imagine if you will growing up in a country where handguns are not prevalent and then viewing our culture as represented by MSM and the movie industy.
I have to think most of us would have a different perspective if that were the case.
It saddens me to see us condemn or ridicule folks that have traditionally been our greatest allies and those we have most in common with culturally and philosophically, mainly because they have not experienced some of the freedom we are allowed.
Mole?? maybe, but I doubt it, probably just someone from a different culture and place that does enjoy firearm ownership in the manner allowed by law in their own country.
In my mind it's akin to some of what I've seen in the field up here when we had clients from different places in the US to come hunting. No they are not as well versed in the dangers and conditions this great land I call home are prone to.
Some of the guys I worked with liked to belittle them in private or make fun of them, I didn't particularly see it as such, I saw guys that had the same passion to come and hunt Alaska as I did, but fate or circumstance had kept them from doing it till they had perfected their outdoor skills to their environment, NOT mine. It was my duty to "guide" them to see what a wonderful place this could be though not without peril and in some cases peril that wasn't first and foremost in their mind.
And c'mon all of you freedom fighters, we all practice the ability to use and carry firearms as our laws allow in our country for the most part, how many of us have rifles with shorter than 16 inch barrels or shotguns shorter than 18", or fully automatic rifles without a class III license, because it's none of the governments biz what we choose to arm ourselves with?
Don't get me wrong, I love guys that will step to the plate and defend the place I call home the USA, I have as much patriotic pride about our home as anyone.
But do you think for just a minute with current world opinion of our country based on skewed perceptions of the MSM and Hollyweird that we might be better served to take a few guys from other countries that share our passion for the outdoors and firearms to try to "guide" them to see the benefit of our way of life rather than smack them down with a sledgehammer at their first bewilderment of why what we have is so important to us?
All I'm asking is to give the benefit of the doubt, the truth comes out soon enough if given the chance.
There was a time BCBrian and kutenay made my blood boil with insinuations about our country in some of their posts, but often they were doing it to defend Canada from slights they perceived. I've come to believe they are both men of worth and would do to ride the river with or go into battle if such be the need.
imo opinion there is a bigger picture out there these days, the Muslim threat is real to most of the free world, it just makes sense to me we treat people that our traditionally our allies wit respect and friendship or at least they be given the benefit of the doubt until it is evident they are deserving of neither.
heck we have people in our own country that are mind poisoned about the 2nd Ammendment, it seems they deserve our ire, folks not brought up here it seems to me would be better served with patience and explanation about what our life and freedoms are actually like rather than scorn or derision. YMMV
I love you guys that I know would die for this country willingly, but there's folks from other parts of the world that have had our back in major wars, we disdain Frenchmen for not remembering or appreciating the valor of the generation before us.
I hope we don't find ourselves guilty of doing the same to our Canadian, Australian and New Zealand friends!
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
