Thoughts upon the renewal of my pistol license
Here we are four days after the horrific slaughter at Virginia Tech. It so happens that I’m in the process of renewing my pistol permit. Needless to say, ideas about personal protection and means to do so have been running through my head this week. I live in a country where the possession and use of firearms is highly controlled by the government, to say the least. All firearms belong to the government, by means of the Constitution written in the mid 1990’s. The government may allow their possession by individuals or companies at their sole discretion and only after all pertinent paperwork is filled out and filed with them.
The paperwork requested for renewal is fairly extensive.
- You must provide an affidavit that you are physically and mentally able to handle firearms.
- You must provide a letter to the local army commander justifying your possession of a firearm for personal defense.
- You must provide a color copy of your “judicial past” demonstrating that you have a clean bill of health in the judicial system – blown up to 150% of original size
- You must provide a certificate from your local municipality proving that you reside at the specified address.
- You must provide a filled out official form for firearms acquisition or renewal which can only be purchased at the Army store.
- You must provide a letter requesting the purchase or renewal of a firearm addressed to the local branch of the governmental agency in charge of arms, ammunition and explosives.
- You must provide a color copy of your national ID card – blown up to 150% of original size
- You must provide a color copy of your gun permit – blown up to 150% of original size.
Once you get your paper work in order then you must file it with the local army folks and upon acceptance of the paperwork you will be required to deposit a considerable sum into their bank account. The resulting permit is good for three years for a carry piece and ten years for a weapon to be kept at home or in your place of business.
I know that to many the fact that Cho Seung-Hui was a resident alien stirred anger that he could have legally purchased a weapon. They forget that in order for one to become a legal resident alien in almost any country of the world requires extensive background checks and reams of paper work. In other words, resident aliens tend to be much less likely to commit a crime than your run of the mill citizen. Will some “snap” or turn out to not have been worthy of the the trust placed in them? Yes. That’s human nature independent of nationality or residence. I, for one, am thankful for the courtesy extended to me by my host country in allowing me the ability to purchase and carry the means of self defense. The laws and customs are strange to me and I admit that they often grate upon my freedom loving nerves, but I AM grateful for SOME means of obtaining reasonably effective means of self defense.
Now, as for my native land, I hope that we will have learned from the events of Monday, April 16, 2007. I hope and pray that what Cho Seung-Hui did will be a wakeup call to my fellow citizens, rallying us to cry for freedom, rallying us to denounce the tyranny of so called “gun free zones”, rallying us to demand that our elected representatives return to us the God given right to self defense without worry of being prosecuted for exercising that right or carrying the means of executing that right.
Yes, my heart is heavy with sorrow for those who lost loved ones and friends at the hand of Cho Seung-Hui. But it also burns in anger at those who denied the students and faculty of Virginia Tech both the means of self defense and effective protection against those who would do them harm. By denying the students and faculty the means of self defense, the university took upon itself the responsibility of providing EFFECTIVE protection against Cho Seung-Hui or any other who would seek to prey upon the denizens of the Virginia Tech campus. In stead of providing EFFECTIVE protection they merely relied upon their policy of “no guns allowed”. In other words, they acted as fools! Fools because if some one is determined to break the time honored prohibition upon the taking of innocent human life there is NOTHING that will stop them from breaking any rules prohibiting the carrying of weapons.
May my co-citizens rally to the cry for freedom from tyranny and a return to the values upon which our nation was founded.
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