A choice. No more. No less.

That’s why he had gone back to the front of the store, in search of his dad, to tell him about the little piece of Heaven he had found. He wasn’t in a hurry, though. He walked slowly, with his hands in his pockets, quietly staring at his shuffling feet, as he meandered first through the back storage rooms and then into the open store.

He was halfway to the front when he took his eyes off his feet and looked up to where his dad stood facing him behind the counter. Another man stood on the near side of the counter with his back turned to the boy. His dad was putting cash into a brown paper sack, and at first the boy didn’t understand what was happening. Then his dad gave the man the sack full of money, and the man wave a small nickle plated revolver and yelled at the boy’s dad to get on the floor and stay there.

Moments later, it seemed like hours, the boy’s dad yelled up into the attic, telling him to stay where he was. As soon as the boy had realized what was happening, he had turned around and ran, as quietly and quickly as he could, into the back storage room, climbed up the grey shelves, and into his newly discovered attic retreat.

His dad made sure it was safe and that the robber was gone, then called the police, before coming back and telling the boy that is was safe to come down out of the attic. Then, together, they called the boy’s mom. It was her birthday.

It was more than a quarter century ago that I was that ten year old little boy, scared to death, and hiding in that dusty, hot, nail lined attic. I don’t think that the trauma I faced that night had any lasting negative effect on me, but I’m sure that it has had a lot to do with many of the decisions I’ve made and how I’ve shaped myself as an adult. I don’t believe that we are shaped by our past, but I do believe that our past is the clay with which we mold our future. I just got a lot of clay to work with that night.

That experience has a lot to do with the number of surveillance cameras that I have in my stores, but it also has a lot to do with my decision to pretty much always have a sidearm with me. I have been asked several times over the years — by friends, family, employees, and other acquaintances who have, by chance, noticed the handgun that is usually concealed inside my waistband — why I carry it. Why do I think I need it? Do I think I’ll ever have to use it? Recently, one of my children asked me these questions, and it made me realize that I should really think about it, and give an honest and thorough answer.

I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong. I don’t carry a sideearm because I’m afraid. I don’t carry a sidearm because of some subconscious fear of being robbed or victimized. I don’t carry a sidearm out of fear at all. I know that would be the most obvious reason, and if it was the real reason, I would be more than justified. The fear of being victimized, especially after facing that kind of trauma, can be a powerful motivator. If being armed allayed that fear, then that would be more than enough reason for me to carry a gun. The reason I choose to be armed though, is a little more complicated than that.

On the night that Dad was robbed, the man who robbed him made a choice to become a criminal. He made the choice to put on a mask, come into the store, and point his gun at an innocent man. It was his choice to commit armed robbery and take money that didn’t belong to him. What he never realized though, was that surviving that night wasn’t his choice at all.

What the man didn’t realize was that at one point during the robbery my dad was holding his own pistol, under the counter, and in the process of pulling the trigger, when he saw me walk into the store from the back storage rooms. It was my dad who made the choice to let go of the trigger, put his gun down, and give the man the money he demanded. It was my dad who made the choice to give up his hard earned money, and to let the armed robber slip away into the night, rather than shoot and kill him in front of his ten year old son. It was my dad who made the choice to allow that man to live.

Someday, God forbid, I could be faced with a situation in which I have to make a similar choice. It is the nature of my business that puts me at a constant risk of armed robbery, and let’s face it, every family is at risk to become the target of any number of random violent crimes. If something like that ever happens, I want the choice of the outcome to be mine. If someone ever comes into one of my stores and points a gun at me, I want it to be my choice whether to take the money out of the cash register and give it to him, or send him away in a body bag.  If someone ever attempts to carjack me, I want it to be my choice whether I step out of my vehicle and let the carjacker take it, or send him away in a body bag. If someone ever invades my home, I want it to be my choice whether I stay barricaded in a safe room while they take what they want, or send them away in a body bag. I want it to be my choice.

Without my sidearm, concealed discreetly in my belt, I don’t have a choice. Without my sidearm, if someone ever comes into one of my stores and points a gun at me, all I can do is hope he doesn’t care if he leaves a witness. Without my sidearm, if someone ever tries to take my car, all I can do is hope that the carjacker doesn’t put a bullet in me if I don’t get out of it fast enough. Without my sidearm, if someone ever invades my home, all I can do is hope that they don’t injure or kill my family. Without my sidearm, I don’t have a choice.

As long as I am armed, the outcome is my choice. As long as I am armed, I can give him the money out of my cash register and let him walk away, because I choose to. As long as I am armed, I can calmly step out of my vehicle and let him drive away in it, because I choose to. As long as I am armed, I can make sure my family is safe, then let him leave my home with his loot, because I choose to. As long as I am armed, I can choose.

I have surveillance cameras all over my stores because their silent presence has deterred similar events in the many years since that night. While almost every other store in town has been robbed since, ours have not. I believe that it’s because when the likely thieves come in to look around, they see all the cameras and choose to find victims elsewhere. I also use the cameras to help me take care of my stores, and protect myself from dishonest customers and employees. They are a tool that gives me a choice in how I manage my business. And like those surveillance cameras that quietly watch over my stores and give me discreet control of them, my sidearm is merely a tool that I use to make sure that I have control over my own life. It is a tool that gives me a choice. No more, no less.

What I really learned that night, so many years ago, was to not be afraid, to not live in fear. What I learned from Dad that night is that you can always be in control of your own life, no matter what, if you choose to be.

Given the direction that both of these individual philosophies would take us in, it is a scary proposition that they have combined under the infinite wisdom of Al Gore to create a mass paranoia that has sucked in almost all the major news agencies, most of Hollywood’s soapbox politicians, and the majority of the one=world-government-under-us United Nations elitists. Never mind that socialism has failed over and over again. Never mind that man made global warming is scientific balderdash.

The government has fallen into the quagmire of socia(environmenta)lism and has slowly been chipping away at our individual rights, moving us away from capitalism and democracy and toward socialism using environmentalism as the tool of choice. Even the more conservative leaders of our country have fallen victim of this decades long appropriation of our common sense and freedom. President Bush has ‘admitted’ to man made global warming, and republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain has proposed what amounts to a socializing of the home mortgage system via simple forms to be filled out at the post office.

We are close to the brink of losing what this country stands for, and we all need to open our eyes to the direction we are heading. We are about to lose our freedoms of economic and environmental choice, and we are about to turn them over to the intellectual elitists like Al Gore.

-Wisdom

Recently, in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, an elected official chose to exercise that right and changed his party affiliation from the Democratic party to the Republican party. This was not so surprising of a move in itself. In fact, over 400 officials, elected as Democrats, have chosen to defect to the Republican party under the Clinton/Gore administration. The difference this time is that five months after this particular elected official, who happened to be a County Commissioner, switched his party affiliation, he chose to resign his position.

Normally this would have not caused a problem. State statutes outline procedures for filling vacancies in elected offices. It is a simple procedure that starts with the remaining commissioners declaring a vacancy and then notifying the chairman of the county party, to which the outgoing office holder belonged (in this case the Republican party), of that vacancy. The chairman of that party would then call a meeting of that party’s central committee. At this meeting, the members would nominate three candidates to be forwarded to the remaining commissioners. The remaining commissioners would then select, of those three candidates, one person who would then be appointed to fill the vacancy. A simple process, governed by simple statutory laws.

One problem, however, corrupted that entire process. In this case, the remaining two commissioners were Democrats. In addition, the County Attorney was also a Democrat. Between the three, they decided that they could, in direct opposition to statutory law and right of every American to affiliate with the political party of their choice, replace the outgoing commissioner with a Democrat instead of a Republican. The thinking behind this decision was simple. They believed, right or wrong, that they could get away with it. What they didn’t believe though, was that anyone would step up to the plate to do anything about it.

They were wrong.

As Americans, we are all given certain responsibilities. Foremost among these is our responsibility to make sure that our elected officials, whom we empower to lead us, do so in strict compliance with the laws that they are sworn to uphold. When they don’t, it is our job to stand against them and make sure that our rights are protected. In this case, the remaining commissioners were sued, and the courts were asked to force them to comply with the law. With any luck, the case will be fast-tracked to the Wyoming Supreme Court, and justice will be served swift and decisively.

Until then, this serves to remind each and every one of us that our rights are not secure. At any time, those we elect to speak for us can turn against us. At any time, our chosen leaders may stray across that line that separates them from right and wrongdoers. And If we’re not watching, our inalienable rights quickly become alienated. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson , “If you believe that you can live in a nation that is both ignorant and free, you believe in what never has been and what never will be.”

Take interest in your local and national governments. Don’t ever believe that you can’t make the world a better place, and don’t believe that your leaders can’t be held to a higher standard. In the example discussed above, the elected officials who chose to ignore the law will be held to a standard set by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Then, come election time, they will be held to an even higher standard. In fact, in these times of corruption, lies, and deceit in our nations elected offices, it falls upon each and every one of us to be the watchdogs of our laws. It is up to each and every one of us to make absolutely sure that our leaders are held to that higher standard. Which brings us to one more right, and one more responsibility. The right and responsibility to vote.

To quote one more of our great historic leaders, Abraham Lincoln, “No man is so great that he can govern another without that other’s permission.” Ask yourself, “Who did I give that permission to?”

Peace.

Wisdom