“But you guys say, ‘Business, not Bullets.’”“How can you be peaceful and still promote guns?”
And the questions continue to pop up via email, social media, and in person.
Our attitude toward guns is a result of upbringing and professional experience. From a young age, we were taught responsible gun ownership and the use of weapons as a tool for sustainability. Professionally, we were paid by the American taxpayer to be extremely proficient and responsible with weapons. Most do not have that type of childhood or career. Fear, skewed statistics, curiosity, or mysticism fuel the gun debate. Here’s our view…
If you like guns, that’s cool. If you don’t like guns, that’s cool too.
We have a mix of beliefs on the Combat Flip Flops team. But we’re not shy about our background, the occasional use of a hot-rod gun in imagery, and anything that encourages the individual to draw the metaphor that Combat Flip Flops are weapons for change.
So, let’s begin the discussion.
The Reason and Purpose for Guns according to the CFF crew as of 16 Jan 15:
Rules #1 – #3 were those passed down to us. Rule #4 isn’t really a rule, but it should be. Each rule is married to personal responsibility and the realities of the world in which we live.
#1 Security of Food: Guns are tools that put food on the table. If you can hunt, you can survive.
#2 Defense of Self: There is a saying, “If it isn’t worth dying for, it isn’t worth a dime.” If you want to take my truck, computer, wallet, whatever… That’s fine. You obviously need it more than I do. That loss is merely a short term inconvenience. It’s not worth your life.
However, we are fathers and husbands. Family is worth dying over. If a person chooses to responsibly defend themselves or family with a gun, they have the right to do so.
#3 Liberation of others: I’m not talking about wars over oil, geographical boundaries, or any other major conflict representing the extreme failure of our nations’ leaders to resolve differences. I’m talking about little girls sold into slavery, hijacking victims, or those subject to genocide. If you are not able to live by rule #2, you’ll need somebody that believes rule #3.
Those were the three major rules passed down to us by our parents and being passed down to our children. It wasn’t until after our time in the military that rule #4 came around.
#4 Recreation: How we spend time with family and friends is not your responsibility.
Think of it this way: Shooting is the new Golf.
If I prefer to send a metal projectile 300 yards toward a paper target instead of a golf ball 300 yards into a tiny hole, what’s the difference? Both require tools for the job, training, patience, skill, and personal responsibility.
To close, I have one question that I ask my daughters before handling firearms. I believe this question promotes safety, personal responsibility, and accuracy. If you like it, please feel free to use it as much as you like.
Me: “Hey Sweetie. What does a gun do?”
9 year old daughter: “It does what I tell it to do.”