Responses
by Gila Hayes
Let’s start off with an interesting note I received from a Network member. We always enjoy it when Massad Ayoob has time to give an interview. Not only do we get to learn interesting and important things from chatting with him, but we often hear from members who enjoy what he has to say just as much as we do. Last month’s lead interview with Massad brought the following letter from a member:
I just finished reading the August 2019 journal. As usual, a lot of good, timely information.
A few months ago, I became aware of ccwbreakaways.com from one of your articles. I bought two pairs of these pants and I absolutely love them. This is the perfect way (at least for me) to carry concealed. As I was reading the August journal there were two articles that I felt the CCW pants addressed: the Summer Carry Compromises article and the Attorney Question of the Month article.
The CCW pants allow you to wear any kind of cool shirt you want. Since the gun is in the pants pocket (or shorts pocket) there are no issues with printing. That really frees up the shirt wardrobe constraints.
On the attorney question about an armed citizen putting his or her hand on the grip of the holstered pistol, again the CCW pants eliminates that issue. You can calmly put your hand in your pocket, grip your handgun and be ready to pull it out and use it quickly all without giving any appearance of threat (or assault, in legal terms).
I just think the CCW pants are a really great option. Massad did mention pocket carry, but this always seems to be associated with carrying “little guns” which many people think are not adequate. With the CCW pants, I carry an S&W M&P Shield 9mm and it's VERY comfortable. This is not typically considered a pocket carry type of gun. But the CCW pants make that possible.
I know there are all kinds of opinions, different situations etc. I just wanted to add my two cents to these discussions. Thanks for a great journal and a really great organization.
--Tim in Colorado
They Keep Calling it a Democracy
Last month, I sat down to write this column and asked, Do we know the meaning of the words we use? Do we care whether our form of government is a republic or a democracy? Wanting to be sure my concerns had some foundation in reality, I stopped and did some more reading (and yes, I think I’ve clarified my own thinking as mentioned in this month’s book review), and now I feel all the more strongly that we must quit parroting the idiocy in which the media, education establishment, and power-hungry politicians all keep trying to drown us.
Political hacks, news reporters and commentators, influential people in the so-called institutions of higher learning and an awful lot of other leaders keep calling the United States of America a democracy. I keep grinding my teeth in frustration! Some wags have gone so far as to suggest that the words “democracy” and “republic” are too similar to quibble over–the words have become interchangeable, they say, but I think that’s a trick to promote their agendas at the expense of patriots who still cherish the U.S Constitution.
Somewhere along the way folks got the idea that democracy was a superior form of government. As long ago as my youth, we were told we were sending American soldiers to war to “spread democracy.” Had the politicians and news media been telling us the truth, we would have been told that the military was being deployed out of concern for national security and a recognized need to prevent Communism from taking over large parts of the world. I guess language pollution intended to further a political agenda is nothing new! Now, however, we are reaping the results as politicians, ostensibly running on agendas claiming to be concerned for the welfare of common citizens, enact policy after policy that steal our basic human rights.
To read more of this month's journal, please click here.