Yellow journalism
If you recall several weeks ago, there was an attack in Washington D.C. The attack was at the naval yard. In this attack there were 12 people killed and eight injuries. The attacker was Aaron Alexis, 34 years old from New York, a black male.
This man had numerous problems with the law including discharging a firearm on two separate occasions. He also had a security clearance at the time of this attack. The gun used in this attack was a 12-gauge shotgun, pump action. I am coming to a point here.
The reports that immediately came out of the news networks were reporting that this killer was using a M16 style assault rifle, with a large capacity magazine. The attacks began while the story was still being told, how the government would have to make it illegal to own one of these rifles, the M16.
The never-ending effort to take away the rights of U.S. citizens to keep and bear arms has moved to another level. In many attempts in the past to disarm the Americans, the attempts were usually somewhat hidden in other laws. Thanks to groups like the American Rifleman, these deceptive moves were found out.
I know there are those that do not care for the American Rifleman organization but let’s give it some real open-minded thought. If the American Rifleman organization had not been present in the many battles with those that intended to disarm all of us, we would be among all of the other countries that live under a dictatorship and a country without freedom.
I want to address our column topic for this week. The lies and distortions that came from those journalists who reported them fall under today’s topic, yellow journalism. This means simply reporting headlines and news that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers.
Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal mongering, or sensationalism. The yellow journalist uses this technique today to help influence citizens to apply pressure to disarm our country. These lies and false stories are to bolster the power of the White House.
The attempt to disarm Americans has come out in the open. The Democratic Party and the president are pulling no punches including total fabrication of stories associated with crimes committed with a gun. I have no confidence in my president as a leader of my country.
Have you ever given thought as to why the writers of our constitution included the Second Amendment? Those who participated in discussions about what we as citizens would face in the future knew very well that greedy, power hungry, self-indulging people would try to take over as leaders of our free society.
If the people are able to oppose the evil tyrants, the country would remain free indeed. How can we oppose these evil ones; we have to be armed. Remember these words. God made man, Samuel Colt made them equal. If you do not know who Colt was, he was a major inventor and builder of firearms.
If we as a people are disarmed, we will join the ranks of all of the other countries. If they have a problem they take it to the streets and throw rocks and set fires and all the while the rulers sit and laugh at those in the streets. That’s right, the dictators still have their guns.
Well I am stepping down from my soapbox; I still do live in a free society as of now. I would like to personally thank all our veterans for their service to our country. By the way we have the best form of government in the world. It’s those we pay to run it that are spoiling it.
Remember to keep the muzzle of your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times.
Roger Sherrill lives in Ringgold. He can be reached at tandemjumper@catt.com.