Charlton Heston, NRA

Festive Charlston at the Gun Show

In a letter, the N.R.A. president, actor Charlton Heston, said the group was canceling a gun show along with all other "festive ceremonies normally associated with our annual gathering." The group was nevertheless going to hold its annual members meeting at the city's convention center.   From the New York Times, April 21, 1999

"Festive ceremonies normally associated with our annual gathering"?????

This is Moses speaking.  Moses also asserted that the massacre at Littleton, Colorado shows that every school should have armed guards.   Governor of Minnesota and Wrestler Jesse Ventura agreed:  "Had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized."  But what does "stabilized" mean to a man who used to run around in tight underpants and throw chairs at people in masks? 

Well, why stop at permitting concealed handguns?  I think they should be obligatory.  Just imagine: you're at school.  A couple of kids come in wearing black trench-coats with furtive expressions on their faces.  You gonna wait to see what happens?  Hell, no.  Case closed.  Incident ended.   No more anxiety for all those parents sending their kids off to school in the morning-- they can trust that everyone is well protected!  Wouldn't you feel better knowing that your teenage daughter was at school,  surrounded by a bunch of illiterate metal morons carrying concealed handguns?

Think of how convenient that concealed hand-gun might be as well, next time you meet up with those hooligans from that rival football team across town, or that dorky teacher that failed you in Consumer Ed!

Charlton Moses Heston, interrupting his prayer breakfast (I kid you not) also said this:  "If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly."

Errr.... according to the New York Times, Neil Gardner, of the Jefferson County Sheriff's department, was in the school at the time, and was quite armed. In fact, sounds like he took a few shots and then cleared out as quickly as possible.

And I'm ashamed about the prayer breakfast bit.  Deeply ashamed.   Deeply, deeply, deeply.  Everyone reading this should know that many, many Christians abhor violence and guns, and don't consider a gun show to be a "festive" occasion, regardless of whether or not it opens with a prayer breakfast.

Copyright © 1999 Bill Van Dyk  All rights reserved.