Why am I being punished?

by Tim Inwood

What crime have I committed? Under what legal concept am I guilty? Seriously, what did I have to do with the tragedy in Newtown? I did not know the shooter or his family, never have been to the town. In fact, I have no connection to any of the school shootings in this nation's history. However, as an American who chooses to own semi-automatic firearms, I and millions like me are about to have a punitive sentence land on our heads like a hammer from Hades if Senator Diane Feinstein gets her way.

Feinstein's bill, as unveiled in early January, would grandfather those firearms already in private hands. But there is a catch: they would the fall under the National Firearms Act, the law regulating machine guns and other Class III devices. We would have to register each and every gun, be fingerprinted and photographed, and get permission from our local chief law enforcement officer to keep our own property, not to mention a tax of $200 apiece to keep what is already ours. This is just on guns; magazines apparently are handled the same way as well. It will bankrupt people to keep their property.

To top this off, they will not be transferable. You can't sell them or leave them to your heirs, so even our children will be punished. This is criminal. I know many people who see their collections as investments, just like others do with gold coins or fine works of art. Their collections are something they can enjoy but also appreciate in value, a hedge against inflation and part of their security in retirement. A gun collection has the added benefit of providing security for their families from criminals and, bluntly speaking, tyrants.

When you die, under her proposal, guns would have to be turned over for destruction. Now, I must ask what right do they have to confiscate expensive, valuable private property? I know they have the power, but what about the right? Where is the justice in this? Is this American fair play as we knew it?

The media and the talking heads claim these extraordinary things must be done because this is a crisis. I have been pondering this "crisis," and I ask all of you to think about these facts using their logic:

From 1980 up to the Sandy Hook shooting, there have been 297 tragic deaths in school shootings in the U.S. As noted before, the politicians tell us this constitutes a crisis that justifies gun bans.

However, since the start of the administration's Fast and Furious program, where they supplied thousands of guns to thugs, over 400 people have been brutally killed on both sides of the border by the very guns Obama gave criminals.

Following the logic of the day, it seems that this is the true crisis, and that Congress should consider impeaching President Obama and his minions who caused far more deaths in far less time. That makes more sense than punishing innocent gun owners for crimes we had nothing to do with.

Bluntly put, Congress should IMPEACH OBAMA FOR THE DEATHS HE CAUSED! They should leave us, who had nothing to do with these crimes, and our rights, unmolested.

But do I think they will do the right thing and indict Obama instead of us? No.

Sadly, we have a kind of national insanity in this country right now. People who live responsibly and work hard are punished for it in a variety of ways, including punitive taxation, whereas folks who behave in an irresponsible manner and run amok are rewarded with government checks funded via taxation from responsible folks, who, I might add, are being told they are not paying their fair share and must pony up more. We punish industry and reward sloth, as if lunatics ran the country. This might explain why the word lunatic has been stricken from use in Government documents—I guess it stung too much.

Expecting sanity in Washington these days may be too much when we have rejected all the things that made America great and embraced all the things which we once reviled, rejected, and ridiculed as wrong. Their media allies are not interested in crime guns when they come from the President. They are his loyal lap dogs, advocates for his cause and interested here only in banning the guns of law-abiding Americans.

The deck is stacked against us for sure, but don't go down without a fight, my friends. Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and make clear that no new anti-gun legislation is acceptable.

Get in the fight now before it is too late. Make the calls to Washington today!

Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA and Life Member of the OGCA, Republican Central Committeeman for Chester Township A, in Clinton County, Ohio, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association.