“All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” (Emphasis mine.)

It's from the New Jersey State Constitution. The very first article. According to this, our state government isn't supposed to stop us from trying to protect ourselves. But they do. With a vengeance. And I mean vengeance.

You have a gun in this state without “permission,” and you're in big trouble. And getting “permission,” that is, bowing down to government and saying pretty please may I protect myself, is not so easy. In fact, if you want to carry that gun with you, it's just about impossible. They won't give it to you. Unless you work for that government. Or a big corporation.

Because guns are the great equalizer. A bullet will fly out of a gun with the same force from the hand of a ninety pound woman as it would from the hand of a three hundred pound bruiser. But a bully doesn't want you to have that kind of power.

And neither does the State of New Jersey want you to have that power. However, the State of New Jersey isn't going to be there when that three hundred pound bruiser shows up to rob you, or to kill you or your family. No, the State of New Jersey is going, instead, to set up “gun-free zones” to “protect” you. Have you noticed, though, that gun massacres usually happen in “gun-free zones”? Why don't they happen at gun shows, or NRA conventions, where there are guns galore? Because at gun shows and NRA conventions, people are equipped to protect themselves. But in “gun-free zones,” people are helpless, sitting ducks.

And that's the way the State of New Jersey wants it.

Do you want it that way?

Probably not, since you're visiting this web site. So, how do you change things?

By telling people. By voting. By supporting organizations such as this one. By getting the word out in other ways.

One other way is by, for instance, sponsoring an essay contest. “What Does the Second Amendment Mean to Me?” Put an ad in the paper and offer a $500 prize. Publish the winning entry as an ad in the paper. If the paper doesn't accept the ad, make an issue out of how the paper is afraid of an article by a high school student. Do it every year. It will become ingrained. And change society over a generation.

How about challenging local politicians who are not pro-gun? How about having pro-gun social events? Let's meet at high profile locations in New Jersey, and read pro-gun history from the American Revolution out loud while having a beer?

We've been doing great work. But, how about, once every two months, let's get together, after work, for a beer, or soda, and a reading. It will interest people around us. It may gain us new members. Let's do it.