Dear Sir or Madam,
Over the course of the past few weeks, the Media and many of our elected officials are working hard to demonize guns and responsible gun owners. I am a Responsible gun owner. I own what you are calling Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and I use them responsibly. I am also a permit to carry holder and carry my firearm everyday. My number one reason for obtaining these guns legally, and using them, is I am above all things a father to two beautiful children. My children were taught the 4 safety rules as soon as they could speak and are very good about not touching a firearm without their dad’s permission and understand that guns are for hunting, for protection, for fun, and for defending against all enemies foreign and domestic. As you all well know, our President and many of his supporters are working hard to put laws in place the will make 99% of gun owners out to be criminals with magazine capacity bans and outlawing many of the most popular rifles and pistols owned today. I mentioned that I am a parent. Let me tell you a story much like our President told all of us lately.
Mark was getting home late from work. In the glow of the instrument panel on his sedan, he looked at the picture of his children, Jane and Helen. He knew they would be in bed by the time he got home, but he was still looking forward to peeking in on his angels sleeping safely and soundly in their beds. It had been a long hard day at the mill and he had been thinking about seeing them all day. He knew his wife, Rose would be waiting up for him, in spite of the long day at work she had as well as pulling double duty at home caring for the children, since he just pulled a double shift. He smiled and thought he would pick up some flowers at the store for her on the way home.
It was nearing 9:30 as Mark pulled into the Grocery store’s lot. Getting near closing time. Perfect. He could get in and out really fast. Mark liked efficiency and today was anything but. He picked out the biggest and brightest red roses he could find. He stopped to smell them and it reminded him of his beautiful Rose at home, anxiously waiting to see him. They had been high school sweethearts and haven’t left each others side in nearly 15 years. As he rounded the corner at the frozen pizza aisle, he couldn’t believe what was unfolding. Three masked men burst through the front door and started shouting HAND OVER THE MONEY OR ITS OVER!
Mark had a decision to make. He could try to make it to the door, but the largest of the three was guarding the lone entrance. He remembered he was carrying a pistol too, only his was legal to own and carry. It was a Glock model 19, 9mm. He also had a cellphone. Mark made sure his phone was silent and dialed 911. Then he heard the first shot. BANG! It was behind him. There were more guys here. He had no way out. He quietly told the operator what was happening and that he was a permit to carry holder and had his firearm and placed his phone just out of sight on the end cap facing the registers. Mark made his decision to get out of the store.
Mark turned to the rear of the store. There was no way there could be more than one more guy back there. Why did he shoot? What do they want? Can I get out of here? What about the cashiers and stockboys? Are they going to die? Am I going to die? Am I going to see my kids again? All of these questions hit Mark at once with the adrenaline and his emotions hitting him all at once like a freight train hitting a stalled car in an intersection. He decided to make his way to the meat department, where the lone gunshot came from. His ears were still ringing from the shot thirty seconds ago.
Gladys was the operator who answered Mark’s call. She had just dispatched the two officers on duty in their small town to help the county sheriff with a dispute at the bar outside of town. She knew they wouldn’t be able to get there in time to stop the thugs at the grocery store. She was listening to Mark tell her that there were three masked men trying to rob the place then she heard the CLAP of a gunshot and the phone went silent. She called all available units from the state, the sheriff’s office and her own officers and began to weep in shock and horror.
As Mark rounded the corner, he saw the first man in the back waiting for the rest to come back, the sullen heap of what was a friend of Marks, back in high school, in the corner. Mark jumped for cover as the first shot was fired. BANG! He shouted at the man who just shot at him. DON’T SHOOT! I HAVE A GUN AND I CALLED THE POLICE! Just then, he heard the others jogging down the isles looking for him. He heard the doorbell go off and the other folks in the store running out the door for safety. He drew his handgun, aimed as well as he could despite the fear and the shock and his own body fighting him and fired. BANG! The first shot missed entirely. BANG! The second shot hit the guy in the arm and he dropped his gun.
The other three thugs heard those shots too. They knew where their buddy was and this guy wasn’t going to get away with it. They decided to split up and find this guy that wrecked their night. The plan was to get in and out with the money in three minutes, they have already been there five and didn’t have a dime. And this guy had to pay.
Mark saw the first of the three round the corner to the right of him. He yelled STOP as the guy fired. Mark felt something warm and wet on his arm and fired BANG BANG BANG! Three shots. The third found its way to the target and the thug kneeled and slumped over. Two down. The other two came right behind. Mark fired. BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. Then he heard a sound that turned out to be the loudest sound of all. CLICK!
Three weeks ago, there was a bill passed for a nationwide ban on high-capacity magazines. Mark and Rose saw it in the paper that foggy Thursday morning during breakfast. As they finished up their breakfast and helped get the girls off to school, Rose asked, “What are you going to do? Your gun holds 15 rounds in it and I don’t want to see you get in trouble.” Mark replied,”It’s okay, I will load only ten for now and I will order a ten round magazine from the gun shop in town. I am no good to you guys in jail over five bullets. I probably will never need them anyway.”
Mark forgot all about the magazine ban from that moment three weeks ago till just now. He was used to carrying a 15 round magazine, so he never bothered carrying the spare that was in his car and he forgot about the new one waiting for him at the gun shop. He forgot about the thugs coming for him. He forgot everything except for his wife and his kids. He dropped to his knees and started pleading with his attackers, PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GO, MY FAMILY NEEDS ME!!
Mark never made it out of the store alive. The thugs shot him, execution style with one of their own Glock model 19 pistols that they stole from the gun shop in town just two hours ago. They knew that ten rounds per gun wasn’t enough, so they stole more magazines and ammo too. One of the magazines they stole for the guns, was the very one Mark paid for when he ordered it three weeks ago. The thugs made a break for the back door as the police arrived. It had taken them seven minutes to respond because of the bar fight outside of town. They found the customers and employees huddled up in the parking lot, still talking to the dispatcher over the phone and the EMT’s tending to their scrapes and bruises from the mad dash to the door.
This story was fictional, the characters were made up by me to show that it could happen to anyone, virtually anywhere. You see, I can write and speak in such a way to tug at the heartstrings of America just like our own President Obama has in his last address, to sign the executive orders surrounded by children. Only difference is, instead of using the children to push a personal agenda to remove guns and gun parts from the hands of law-abiding citizens, I wrote it in such a way to show that guns can protect children and innocent lives. Lives like Mark’s in the story. With Mark gone, Rose, Helen, and Jane’s lives are going to be shattered by the loss of their father and husband and it is going to be very rough for them in the coming years both emotionally and financially.
So, I implore you to drop your personal agendas and the agendas of the United Nations for a second and just think about what you are doing here. Vice President Joe Biden said himself that it is too hard to enforce the gun laws we have now. Why would we try to enforce more that would limit the rights of the people? The 2nd Amendment is clear: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Why are you looking to go against our founding fathers, against the Constitution and the Bill of rights that we all live by, and essentially commit treason? Charlton Heston said it best when he said: “There is no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is of no danger to anyone except the bad man.”
I am a law-abiding citizen, a voter, and above all, a father to my children. If the rich and famous, and especially our President can have protection for their children, mine deserve it too. This should not be even an issue right now because our children are our future and they all deserve to be protected under the same Constitution as our ancestors. Look through the history books and you will plainly see what happens to nations that disarm their citizens. They become subjects and eventually slaves. I refuse to stand idly by and let that happen. Not to me, not to my family and not to yours either. Thank you for taking the time to read this open letter.
Yours Truly,
Zack Frank
(Note from Publisher: If you would like to write a letter or feature some of your opinions in The D.C. Clothesline, that is what it’s for. I’d like to thank Zack and our many other contributors who have truly made our blog into the voice of Patriotic Americans from all walks of life. If you want to write something for us, you should start by joining our Facebook page.)
