You know what's amazing to me? I kinda grew up in the country but lived only three miles from the capital of Maryland, Annapolis. I grew up and still live on South River which is about three miles south of Annapolis. When I was in the fifth grade at Edgewater Elementary School (a stones throw from where I now live) and was what, maybe 11 years old? Anyway, for one of the Show & Tell days I actually took to school what my brother in law called a Kentucky long rifle. That was 49 years ago and I don't remember a lot but I think it was a 50cal. muzzle loader and was a lot taller than me. I also had a paper of history on this firearm that my brother in law helped me prepare. So, one morning I carried a rifle and my books and carried them to the bus stop. When the bus came there wasn't any problem at all. The driver was a tobacco farmer who I worked for in the summer and though there was two people already sitting in the front seat, he made them move so I could sit there with that long gun rifle.
When the bus arrived at school I carried the gun inside where the teacher placed that, a powder horn, a ball and paper leather bag in one of the corners. When it was my time for show and tell I got the rifle and showed and talked about it much to the my fellow students delight and then it all went back in the corner. When the and of day bell rang I got my stuff, got back on the bus and went home. There was not ONE thing said against what was going on. No hysterical screaming or cries to strengthen our laws before someone got hurt. As my house was the farthest from the bus stop, Sandy (my first dog) and I got stopped by a lot of mother's asking how the show in tell went? The Mother's were home to watch over all of us!!
The only reason that I can think of as to why I was allowed to take that to school is that all of us, even at 11 years old had come into contact with firearms, usually rifles.
22's, 30.06's, shotguns and over and unders, and were taught how to use them and how we should respect them. These days there isn't anyone to show how all of this is supposed to be done, especially today's father's to their boys! We also had God in our schools and said the Lord's Prayer every morning along with the Pledge of Allegiance. We gave absolutely no thought of hurting or challenging our teachers unlike today. We also had pretty high standards before we could graduate in 1966 and that changes in 1967. Classes are now taught down to the slowest students in a class! Virtually all of the guys I grew up with were Junior members of the Volunteer Fire Dept until they were old enough to be full fledged members. They did not question their duty. We went to war when our country asked us to and didn't even think of running off to Canada. Now, mainly because of Jimmy Carter, nobody will have to go if called and will have precedence not too.
I am so sorry for the rant but I'm scared and am also tired of all this Constitution talk that it's a "living Document" and should be reviewed yearly or so. It is NOT a living document and was not made to be by our forefather's who wrote the Constitution and then suffered inordinantly because of it.
I am not going to get into a constitutional argument here, it's just not worth it and it's unwinnable. I do know that I would give up my computer, and all of my remotes, and have to get up to change channels if I could time travel back into the fifties.
Now, before anyone jumps on me about health care in those days, or segregation, or the House of Un-American activities I DON'T CARE!!!! Besides, as for the Un-American Activities crap, the releasing of Soviet information after the cold war (decidedly won by President Ronald Reagan) proved that those who were accused as witch hunters were right all along.
I remember so well what the one Democrat I semi-liked had to say when he addressed the
"Don't ask what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country"!!
That doesn't even sound like a democrat anymore who would change the words to something like, 'don't ask what you can do for your country but please do look up all of the gifts and monetary awards we may have and ask for them, they're yours you know and we'll take care of you with all of the money from the middle class who works every day..
That's it for me. And I really DID hold a lot of what I really wanted to say inside! especially to people who keep blaming President Bush for every little problem there is especially when it was a Democratic Congress that voted for, passed and approved everything that Bush is now being blamed for! Do some research on just who voted for the Iraqi Way and is now turning their backs on what was what.
Sorry for the Book I just wrote here..
I just had to get some of this off my back.:angry:
Uncle Billy
