I had a family emergency which resulted in my extended absence from this blog. I have not been ignoring the questions and emails which have come in, I was just not in any shape to do anything. While things have settled, this is a situation that cannot be cured, only endured. Those who know me personally know what happened, those who do not will, I am sure, bear with me as I try to get everything going again.

There was a horrific mass shooting in the small town of Sutherland Springs, Texas. At the last count I have as of this writing, 26 people were murdered and another 20 were injured. The victims ranged in age from unborn to 77 years old. As might be expected in a small town, nine of the victims were from the same family. As the gunman exited the Church, he was met with fire from one of the citizens of Sutherland Springs, Stephen Wileford. Wileford shot the murderer twice, causing him to drop his rifle. The attacker then tried to escape in his vehicle. Wileford flagged down a passing motorist, Johnnie Langendorff, informed him of what had happened, and the two pursued the killer. The killer ended up as mass shooters do when confronted by opposing force – he shot himself in the head.

Without leaving any time for the families to mourn their dead, politicians and media began calls for gun control and even gun confiscation. The term common sense began to get more use, as happens after these tragedies.

But, under existing gun law, the murderer should not have been allowed to buy the guns at all. Everything that serves to prevent a person from buying a gun, this killer had. Dishonorable discharge from the military, spousal abuse, child abuse, mental health issues, and on and on. No one, from your most blue liberal to the reddest conservative would want someone like this guy to be able to purchase firearms.

Here is a fact that is ignored; the bad guy attacked with an AR-15 style weapon, and was stopped by a good guy with an AR-15 style firearm. Having an AR type weapon put the good guy on equal footing with the bad guy, and bad guys hate that. When confronted by an equal force, the bad guys tend to get very suicidal. This was a case of the bad guy with a gun being stopped by a good guy with a gun, writ large. Proof positive that there are gun owners who do not want to hurt anyone, but will definitely take out the bad guy when and if the time comes.

While politicians wring their hands and say we must do something the simple facts are screaming an answer. If we enforce existing laws, and if we start to look seriously at the mental health factor in these crimes, we can start to make progress. While personal responsibility seems to be an almost quaint idea from a bygone era, we need to be honest enough to admit that the individuals who kill are the ones who should be blamed, and not our society, or the tools which the sickos use.

I am at a point right now where I am having a very hard time pretending that trivialities are important. So please take this as it is, coming from my heart. Be nice to one another, look out for each other, hug those you love, tell them that you love them even if you think they grow tired of hearing it, be there when they need you, live as an example to the world, dampen your angry talk, ignore hateful people, don’t escalate violent talk, be quick to forgive, and if the bad guy shows up to harm the innocents in any way, do what needs to be done. Do the right thing, even when there are easier and safer choices. You will never regret doing the right thing.