The other day while I was enjoying breakfast Buddy came into Clyde’s, still in uniform. he sat at my table and asked Rita for gravy and biscuits with coffee. A sheriff’s deputy, Buddy lives and works in an adjacent county, but Clyde’s is the closest place to his end-of-a-shift bed.
I shared my paper with him and went back to my coffee.
As Rita was placing his plate on the table, Buddy asked me what I thought of the President’s ideas of simply using an executive order to round up all the guns.
“I’m a LEO, yet at my house there are many other guns. Hunting guns, target rifles and pistols, and a few chosen especially for home defense.
“My sheriff has told us he will not issue such an order, and I’m happy about that. But he doesn’t know if he can legally stop the Virginia State Police or the National Guard if they receive such orders. What do you plan to do Bunkie?”
“Here in Henry County, I have no doubt our Sheriff has given zero thought to this. I’ve been told thinking gets easier the more you do it. I’m guessing he still has a real hard time with it.
“Weapon and ammunition confiscation has been tried here once before, you know? You’ve heard or read that poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere?
“That’s what he was riding to warn the nearby towns, not that “the British are coming,” They already knew that.
“He was riding to tell them the time had come, Buddy. Hide the guns and ammo. That’s what the British were actually coming for. Gun and ammo confiscation.
For a fascinating read, check out Mr. Revere’s personal account of the night.
“That didn’t work out so well. For the British.
“Long ago I sold all my guns that could tie me to their pedigree. Sold them legally to real firearms dealers. Kept the ones I had bought in private sales from people who knew I would never use them in a manner that puts their name in jeopardy.
“An unarmed citizen is a controllable citizen. Just ask the Beilski Brothers. Or their descendants in New York.
Tell me Buddy, and think about this before you answer. Do you carry that department issued Glock to protect me? Or Clyde over there? Or Rita, wherever she and that hot coffee is? Or is it first of all for yourself?”
Buddy took a long sip of coffee, before answering. “I have to admit it’s for my own protection, though you know I wouldn’t hesitate to use it to protect all of you.”
I slid my jacket open and said, “Same here old friend. Same here.”
