Supreme Court decision on guns

The media was up in arms over the Supreme Court's decision to allow people in Washington, DC to have personal weapons legally. DC had gone for 32 years with a "no-guns" allowed law and continued to be plagued with some of the worst crime rates in the country. I have a friend who has a "conceal to carry" license, but it is not something I particularly desire.

I grew up in Colorado where every household had its collection of hunting rifles. My father had a 300 Savage semi-automatic which was too heavy to carry very long while out hunting. He also had a modified 9mm Mauser which had a 30.06 barrel on it. That gun was his pride and joy. There were several winters when the only meat we had was the game my father killed with those guns. The only gun I could use was a lowly .22. When I was old enough to have my own hunting rifle, my dad bought me a 32 special Winchester, one of the finest rifles of its kind. I still have the rifle but I haven't fired it in years and keep no ammunition in the house for it. I have no desire to go hunting, but I have friends that get a great deal of enjoyment from the practice.

The Supreme Court made the right decision. Our founding fathers understood the importance of having your own weapons for food supply and self-protection. Criminals always have the ability to find weapons regardless of the law. The law-abiding person should not be denied his rights just because some nut runs into the post office and shoots the place up.

Years ago after President Richard M. Nixon left office and his Vice-President Spiro Agnew also was removed from office, the office of the president fell to Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford was a zero as a president. He didn't do anything significant nor did he do anything bad. He had the misfortune of two attempts on his life. Which brings us to gun control.

Gerald Ford along with other Republicans came to Grand Junction Colorado to provide support for the Republican candidates that year. Before he arrived the Secret Service came to town to scope out the situation. The Secret Service was not in town long before they sent word back to Washington that they needed to beef up security in Grand Junction, a sleepy little college town of around 80,000 people in Western Colorado. Why were they concerned? "This is an armed camp over here! Every pickup has two to three high powered weapons hanging in the back window." What they failed to realize was that it was hunting season. It was also a status symbol to show off your arsenal in the back of your pickup. If it had been necessary to protect the president these men and women would have been first with their high-powered guns to defend the president and the constitution. He was not in danger, but in one of safest places on earth for an American president.

Many extra Secret Service were brought in. Sharp shooters were posted on the tallest buildings along the route the president would follow. But there were no incidents. Grand Junction was not made up of thieves, killers, and assassins, but just good old common folk that enjoyed their guns.

As a footnote, not one candidate that Ford campaigned for in Colorado was elected. Gerald Ford would maintain a home at Vail, Colorado for years. He probably never knew the "danger" he faced in Grand Junction.