Perspectives: Here is what every young person should know about the morality of owning firearms

A demonstration that was organized by Teens For Gun Reform, an organization created by students in the Washington DC area, in the wake of the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.Washington D.C., Feb. 19, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Lorie Shaull via Wikipedia, licensed under cc-by-sa-2.0, St. George News

OPINION — With plenty of youthful anti-gun activism currently underway, there’s another, less fashionable discussion that also desperately needs to take place.

It’s time for a long overdue talk with our kids about the morality of owning firearms.

The first thing with which our youth must come to grips is the understanding that there is nothing inherently immoral or evil about owning a particular firearm.

Like any other tool, the morality of its use is entirely dependent upon the intent of the person using it.

Simply possessing a firearm that has certain cosmetic features that some people consider “scary” does not constitute a harmful act that produces a victim.

This is an essential moral distinction that must be made.

Considering that there is no law so small that the state won’t kill you in order to enforce it, this means that even so-called “reasonable” gun regulations are calls for violence against firearms owners who have harmed no one. Advocating for government to send armed men to threaten violence against individuals who have committed no harm is about as immoral as it gets.

It doesn’t matter if a majority of people subjectively feel a certain displeasure about firearms. The only morally justifiable use of government force is in seeking justice when an objective harm has occurred.

Even then, that force must be limited to the specific individuals who allegedly caused the harm and should leave everyone else unmolested. Blanket prohibitions that deny due process to an entire class of people are not within the scope of valid government power.

It’s curious how that foundational principle of limited government has somehow escaped the outspoken young people we’re told are too brilliant to ignore.

It’s a safe bet that the kids who marched out of their schools last week and their adult enablers are unacquainted with the first principles upon which legitimate government is based.


Read more: About 100 Cedar High students walk out of class in memory of shooting victims


Firearms ownership is a freedom based in the natural right of resistance and self-preservation. Natural rights are those that exist prior to and outside of the existence of man-made government. This was understood by our nation’s Founding Fathers and those whose thinking influenced their own.

For instance, Sir William Blackstone, in his “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” provided clear inspiration for the framers of American government. Blackstone referred to “the natural right of resistance and self-preservation,” which necessarily entailed “the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defense.”

This means that our right to protect ourselves, by the most useful tools available, is not subject to the whims of public opinion or the preferences of politicians and bureaucrats. Would be sophists who claim our natural rights are dependent on the pronouncements of black-robed jurists are forgetting that the creature cannot exceed its creator.

We the people are the creators of our government and it exists to protect our authentic rights and freedoms. It does not exist for the purpose of enforcing spurious “rights” based on a pathological desire to control others.

Watch the video linked here showing a youthful spokesman at one of the nationwide walkout events last week and you’ll see this entitled mindset in action. His uninformed self-righteousness demonstrates a serious lack of understanding of what “rights” are and what they are not.

The fact that implacable gun control activist Sen. Charles Schumer is nodding and smiling behind him should be a big clue as to whose agenda is being served.

Power seekers love government because it affords them the opportunity to consolidate authority over their fellow citizens. The longer they remain in power, the more their mendacity begins to show through as they clamor for greater dominance over the people.

This is why gun control has always been the common precursor to the most despicable acts of oppression and mass murder within the last 100 years. Gun control may not cause genocide but genocide cannot happen without government first obtaining a monopoly on force.

As it stands today, our government claims authority to spy on us, to indefinitely detain us and even to murder us—in the name of national security—all without a shred of due process.

Does that sound like the kind of government we can trust with an exclusive control of force?

It’s in the DNA of government officials to grow and consolidate their power over the people. This was understood by the founders and it’s why they specifically placed the right of the people to keep and bear arms off limits to government infringement.

There’s nothing wise or courageous about becoming a political puppet who demands that government deny more of your remaining freedoms.

We all deplore the senseless violence that has played out in a handful of our schools, but it is not the result of too much freedom. It certainly will not be solved by violating of the rights of innocent people.

Even when those in power attempt to weaponize under-informed youth to be their propagandists.

Our young people must understand that we’ve each inherited a moral duty to claim, exercise and defend all of our rights. That’s why gun owners continue to hold the moral high ground and should emphatically reject all attempts to guilt or shame us about owning the tools to do so.

Bryan Hyde is an opinion columnist specializing in current events viewed through what he calls the lens of common sense. The opinions stated in this article are his and not representative of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @youcancallmebry

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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89 Comments

  • statusquo March 19, 2018 at 8:08 am

    ???

    • mctrialsguy March 19, 2018 at 11:26 am

      Liberals use fear mongering as the basis for all of their comments and logic as others will follow their thinking if they can control their followers. Good article!!!

  • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 8:09 am

    Once again Bryan has thoughtful foundational ideas worth consideration but uses fear mongering and insults against those with opposing views. Its constantly obvious that Hyde reserves respect only for those who agree with his narrow politics. The fact is there is no singular moral high ground on this issue no matter how much pundits like Hyde try to cudgel us into believing such claims.

    • John March 19, 2018 at 11:56 am

      The closet snowflake melts again. No where did Bryan use fear mongering or insults. There you go, making stuff up again. Flip Flopp..Waah! Waaah!

      • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 12:35 pm

        Stating that the government will commit genocide if we let them take away our guns is fear mongering. Also this statement “As it stands today, our government claims authority to spy on us, to indefinitely detain us and even to murder us—in the name of national security…” Sounds like fear mongering to me. And stating “That’s why gun owners continue to hold the moral high ground and should emphatically reject all attempts to guilt or shame us about owning the tools to do so.” Well that is an insult to most of America who’s views are against guns. One last insult he states “It doesn’t matter if a majority of people subjectively feel a certain displeasure about firearms.” To say this is unconstitutional. We elect our officials to speak for the people and if the majority has this opinion, then our voices must be heard even it does mean modifying laws for the sake of the people. Keep trying John, you might make a valid point one day, although I have my doubts.

        • John March 19, 2018 at 2:00 pm

          Hey no brains and strikeout ! You snowflakes are just too much, entertaining to those of us who have brains and not use our heads for a place to hold our hats….hahahahaha! Never did I think so much stupid could be stored in one head until I met you two mental midgets….

        • John March 19, 2018 at 3:03 pm

          hahahahaha! cry baby..

        • John March 19, 2018 at 3:07 pm

          Your’e not only a liberal cry baby but petty and childish too! Who died and left you the grammar nun anyway ? Why don’t you use your head for something other than a wind chime?

          • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 3:22 pm

            yep ruffled panties again, you can dish it out but can’t take it. You are overly-sensitive and thinned-skinned. You should be proud of what you have accomplished, because if I didn’t know any better I would think that I was talking to Donald Trump himself. It takes hard work to be as much of an ass as him.

          • John March 19, 2018 at 3:38 pm

            not me poop for brains.. hahahahaha! you make me laugh with your stupidity.. go put some flowers on your hildabeast altar

      • Striker4 March 19, 2018 at 1:08 pm

        Oh oh John got his pretty pink panties ruffled again

      • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 1:46 pm

        Only 1/2- 2/3rds of his piece fit my criticism:

        “Even when those in power attempt to weaponize under-informed youth to be their propagandists.”

        “There’s nothing wise or courageous about becoming a political puppet who demands that government deny more of your remaining freedoms.”

        “Power seekers love government because it affords them the opportunity to consolidate authority over their fellow citizens. The longer they remain in power, the more their mendacity begins to show through as they clamor for greater dominance over the people.”

        “Considering that there is no law so small that the state won’t kill you in order to enforce it, this means that even so-called “reasonable” gun regulations are calls for violence against firearms owners who have harmed no one. Advocating for government to send armed men to threaten violence against individuals who have committed no harm is about as immoral as it gets.”

        I think its fair for me to be worried about you after almost a year of your ill-informed, off-base, consistently insulting and irrational statements, John. I sincerely worry you are unwell given your persistently odd interactions here. I have never seen anyone fabricate as many lies and nonsense as you do on the internet. Your behavior is not that of a healthy, functioning citizen.

        I sincerely wish you well despite your viscous and unhinged trolling.

        • John March 19, 2018 at 3:09 pm

          Flip flop..waaah waaah waaah!

          • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

            The flip flop doesn’t even make sense, John. You are persistent with your trolling but its an absolute failure in content. I don’t think you provoked anyone into a unintended response in all of the time I’ve been here.

            I sincerely have pity for you.

    • mater March 19, 2018 at 3:48 pm

      the only thing obvious is your dislike for the author i read no insults other than your and no fear mongering just truth why are you afraid of truth?

      • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 4:32 pm

        Very little fact. Alot of opinion and subjective opinion but not much in the way of objective fact. Big difference.

        Yes, I dislike the author. Instead of stating a valid personal worldview he constantly sets it up with fear mongering and insults. These youth are “puppets” and “underinformed … propagandist”. Gun regulations are “violence” against innocent gun owners. Those who support gun control are “power seekers”. Its unfortunate as one can present a libertarian and small central government position without relying on such ridiculous appeals to emotion. I don’t know of anyone that is “advocating for government to send armed men to threaten violence against individuals who have committed no harm” but Hyde employs this inflammatory rhetoric because its a powerful tool that hides his lack of nuance and gets his intended audience worked up in a froth. I imagine Hyde is an educated thoughtful man who is capable of better than these simplistic essays. Sadly he doesn’t present much of the “common sense” that he self-advertises.

        No need for reason and civil response when jack booted thugs are knocking down your door and your fellow citizens are just power hungry, ignorant fools who want to dominate you.

        • John March 19, 2018 at 6:45 pm

          That’s why it’s called an opinion piece ! duh ! flip flop.waaah waaah!

        • jaybird March 19, 2018 at 9:53 pm

          You are mind blind dude.

          • bikeandfish March 20, 2018 at 12:02 am

            Don’t confuse critical thinking with “mind blindness”. I am fully capable of putting myself in someone else’s shoes. I can fully understand libertarians, christian conservatives, liberal democrats, democratic socialists, etc. Its actually inherent to the relativism I largely support, ie most citizens are largely doing their best at any one moment. But what I don’t support is using political ideology to fear monger, oppress others or fabricate some sort of assumed moral high ground.

            Hyde can support small central government and expansive personal liberty without resorting to excessively lazy rhetoric. But he constantly fear mongers and denigrates large swaths of citizens who happen to have opposing political leanings. Critiquing that behavior is fair.

    • GrandmaB March 26, 2018 at 7:17 pm

      You are a liar Mr. Hyde. Your article is just one huge lie.

      Did you know Hitler never banned gun ownership. Only for the Jews. And yet there was not a people less free that the German white supremecists.

      If what Mr. Hydes regressive quasi intellectualism says is what he believes, no wonder high school kids can destroy his logic. No wonder they can wake up a nation. First, in those countries where these weapons are banned, where they have common sense gun control, they don’t have mass shootings. Second, all the lies being told about what the answer is, more guns, arm the teachers, just researching the mass shootings proves the lie. That is the logic you have to overcome, and you can’t. You can’t overcome the truth.

      “The first thing with which our youth must come to grips is the understanding that there is nothing inherently immoral or evil about owning a particular firearm.”

      No, they don’t have to come to grips with this inherently stupid statement. They have to come to grips with how easy it is to kill with guns. Any gun. Which the kids in that Florida high school understand very well. Better than this cool aide drinker understands.

      THESE KIDS ARE NOT UNDERINFORMED. You are deliberately underinform. You have an agenda, and are willing to tell any lie you can to realize that agenda.

      You want little to no government intrusion on your life. And your pseudo intellectualism would pretend to philosophize about the pretend harmlessness of the ownership of guns. And consequently ignore the deadliness.

      Pretend that all those countries out there who have common sense gun control, without ever having lost their democracies, their freedoms, or even all their guns, don’t have mass shootings. Ignore that those countries who have uncontrolled gun ownership are nothing but killing fields. Ignore it.

  • Snarkles March 19, 2018 at 9:20 am

    As a comparison, I’m afraid to walk our little dog anymore… not because of guns, but because of all the pit bulls and PB mixes, not to mention a wolf-dog in our small housing tract that are allowed to run loose. No one is going to outlaw dogs, and no one is going to outlaw guns in this country. It is the person who owns them that must care enough about other people to behave responsibly and keep them contained, and then be accountable for any harm. We have plenty of laws, just too few people who think laws should be obeyed by themselves. Laws are about protection for all, not restriction for one. Teaching respect for others and property as well as law and order is something that begins in the home while a child is small. Law enforcement can punish but they do not teach. There is no way to remove every harmful thing from our environment. We can only be responsible citizens ourselves and hope this slacker society will start behaving more responsibly.

    • mctrialsguy March 19, 2018 at 11:24 am

      You need to buy a gun and shoot them if the dogs attack you. P.S. I agree regarding pit bulls and the like.

    • McMurphy March 19, 2018 at 3:19 pm

      A couple of towns in Utah have in fact tried to outlaw the ownership of of pit bulls and PB mixes. There were suits challenging those ordinances and I’m not sure where the issues now stands.

    • jaybird March 19, 2018 at 9:56 pm

      You cant outlaw dogs, but YOU can be sued, lose everything you own, if your dog bites and kills a kid. Not a gun seller. No laws to get paid on those spiking hospital bills if your kid gets shot with a gun like AR15.

  • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 10:15 am

    I believe you have your facts mixed up because Sir William Blackstone was discussing the writings of John Locke, they were not Blackstone’s ideas. Most scholars believe that Jefferson derived the most famous ideas in the Declaration of Independence from the writings of English philosopher John Locke. Jefferson got his ideas from Locke’s writing in the “Second Treatise of Government in 1689”. Thomas Jefferson famously wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Neither Thomas Jefferson or John Locke ever mentioned guns as a natural right, this was put in the “bill of rights” which makes owning a gun a legal right, not a natural right. Being that it is a legal right we of course have the right to set limits on what types of guns are sold and by whom and under what conditions. That is the very process by which a right gets defined in a society that protects liberty.

    • mctrialsguy March 19, 2018 at 11:45 am

      You are wrong sir and have twisted the words and thinking as it was originally written and it’s intent. Typical liberal move!

      • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 12:21 pm

        Please do explain? I simply posted facts, my intent was to educate people like you and apparently it didn’t help. I guess intentions are not black and white as you seem to believe.

      • John March 19, 2018 at 12:29 pm

        If you aren’t right, you’re probably a liberal.. HAHA ! Ecclesiastes 10:2 (English Standard Version) A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.

        • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

          I am glad to see you are reading more big boy books. One day you might even be able to copy and paste a valid point to our conversations.

          • John March 19, 2018 at 5:50 pm

            nobrainer, I do, but when dealing with children like you, you have to do so in terms they understand. It’s your problem if everything I post is so far above anything your closed little liberal mind can comprehend ! In your case I really should use stick figures and crayons , but they don’t allow for that here little man !

        • jaybird March 19, 2018 at 9:57 pm

          The toilet man.

      • GrandmaB March 26, 2018 at 7:29 pm

        No Filter is actually correct.

        God did not give you the right to own a gun. I don’t believe he gave us the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness either, but if it makes people sit up and take notice, so be it. But not where guns are concerned. What is humorous to me is the reason all you repube regressives want guns. Because you think that is what is going to make you a “well regulated militia.” That when you start our second revolution, which you think you will fight in, it is going to make you be anything but the coward you are.

        Because only a coward would rationalize the death of our children as the price we pay for our freedom.

        It isn’t. Our militia, our National Guard, is well regulated and will not find you very “well regulated.” So, when you do decide to attack because of some imagined slight, it is going to be fun to watch your candied butts get kicked.

    • McMurphy March 19, 2018 at 3:15 pm

      The right to keep and bear arms is deemed essential to having a meaningful natural right of self defense. The Supreme Court decided that the District of Columbias absolute ban on the ownership of handguns did not pass constitutional muster because it banned an entire class of arms that the American society had overwhelmingly chosen as the preferred class of arms for the lawful purpose of self defense.
      The Supreme Court clearly stated that the decision (Heller v. DC) did not preclude reasonable gun control legislation as long as it was not an unreasonable infringement on the right to keep and bear arms.
      And that of course is the rub in the current debate on gun control; what is reasonable? The Court offered no real yardstick so that subjective determination is being continually hashed out in State and Federal courts.

      • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 4:43 pm

        Its definitely going to be a rough time of uncertainty until the SCOTUS finally rules more on the issue. We now have a federl judge ruling that assault weapons bans are constitutional. I don’t think it will last or be sustained against a strict reading by SCOTUS but its a legal ruling for now. My guess is more states are going to create such. laws and more stores are going to create stricter policy.

        • McMurphy March 19, 2018 at 6:04 pm

          I believe four different Courts of Appeal have decided that banning AR-15 – type arms is not unconstitutional. Unless an appeals court or two decides otherwise I don’t see the Supreme Court rushing to jump into the fray. Clarence Thomas recently called the 2nd Amendment something like the forgotten step child of the Bill of Rights because of the reluctance of the Court to accept 2nd Amendment cases.
          I agree with your guess. Some states, and California is particular, are going to see just how far they can push “unreasonable infringement” before they start losing in court.

          • bikeandfish March 19, 2018 at 9:42 pm

            That seems consistent with what I read. They have an unusual history of waiting longer periods between 2nd Amendment cases though I haven’t seen an explanation why other than tradition.

  • chris keele March 19, 2018 at 10:17 am

    Once again Bryan brings to our attention those points that should be obvious to all with common sense, it’s too bad common sense is not fashionable much anymore. Good job Bryan.

  • max March 19, 2018 at 11:14 am

    One thing that is to be looked at is the drive and motive behind those who are pushing this issue. It is a social stigma that guns are evil and outlawing guns would solve the issue of people being killed. The liberal media will not front page news stories for deaths that do not fall into their liberal agenda. How many deaths do you think happen every day from knife stabbings, muggings, car wrecks, bombs in our schools, etc…. The list of how one person can kill another is endless, but the short minded liberal thinks that making something so insignificant as guns illegal will make the killings stop. I wonder where the news and liberal agenda is at with real issues that kill people, and not to mention, the number 1 harm to our youth these days is DRUGS. Drugs are already illegal, how is that working out for you? I sure don’t see the opiate epidemic killing thousands of people daily on the news. Where do your loyalties lie?

    • mctrialsguy March 19, 2018 at 11:46 am

      We need to just take the guns away from the mentally ill liberals (most of then fit that category) as they commit most of the shootings (Florida, Vegas, Colorado, etc..).

      • PatriotLiberal March 19, 2018 at 12:48 pm

        You know I have not heard anything conclusive about the political leanings of any of the mass shooters you mentioned. Would you care to provide the source of your claim that the shooters were “mentally ill liberals”?

        Keep in mind that I’m looking for reputable sources only. Blogs and sites with a obvious political leaning one way or the other are not “reputable”, btw. Unless, of course you can provide 4-5 sources with different leanings that say the same thing.

        I look forward to what I’m sure will be a calm, cogent reply.

      • John March 19, 2018 at 6:14 pm

        In other words, the oxy moron wants you to provide a source he understands such as sesame street or one of the other fake news indoctrination sites. Ft Hood Shooter: Reg­istered Democrat and Muslim.

        Columbine Shooters: Too young to vote … both families were Registered Democrats and progressive liberals.

        Virginia Tech shooter: Wrote hate mail to President Bush and to his staff. Registered Democrat.

        Colorado theater shooter: Registered Democrat, staff worker on the Obama campaign, occu­py wall street participant .. progressive liberal.

        Connecticut school shooter: Registered Democrat. Hated Christians.

    • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 11:50 am

      The opiate epidemic is caused largely by the “legal” prescription of pain medications, not just illegal drugs. Many people use illegal opiates because they become addicted to pain medications that our doctors hand out like candy and when they stop working or get cut off from their doctor they seek them illegally, so your drug theory is flawed. You are correct to say that making guns illegal will not stop people from getting guns, but every mass shooting may have been stopped if more strict laws were in place. Do your research and you will see that these mass shooters got their guns legally. A untrained 19 year old does not need to have an AR-15. Making people have a license, or a training course, or even a waiting period will help deter people from buying them legally for use in such mass shootings. We are trying to stop mass shootings and they only answer the right wing media and its supporters have is to give people more guns. Your logic does not work. It’s like saying the best way to fix the clogged traffic is to add more cars.

      • max March 19, 2018 at 1:50 pm

        It’s not just opiates. Do you even know how much cocaine, heroine, meth, marijuana is on our streets at this very moment. step outside and open your eyes to the drug culture that is everywhere. And I disagree with your last statement. If I were to go along with that, I would have to say that it does work. The more people have guns, the more of a deterrent there is for crime. So as it was said, Your logic does not work. Its like walking into a police station to rob the place.

  • reddirt March 19, 2018 at 12:44 pm

    Well said Brian! So refreshing to feel the warm breeze of reason, versus the hurricane of hysteria that far to many people fall victim too.

    • reddirt March 19, 2018 at 1:04 pm

      My Apologies “Bryan” , for misspelling your name earlier. To borrow a line from “The man from Snowy River. “Your welcome at my fire , anytime.”

  • John March 19, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    Triggered liberals are the funniest things to watch, always wrong and never a clue ! hahahahahaha!

    • Death Valley March 19, 2018 at 4:28 pm

      It must be sad living in your mind.

      • John March 19, 2018 at 5:52 pm

        Actually it’s quite fun watching the liberal lemmings chasing a carrot. You should stay in California with the rest of the bong breathers. Besides, what’s your pointless point this time you dehydrated grey matter fool?

        • Death Valley March 20, 2018 at 7:00 am

          It appears you are a sad and pathetic man who sits behind a keyboard and rattles off insults as if they mean anything. No wonder everyone in the comments gives you crap. You deserve every bit of it. Childish to the end.

  • comments March 19, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    overall good writeup here, bryan. the bolshevik communists also promised some type of utopian socialist dreamworld, where you could always trust the intentions of big brother gov’t… human nature won over in the end, and it ended up being the most murderous, tyrannical regime in history.

  • comments March 19, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Oh my goodness, I watched the YT link. These little naive teenies should never be given a soapbox and a loudspeaker. I’ve heard people say that they believe the post-millennial generation (like the young idiot in the video) will have more common sense and be able to think for themselves when compared to millennials, but these post-millennials may actually end up being worse–dumbed down by social media and more brainwashed than ever.

    • No Filter March 19, 2018 at 5:28 pm

      I truly hope you didn’t reproduce because people like you need to have their gene pool dry up and die.

      • John March 19, 2018 at 5:54 pm

        no brainer, Your family has been swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool for generations..Which explains quite a bit . hahahahahaha!

        • jaybird March 19, 2018 at 9:59 pm

          John, get back on the short bus home.

      • McMurphy March 19, 2018 at 6:07 pm

        Not only do they breed — they vote.

      • McMurphy March 19, 2018 at 7:21 pm

        My comment on voting was supporting No Filter, not John.

        • John March 19, 2018 at 7:57 pm

          Your family has been swimming in that shallow end too! Won’t be long now and you will be as smart as a chimp!

      • comments March 19, 2018 at 8:02 pm

        No filters, have you a crush on the little boy in that video? He is a suave looking fellow, and I see why you’d crush on him, but he’s as clueless and naive as about all leftist-brainwashed post-millennial teenies. When you say things as above it actually reveals a lot about your character– venomous and vile.

        • bikeandfish March 20, 2018 at 12:11 am

          Exhibiting your own character flaws by constantly mocking people with homophobic innuendoes. Policing people with not so subtle jabs about assumed sexuality has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

          Though No Filter surely could have avoided the breeding insult.

          Not sure why you are so concerned with the teenager in the video. Some folks just aren’t natural public speakers and he likely doesn’t have that sort of exposure at his age. For most of us its a skill developed slowly over time (or completely avoided). All things considered he did alright for being new the national stage. I doubt many of us would be better speaking about a hot topic only weeks after surviving a mass shooting as a teenager.

          • comments March 20, 2018 at 12:32 pm

            Bike, here’s my bias: I simply don’t like teenies who are obnoxious or naive and would prefer to never hear them speak. Essentially, they are mental children. I’ve been very impressed by a few, but that boy in that video is just parroting leftist drivel without a single independent thought–I suppose he’ll make a good future politician in that respect. 😉

          • bikeandfish March 20, 2018 at 7:34 pm

            Luckily teenagers have the same rights we do when it comes to speech. His statements could be the result.of independent thought. Its not shocking for a teenager who survived a mass shooting to be pro “comprehensive gun control”. Any kid who survived that rightfully deserves a microphone to air their opinions. Its ridiculous to chastise them for having the courage to stand up for change after surviving something that traumatic. His efforts are the core component of active citizenry (same for the survivors fighting against gun control).

          • comments March 20, 2018 at 10:09 pm

            BIKE, I FIND NOTHING INDICATING THIS BOY IN HYDE’S VIDEO LINK IS A MASS SHOOTING SURVIVOR. WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THIS INFO?

          • bikeandfish March 21, 2018 at 10:14 am

            Comment,

            You are right in that correction. I confused his face for a student from Stoneman Douglas which was incorrect.

            Sorry for the mistake.

  • jaybird March 19, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    Yeah, until YOU OR YOUR KIDS are faced with an AR15. F the NRA and all you gun loving weeners. Big talkers until ur under fire. Im with those kids.

    • John March 20, 2018 at 7:01 am

      jailbird, All my kids own AR15s , are fully trained responsible NRA members, unlike you who is a panty wearing carrot chasing indoctrinated liberal fool! Did your parents gave any kids without brain damage?

  • Ladyk March 20, 2018 at 12:29 am

    What did Hitler do first? Take away the personal firearms. The battle between those of us who own guns and will NEVER give them up vs those who have no understanding why we feel the way we do about our guns is not going to be solved. I don’t expect to change one person’s mind by facts and what I consider rational thinking as there are just to many variables.

    But I find it extremely disengenous that we give such a big voice to it when the chance of a school kid being killed by an armed intruder is so very low yet there are over 4300 deaths each year by underage drinking. How many of these kids will pledge not to drink and drive or not to smoke or do drugs. It is beyond horrible that any child looses their life for any reason but if you really want to make a difference there are better ways than arguing back and forth.

    #1 You aren’t going to get my guns, move on.
    #2 Underage drinking is killing more youth than any other thing.

    I do think some things can be done to tighten up some of the gun laws and programs to get some of the illegal guns off the streets and away from inner city kids (ie: Chicago) but if you are going to stand on a soap box and say that gun owners are to blame for the death of these kids and therefore all guns are bad you are fighting a losing battle.

    • bikeandfish March 20, 2018 at 8:46 am

      No one is asking to confiscate your guns.

    • GrandmaB March 26, 2018 at 7:55 pm

      Hitler never took guns away from the white nationalist german people. Only from the Jews. My god, at least get your facts straight. Then ruled them with an iron fascist hand. Never a people less free. Your right, your need to own guns just incase you want to go to war with your own government is not rational.

      Anyone who can rationalize the killing of children as the price we pay for freedom is freaking sick.

  • John March 20, 2018 at 7:54 am

    The liberals who comment on this page make it perfectly clear as to why the Democrat party’s mascot is a donkey ! What a bunch of addicted carrot chasers ! hahahahahahahaha!

    • Death Valley March 20, 2018 at 2:53 pm

      Keep telling yourself these things. You clearly need to seek help.
      I’m sure you’ll come up with some ridiculously “witty” comeback. I eagerly await your ignorant drivel, oh wise one.

  • sagemoon March 20, 2018 at 11:20 am

    Thank you, Bryan, for a very thoughtful opinion piece. I enjoyed reading this and seeing another’s perspective on gun ownership and control. Speaking of liberty, I think it’s a shame that many who commented on this opinion piece get so upset over our right to free speech and having an opinion. I didn’t feel like you were trying to instill fear in me at all.

    • bikeandfish March 20, 2018 at 7:26 pm

      Speaking for myself, I am not “upset over our right to free speech and having an opinion” as criticism is part and parcel of free speech.

      You may not feel fear after reading Hyde’s piece but, as previously cited, Hyde undoubtedly uses fear mongering and inflammatory rhetoric.

      • sagemoon March 21, 2018 at 8:28 am

        Hmm, I don’t see it that way. I see a person using history to support their opinion.

        • bikeandfish March 21, 2018 at 9:59 am

          Fear mongering rhetoric:

          “Considering that there is no law so small that the state won’t kill you in order to enforce it, this means that even so-called “reasonable” gun regulations are calls for violence against firearms owners who have harmed no one. Advocating for government to send armed men to threaten violence against individuals who have committed no harm is about as immoral as it gets.”

          That is not a statement based on rational interpretation od American history. Comprehensive gun control, ie the ultimate point of Hyde’s argument via the convoluted long path from Eric Garner, is not about sending government forces to your house to confiscate guns and Hyde knows this. That entire paragraph is a prime example of fear mongering, ie “the spreading of frightening and exaggerated rumors of an impending danger or the habit or tactic of purposely and needlessly arousing public fear about an issue.”. Hyde is clearly using exaggerated rumors of impending danger, both genocide and government violence against peaceful citizens, to support his narrow view of gun ownership. Its fair to highlight genocide and extreme government violence aren’t remotely relevant to this explicit issue. His entire argument lacks common sense.

          The fact is Hyde could talk about the historical foundations of the 2nd Amendment without resorting to these lazy and cowardly exaggerations. For me the question is why doesn’t he present his ideas rationally in a way that educates instead of relying on fear mongering?

          • sagemoon March 21, 2018 at 1:58 pm

            Fear mongering rhetoric is what I see when I look at the picture attached to this story: “Fear has no place in schools” and “Thoughts and prayers don’t save lives, gun reform will.” I wonder if anyone bothered to point that out to those kids holding the signs?

          • bikeandfish March 21, 2018 at 3:28 pm

            But the ones you highlight don’t actually fit the definition. These kids are dealing with real and actual gun violence, not exaggerations. Do you know how common it is now for most schools to have active shooter drills and plans? When you have to practice these scenarios its not exaggerated to talk about fear in schools. Its also fair to highlight that “thoughts and prayers” has become the useless rhetoric of politicians who refuse to engage the issue.

            Your definition of fear mongering is inverted.

  • homer498 March 20, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    I’ve always thought we should stop sanitizing the results, and immediate effects of these school shootings for the sake of the emotional state of the American public. It’s easy to hide behind a keyboard and talk about your 2nd Amendment rights when you’ve never held the right hand of a dying six year old boy because his left arm was missing. Then while kneeling at his side, having to look into the most terrified eyes imaginable you had to tell him to “be quiet now” because he kept trying to speak to you even though you knew his lower jaw was blown off and he had no mouth to speak out of. That child’s name was Noah Pozner. I have no problem with the 2nd amendment; but I have a big problem with people wasting time arguing about it when we are all “On the clock” again ticking down to the next dead child. We talk about this stuff at such a distance we might as well be sitting on the moon. Forget guns, forget mental health issues, and forget anything that can’t be put in place within days or weeks to protect our schools. There is a free open source research paper being put together now that will contain offensive & defensive actions that any teacher can implement w/o permission from anyone. The paper is referred to as “The Badshitzoo Doctrine:” Named after the bravest little dogs in the world. Send imaginative ideas and “crazy” solutions to [email protected]

    • homer498 March 20, 2018 at 5:01 pm

      We are interested in any and all ideas from everyone; however, we would especially like to hear ideas from the following among us:
      Prison Emergency Response Team members who have expert knowledge of performing cell extractions
      Prison inmates who have extensive experience defending against cell extractions
      Intelligence professionals with expert knowledge of deceptive combat tactics
      Computer hackers with expert knowledge of Social Engineering tactics
      Computer Security Engineers with expert knowledge of defending against Social Engineering tactics
      Special Investigators from any & all branches of government
      Hollywood types, audio/sound specialists and professional Magicians
      First Responders, EMT’s, Paramedics, ER trauma specialists
      Pain threshold specialists and non-lethal force specialists

  • John March 20, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    Research from the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that 98 percent of all public mass shootings that occurred between 1950 and July 10, 2016, happened in gun-free zones like Stoneman Douglas High School. It was Joe Biden who conceived gun free zones in 1990. Everybody that wants to shoot up a school knows that they are going to be the only one armed. That’s one big liberal policy that is blowing up in their faces BIG TIME! If it isn’t broken , it’s because the liberals haven’t tried to fix it yet !

    • homer498 March 21, 2018 at 5:20 am

      Now that you’ve identified yourself clearly as a person of hate John, why not turn all that hatred into something positive and think of some good ideas to protect your fellow Americans as well as their children. Gun free zone or not, Democrat or Republican, Black, White, or Mexican; legal resident, illegal resident, or anchor baby mamas like our new first lady. It will take all kinds of creative ideas to stop this on the ground, and starting on the ground in the classrooms with if not fortified the doors ways represent what we call Single Points of Failure. SPF’s have to be defended. So regardless of your hatred for so many of your fellow American, how can your creative side help us stop these shootings. The are numerous environments in school we need help with: Thank you for your support for the “badshitzoo Doctrine.”

      • John March 21, 2018 at 11:11 pm

        Go eat a donut! doh!

        • homer498 March 22, 2018 at 9:26 am

          Well said John. If you want my comeback you can ask your mom for it: Second thought; You are an absolute embarrassment to all Americans, and the human race as a whole. I hope you are proud of yourself. We need all hands on deck to stop the mass murder of American children: and all you can offer is “Go eat a donut! doh!” Get back under that long row of bar stools my friend.

          • John March 22, 2018 at 11:52 am

            yes, outlaw liberals like you and the problem is solved. All the schools have to to is implement some of the security procedures that are in use effectively in our airports. If you are a big enough fool to be blaming guns, you probably also believe cars cause drunk drivers.. DOH moron ! GO EAT ANOTHER DONUT HOMER !!

  • Mike P March 21, 2018 at 9:13 am

    Seriously. Who wrote this guys by-line? ” speaker of truth, a disciple of liberty. a voice of reason “, etc, etc, etc What the heck!!?? Someone really thinks highly of this writer!. Geeze !

  • GrandmaB March 26, 2018 at 7:42 pm

    “Our young people must understand that we’ve each inherited a moral duty to claim, exercise and defend all of our rights. That’s why gun owners continue to hold the moral high ground and should emphatically reject all attempts to guilt or shame us about owning the tools to do so.”

    The idea that you have a “moral high ground” is ludicrous.

    The person that wrote these words and those of you out there who believe this garbage, are cowards. And liars.

    It is the regressive repubes who are doing everything they can to deprive people from voting.

    It is the regressive repubes who would deprive those who are brown or black or worship a different god who would pretend these folks aren’t human, so it is OK to kill them, marginalize their lives.

    It is the regressive repubes who have accepted a president who cavorts with prostitutes and porn stars, rapes 13 year old girls, who has brought a foreign enemy into our country to mess with our elections and now our infrastructure. Had any problems with your electricity lately??? A business man who doesn’t pay his labor, declared bankruptcy 6 times, can’t string a coherent sentence together without help.

    You won’t be fighting for your rights, your freedoms but your ability to deprive others of those things. Your cowards. You don’t want religious freedom, you want to deprive others of their ability to live their lives and believe according to their own conscience.

    But, most important, your liars. Just like your president. A people deserve the government they elect.

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