THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE???

When I came into this world, the atomic bomb had not been dropped yet, the war was still being fought in the Pacific. As a 5-year old, I can remember the headlines that shook my parent’s heads, the Korean conflict, then the 1953 execution of the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and then the detonation of a Russian Hydrogen bomb.

As I got older, the tensions in the Middle East began and so did the destabilization of Southeast Asia and the Vietnamese War. Civil rights protest and riots were common on the news and police and firemen were being shot at as they tried to restore civil order.

I lived through the assignation of a President, a civil-rights leader, and a presidential candidate, hijacking of planes both to Cuba and the Middle East, more middle-eastern wars and the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. Women’s Lib movements and gay rights began the ascending of the American conscience, until the horrors of 9/11.

In all my years of reading and listening to the mass media, never have I witnessed the fear that runs rampant throughout our lives as I do now!

Recently there was a loud noise heard in Penn Station in NYC, causing panic and fear, people dropping their suitcases, attaché cases and whatever else they were holding and running out of the building, all in fear. Not a week later similar noises were heard in Lunar Park at Coney Island, causing more panic and widespread fear, once again people ran for their lives.

In both those instances no gunshots were fired, the just nervous edginess of American public sensibilities, we are living in fear! We no longer have the confidence of our forefathers, no longer live in peace, instead, we wait for the next gunshot.

Sandy Hook elementary school, Connecticut was a catalyst for the need to stop this madness, this shame on ourselves. Innocent children died, and the gun totters and lobbyist need to take responsibility as they should also do in Santa Barbara, (twice).

We seem to have covered everything lately, both international terrorism and home terrorism, both have equal prominence in our collective minds.

But there is one more factor to consider, this administration is now looking to repeal laws that make it mandatory to keep any weapons being carried in an unconcealed manner. This should help kill more of us, but make our so-called 2nd amendment rights stronger. God help us all!