Odd Stuffing Post #100

This entry makes the 100th post from Odd Stuffing! Woohoo!! That means it’s time for the obligatory literary retrospective and why I write about the things I do. And of course, a few Second Amendment thoughts.

I started doing this type of writing a bit by accident. While managing a now defunct firearms retailer, I made daily social media posts for the business. But I wanted to do more that just push product every day, I wanted to post about the community and what was important to us. During this time I was also fortunate enough to be able to write an op-ed article for a local newspaper at a time when the community was struggling with the increasing number of firearms retailers. When I left the retailer, I wanted to continue writing about the things I cared deeply about and Odd Stuffing was officially born. The story of how the name came into being is on the About tab.

Previously I had written some articles in my law enforcement days for my old Police Association publications. My mother recently sent me an old copy I had written several articles for. UGH! It’s tough to look back at your own previous work without thinking about all the things that could have been said so much better.

The fact I care about the Second Amendment as much as I do is probably due to my family and upbringing. Both of my parents were officers in the United States Air Force. We eventually returned to my mother’s hometown in Northern Vermont. Most of my extended family were hunters with very strong firearms and hunting ethics. It helped to shape my positive attitude towards firearms and safety, eventually leading to my career in law enforcement.

You wouldn’t think of Vermont as having a particularly strong Second Amendment base, but the state is, and always has been, a Constitutional Carry state. I’ve often joked that Vermont had only three gun laws with two of them being in the Fish & Game regulations. Oddly enough I believe they are now down to just those two.

Even in a state where the Second Amendment is so strong, there is a substantial risk of complacency, as recent events have demonstrated. When you enjoy exercising your rights on a daily basis with no one actively trying to take them away, you tend to let your guard down. This is what happened in Nevada last year. Nevada Question 1 was the first step in the elitists’ gun control strategy for the state. It passed by the slimmest of margins based on the voters from ONE county, Clark County, the home of Las Vegas. It was only due to the authors need to have their new party-to-party transfer background check program be ‘free’ for Nevada (a.k.a. making someone else pay all the costs) that rendered this initiative null and void. Hopefully this has served as a wake up call for Nevadans and other strong Second Amendment states and they will get to work to protect the rights they live every day.

The previous eight years have been difficult for anyone involved with the Second Amendment with an administration doing everything in it’s power to eliminate firearms and firearm rights. This is particularly acute here in California where the Second Amendment is considered a luxury that only the elite and politically connected enjoy. California sees itself as the leader in gun control by villainizing inanimate objects and the people who lawfully own and use them, while at the same time holding those who break the law less and less accountable for their actions. All this does is create a society of helpless victims who are dominated and controlled by the criminals and their partner is crime, the state.

It’s no surprise that those of us in Constitutional-optional states are desperately trying to get back our rights. We face many challenges; the biggest in my opinion is how splintered and uncoordinated we are. But then, if we had acted together with a united voice, we wouldn’t have lost our rights in the first place.

On a more positive note, I am very fortunate to have friends and family with a wide variety of interests and perspectives on life, as well as a strong belief in the Second Amendment. Many of the things I write about originate as conversations we’ve shared. I am honored by your kind comments on the Odd Stuffing posts.

Finally, I’ve got to thank my better half for her encouragement and support. Not only does she give me the time to research, explore and write about the things I care about, she takes the time to review my work and makes sure I don’t sound like a blithering idiot. She is the one who keeps me inspired and in check. Thank you Mrs!!!

Bob

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