this I am trying to defend?
CO: It is not the country that is doing it son; it is the crazies! They have taken over the asylum.
HJS
[1] It has not passed the Senate yet. However, it is a very popular bill, also apparently approved by a leading gun-rights group (Not GOA).
[2] The bill does not specify field reporting by frontline medics…yet. But any medical authority recognized by the authorities can certify the possibility of future potential danger of the person hurting himself or others,
[3] The Death of the Grownup, by Diana West, pp 1, 2 and 6 Also The Children Who Won’t Grow Up, by Frank Furedi (www.frankfuredi.com)
In a U.S. military base somewhere in Iraq… sometime in the near future.
Commander: (hears knock at the door) Enter.
Sergeant: (head and arm bandaged) Reporting as ordered, sir.
CO: Oh, yes, Sergeant; come in and sit down.
Sgt: Thank you, sir. I am glad to be out of the hospital.
CO: (pushes his work papers aside) I can well understand that. I have put you in for another medal—will not tell you what it is yet—because you saved many lives with your heroic actions last week. I am not interested in denials, so save your breath.
Sgt: Yes, sir.
CO: But now I have bad news for you and I want to go over it with you myself. (The CO leaves his desk and pulls over a nearby chair, facing the Sergeant).
Sgt: (Appears startled) Is it my family? Are they all right?
CO: Your family is fine; it is not about them. I understand that you are a hunter and a target shooter when you are back in the States.
Sgt: (Smiles weakly, still nervous) Yes, sir. My grandfather, father, and two uncles make it an annual even back home. It is always a wonderful experience. As for target shooting, it relaxes me and helps me develop the patience I need in dealing with stress. Besides, it helps me a great deal in combat situations in which I do not have time to aim.
CO: I can understand that. Both are great American pastimes, I am a hunter myself. My family was a family of farmers and hunters. If they did not hunt, we did not eat meat. That brings me to my unpleasant task, Sergeant.
At home, you have a perfectly clean well-oiled hunting rifle and target pistol, both in locked cases, secured from your kids.
Sgt: That’s right. Did something happen? (Slides forward to sit on the end of his chair)
CO: I am going to give it to you straight, Sergeant. Yesterday afternoon, Federal Marshals with a search warrant entered your home and confiscated your hunting rifle and target pistol. (He watched the Sergeant’s eyes carefully)
Sgt: (After a moment’s hesitation) Why did they do that, Sir? I have never done anything to anyone, never broke any laws, and do not even have a parking ticket.
CO: Sergeant, apparently the American people do not watch Congress closely enough. The House passed the McCarthy Act HB 2640 a little while ago[1]. The Act has many indecent parts, one of them affecting you. You have just been wounded in action and the medics say that you and your team were subjected to some vicious mortar and RPG attacks. According to Stateside doctors, that was enough for them to conclude you had a concussion and that you undoubtedly suffered from depression following your medevac after the fighting.[2]
Sgt: But what has that to do with my hunting rifle and .22 target pistol?
CO: According to the new bill, the old HR 2640, passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President, because of your wounds, concussion, and possible depression, you have been placed on the list of people ineligible to own firearms.
Sgt: They put me on the Criminal and Crazy list?
CO: I am afraid so, son. The base commander back there assured me that they did everything they could to prevent the seizure. When the marshals showed up, your wife called and the C.O. sent SJA attorneys to see what they could do. The marshals only ignored them and warned them to stay outside the taped perimeter they set up. I imagine your neighbors thought it was a drug raid or something.
Sgt: My poor wife and kids. It must have been a horrible experience for them.
CO: Well, it did not stop there. The SJA people called the MPs and they sped to your house and pulled down the tape. The marshals threatened them with arrest, but the MPs told them they did not have enough people for that, even though they were outnumbered. Why it took a dozen marshals to confiscate two firearms while you were overseas recovering from wounds, I will never know.
The marshals called the city police, who managed to fill your street with police cars. The SJA people described your house and grounds as Grand Central Station with people in black clothing, boots, and guns.
In the end, the city police took the two firearms as evidence, over the objections of the marshals who claimed them because they were the ones who confiscated them in the first place.
Sgt: All of this craziness going on in my house! Was anything worth all of this? My poor family! Who caused all of this?
CO: Son, some nitwits in our society think that taking the option of self-defense away from people is worth any price they have to pay. People are making laws when they themselves are not grownups mentally. They have a child’s view of the world and probably always will. While you are overseas fighting for their lives and rights, they are at home watching Teletubbies, Sponge Bob, or the Cartoon Network.[3]
Sgt: My kids watch them; at least, I think they still do.
CO: Well, I cannot say anything more about our civilian leadership.
Sgt: Can I ever get re-instated and off the Criminals and Crazies list?
CO: Not without 86-ing the law.
Sgt: And what about my two firearms? What happens to them? They were both very expensive.
CO: I wish I could tell you. I do know that the marshals did not get them. It seems the police misplaced them somewhere between the time they took them from the marshals and the time they reached the police station. By the way, your wife says to call your brother.
Sgt: What kind of country is this I am trying to defend?
CO: It is not the country that is doing it son; it is the crazies! They have taken over the asylum.
HJS
[1] It has not passed the Senate yet. However, it is a very popular bill, also apparently approved by a leading gun-rights group (Not GOA).
[2] The bill does not specify field reporting by frontline medics…yet. But any medical authority recognized by the authorities can certify the possibility of future potential danger of the person hurting himself or others,
[3] The Death of the Grownup, by Diana West, pp 1, 2 and 6 Also The Children Who Won’t Grow Up, by Frank Furedi (www.frankfuredi.com)
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