It has come to my understanding that there is a small faction of my viewership, or should I say former viewership, that is unhappy with my recent posts on firearms. To all you folks out there who don't believe in our right to bear arms, well, you can all go and fuck yourselves. That's right, I said it; I don't really care if you don't follow the blog anymore. The Second Amendment is a core of the foundation of our great nation, whether you choose to believe it or not. I'm not going to go into a rant on here on why the Second Amendment is a necessary component of our freedom, or of the merits of gun ownership, but I will give you a virtual bitch slap for comparing my responsible ownership of a firearm to a violent crime committed by some dipshit who disrespects life.
This is not an issue of Left or Right. Gun crimes and deaths unfortunately occur across the country every year, but so do malpractice deaths, vehicular accidents, lung cancer deaths, poisonings, falls, etc. Yet, if you look at the actual numbers, gun deaths are one of the lowest causes of death. Don't believe me, then take a look at the facts. So how can some "hippie fly fisherman who listens to the Dead", support guns and gun ownership? Because I am an American first and foremost, and transcend above labels and stereotypical ideology.
For those who may ask why a fly angler needs guns, the answer is simple, I like to harvest my own fly tying materials as well as provide the occasional meal to my family. While I don't feel obligated to justify the needs nor defend my rights to gun ownership, I will say that a game animal taken in the humane manner of hunting suffers far less in providing its flesh and hide than any livestock slaughtered from a feed lot. For those fly anglers or tyers who think that they are above the need for guns or weapons of any form in order to participate in this sport, think again. Hand over those flies. Hell, handover those gotdamned $50 Abel nippers hanging from your vest, as the TSA likely classifies that as a weapon too.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
I don't tolerate violence of any form, but in the course of preserving freedom, understand that sometimes it is a necessary evil to bear arms in order to defend the rights that made this great nation what it is today. The very fact that we are able to voice opinion in an open forum without fear of persecution or even death (unlike the folks in Libya, Egypt, Turkey, the list goes on and on) is a very testament to the rights many have served and died to protect. For all those servicemen and women and members of the law enforcement community, I want to thank you for your service. To all of the men and women who have died while in the line of duty, there is nothing that I can do or say other than to proudly honor your memory for sacrificing your lives defending the freedoms of our great nation. You will not be forgotten.