Back in Dodge City …

I guess it’s back to the “good ol’ days” when people in the Wild West were carrying six-guns on their hips, having quick-draw and shooting contests, sometimes even on the streets of Dodge City. Yeehaw, Marshall Dillon. Maybe our smart lawmakers and NRA supporters will let us carry assault weapons too.

Won’t we all feel safer, too, at our churches, theaters, weddings, banks, bathrooms, bars, and at ballgames? Having your gun displayed will say, “don’t mess with me, you SOB.” Too bad Jesus and his “Posse of 12” didn’t have guns, for we all know WJWD, right?

Guns and the Second Amendment do not supercede the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and justice for all. Nor do they provide for a safer world.

Do you remember the statement by FDR, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”? Uncalled-for fear and distrust are causing us to lose sight of our inalienable rights.

When these rights are superceded by fear, you have injustice, loss of freedom, people taking the law into their own hands, and hate and prejudice taking hold. Examples: Native Americans and African Americans being treated as subhuman; Japanese Americans forced into internment camps, leaving all their belongings behind; citizens being accused of having Communist ties; women being treated as second-class citizens (sadly from long-held biblical beliefs) so they couldn’t vote or get equal pay or equal respect; people of different faiths and beliefs like Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Hindus, etc., and many ethnic groups all across America treated unjustly at times.

At times it seems there is little hope for our country and the world to live in peace and harmony, and for people to treat each other with respect and love as so many teachings tell us to do. This is the only way we can continue on this earth of ours. LARRY D. BINTLIFF

Bee Branch