In the Marine Corps, I was an expert marksman with both the .45 pistol and the M1 rifle. But I left the Corps in 1958 because I was much more interested in loving people than shooting them.

I have no problem with people owning rifles and pistols, but I have a real hard time when I hear them talk about their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, which could theoretically include tanks, artillery, machine guns, and bazookas. The Second Amendment was added to our Constitution in 1791, at a time when the Founding Fathers felt that people had a right and even a duty to own armaments so they could maintain state militias. There was no professional police force back then. Whenever I hear people spouting off about their Second Amendment right, their line of thinking reminds me of those twenty-first-century folks who claim that the earth is flat and only thousands of years old instead of billions. That kind of outdated, fallacious thinking allows Joe Crazy, with his twenty-nine assault rifles, to scream for his “rights.”

I have never been a fan of the National Rifle Association and the power it holds in this country. The NRA folks own Congress, and they know it. As a result, the fox (the majority of NRA-backed Congressmembers) is guarding the hen house (making the rules). As is blatantly evident, nothing concerning mass killings will ever change as long as the NRA is pulling the strings. In my opinion, responsibility for the recent mass murders of schoolchildren falls squarely in the lap of Congress. The NRA only has power because of the greed of Congress, who could care less about you, me, and dead children. The Congressmembers’ primary concerns are money, power, and getting re-elected, and the NRA fills all those needs.

I have an easy solution to this problem: print a public list of all those folks in Congress who received money from the NRA and how much they sold out for. I know I would never vote for anyone backed by the NRA. I’m sick and tired of the NRA running this country, and it has been for as long as I can remember.

However, I wouldn’t even bother to write this blog post if I didn’t see a ray of hope in Isaiah 11:6. As I watch the bravery and the brazenness of the high school students in Florida, I keep thinking of that passage in Isaiah 11:6 that says someday the wolf will lie with the lamb, the leopard with the goat, and the calf with the lion, “and a little child shall lead them.”

I have hope that all the “little children” of Florida will bring the NRA to its knees, bring Congress to its senses, and make our government listen to the citizens who want the Second Amendment to get a reality check so those of us who don’t possess armaments and don’t want to (like most teachers) don’t have to feel like we live in a constant war zone. I take my hat off to the young people of our already great country for showing us grownups and the government how to do our job.

I have already heard that the NRA folks are counting on the youth movement fading away with summer vacation so the mass killings can continue. (I can’t believe I just wrote that!) So keep it up, little children. You’re doing great!

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