Hesston shooting and gun control hysteria

Tonight, our country is reeling from yet another mass shooting. This time it happened in a small, quiet Kansas town - Hesston. Sadly, this is becoming all the more routine.

As such, the gun control lobby will be seizing on this opportunity to rail - as usual - for ever-stricter gun laws. You know it's coming. It always does. But before this usual mantra gets too much traction, let's take a look at the facts:

What we know as of 7:30 pm Central time:

• The shooter in this incident was killed by law enforcement officers during the incident. 
• Unfortunately, not before he claimed 20-or-so victims - two of whom have died.
• He posted video of him shooting an automatic weapon [as in NOT a semi-automatic weapon] on his Facebook page September 20, 2015.
• According to online court records, Ford has a criminal record in Harvey County, Kansas. He was arrested on December 17, 2010, and charged with a parole violation, domestic battery, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, traffic violations and theft.*
• And he has a felony record in Florida (Broward and Miramar counties) from 1997-2000 for multiple burglary convictions, grand theft, fleeing from police, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and a prowling conviction.**

So before the liberals start running their mouths with the usual hysteria about more gun control laws and how nobody should own guns with magazines greater than [you pick the capacity] blahblahblahblahblah, let me point out a few things;

• Convicted felons cannot own guns of any kind, and
• For even those eligible for gun ownership, machine gun - automatic vs semi-automatic weapon ownership takes special federal permits and licenses.

Hence, it seems to me that the problem has little or nothing to do with existing laws. Said shooter was not eligible to own a firearm of ANY kind and certainly not an automatic weapon.

Maybe there's not a lack of laws causing the problem, but rather a lack of enforcement of current laws...

And while we're at it, maybe our society should take a look at how the lack of 

• common moral values ("Thou shalt not murder," comes to mind), 
• respect for the value of human life, and
• a society that emphasizes "it's all about me" thinking 

leads to this kind of breakdown.

Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Those kinds of subjects aren't "politically-correct." And, building up the moral fiber of our culture won't enable certain elitists to further take away the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens.

And so, tragically, this kind of insanity will likely continue as our culture continues its slide down into the abyss....

**

* Cleary, T. (25 February, 2016) Cedric Ford: 5 fast facts you need to know. Retrieved 25 February, 2016 from http://heavy.com/news/2016/02/cedric-ford-excel-industries-hesston-kansas-shooting-shooter-gunman-photos-family-wife-facebook-kids-record-children-motive-painter-video/
**CBSN, Verified account ‏@CBSNLive 25 February, 2016 MORE: Cedric Ford, ID'd as Hesston shooter, had multiple past convictions, @KWCH12 reports http://cbsn.ws/1KP1kRa

The Little Red Hen

This story has been around for decades. But, considering how decayed and corrupt our society and culture has become - hence the popularity of presidential candidates Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and their socialist views that feed the entitlement mentality - this little fable is all the more relevant today.



Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered some grains of wheat. She called her neighbors and said, "If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat.  Who will help me plant it?"

"Not I," said the cow.

"Not I," said the duck.

"Not I," said the pig.

"Not I," said the goose.

"Then I will," said the little red hen. And she did. The wheat grew tall and ripened into golden grain.  "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.

"Not I," said the duck.

"Out of my classification," said the pig.

"I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.

"I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.

"Then I will," said the little red hen, and she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake the bread?" asked the little red hen.

"That would be overtime for me," said the cow.

"I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.

"I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.

"If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.

"Then I will," said the little red hen.

She baked five loaves and held them up for her neighbors to see.  They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I can eat the five loaves."

"Excess profits!" cried the cow.

"Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck.

"I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose.

And the pig just grunted. And they painted "unfair" picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

When the government agent came, he said to the little red hen, "You must not be greedy."

"But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.

"Exactly," said the agent. "That is the wonderful free enterprise system. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. 

But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide their product with the idle."

And they lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful. I am grateful."

But her neighbors wondered why she never again baked any more bread.