Firearms Friday: PEW Research Shows Increased Support Of Gun Rights

While it may not occur every week, I am starting a series of posts called “Firearms Friday”. This is where I will do my best to keep all of the firearms related posts (unless there is a more pressing topic that week). This is when I will discuss different topics in the industry, review products, and share any other information that may be of interest. I will also be seeking guest posts for this series so if you are interested in writing on a topic or contributing a review please email me at timetokeepitsimple@gmail.com!

It has been an interesting week in firearms news especially with regard to public perception and support of the right to own firearms. While there have been many instances when I have be, let us say, displeased with the results of PEW Research surveys, it looks as though they are finally tracking a trend that many of us have seen progressing over the past few years. Overall, the survey concluded that “52% say it is more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns, while 46% say it is more important to control gun ownership.” Again, many of us have seen and experienced this over the last few years despite the reports that keep flooding the news.

However, the results become much more interesting when you really delve into the numbers. Let us first look at the concept of guns as a means of protection:

“The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Dec. 3-7 among 1,507 adults, also finds a shift in attitudes about whether gun ownership in this country does more to protect people or put people’s safety at risk. Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) say gun ownership does more to protect people from becoming victims of crime, while 38% say it does more to endanger personal safety. In the days after Newtown, 48% said guns do more to protect people and 37% said they placed people at risk.”

Looking even deeper into the figures there is nearly an across the board rise in support for gun rights over the past two years with the only outliers being those who consider themselves to be liberal democrats.

Even more recently, the support has increased over the past year regardless of age, gender, political affiliation, and level of education with only a couple of exceptions where we see a minor decrease.

The important aspect that one must look at in this poll is that this is increased support for the individual right to own firearms. People, regardless of the background of the individual, seem to be coming around the realization that there is a limit to what you want the government to control. It is a constant struggle, especially with regard to the topic of firearms ownership, to maintain that right. However, people are beginning to see how misguided and downright combative the antigun groups really are and the nanny state mentality that they all promote. Many people may not be gun owners, but they understand that the right isn’t reliant upon them personally exercising it. Who knows, maybe they will become a responsible gun owner in the future… if they support the right now they will still have that freedom in the future.

Photo On The Go

As I was scrolling through the photos on my phone this past weekend to find the pictures of Harvest Book Outlet, I noticed a wide variety of snap shots that I had taken over the years that have never been posted or even uploaded to my computer. I don’t know why they have just been languishing in my phone taking up space but there they were. I started thinking about what I could do with them which has led me to this post. I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of these photos with you along with a little blurb about each one. I will start with animals, then go to plants, and conclude with places.

I will start by running though a few captured animals. Animals have always been a little harder for me to capture with my phone as the movement blurs the image quite easily and, most of the time, I can’t get very close so I am forced to severely pixilated the photo by zooming in. But it hasn’t stopped me from taking the pictures.

Shortly after returning from Israel we went over to my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. While we were outside the dog decided to get a little rambunctious and jump into the back of the pickup truck where she barked and waited for someone to pay attention to her. I couldn’t waste the opportunity and I took this shot while I had the chance.

While we were looking for an apartment in the fall of 2011 we lived with my parents for a few months. This was not an easy time as my wife is allergic to cats and the only pet my parents have left is a little feline. Fortunately, the cat doesn’t like to move too much and we were able to keep her away from the two of us. This shot pretty much sums up her demeanor.

Rarely do I have the opportunity to catch a bird but, sometimes, when they have a big enough pair I am able to get a couple of frames. This was the case when I saw a bird walking along the fence line behind our apartment building. I was able to slowly pull my phone out from my top pocket and get a few shots before it realized what was happening and flew away.

This past June I made my way up to Newtown, Pennsylvania for a job interview and, having arrived about twenty minutes early took a walk around the building. Also out on a walk that morning was a family of geese who didn’t seem to mind sharing the parking lot with me nor did they care that they were holding people up trying to get to work. I managed to get a picture of the second group that walked by.

Here is a perfect example of the pixilation I mentioned earlier. No matter how slowly I moved the butterfly would flutter away and come back to the same spot. Finally, I had to just stand my ground and zoom in resulting in this colorful little blur.

Plants are a much easier item to take a photo of with the camera as you can usually get right next to them before taking the picture. Lighting can sometimes be an issue but overall it works out fairly well. The only real issue is in the lack of detail and the inability to crop while maintaining clarity. You have to crop the shot before taking the picture. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. These weren’t too bad.

In October 2010, we headed down to Longwood Gardens with my mother-in-law to celebrate my wife’s birthday. I am not a big flower person but it was a special occasion and it was a little time away to relax, enjoy the scenery, and go for a long walk. It was also a time to experiment and see how close I could get my phone to the flowers in order to take a close up shot. This was one of the resulting photos.

The neighbors next to our apartment building are a little eccentric. Nice people but they can sometimes be a little out there when trying to have a short conversation. One of the things I noticed earlier this summer was the bountiful harvest that sprung up on the other side of the fence. I don’t know how urban corn tastes but it made for an interesting photo.

Working at night I have to find something to pass the time and occupy my mind. Most of my nights consist of constant writing and researching the family tree but every once in a while I have to take a quick break from the routine and change things up a bit. One night I decided to take some pictures and one of the resulting photos was of the plant in front of the building.

I have found that when it comes to much broader photos of cityscapes, landscapes, large rooms, or big scenes you can actually get some pretty good shots. All of the recent photos that would fit into this category have been with my digital SLR but I have only started getting back into photography recently so the vast majority of the pictures prior to a few months ago were taken with my phone. Here are a few examples of the varying quality that can be achieved.

A week before making Aliyah we were in Chicago for a wedding. As part of the wedding we were being shuttled around the city taking photos in different locations. Every once in a while I would have a few minutes to fill and so I would pull out my phone and see if there were any interesting vantage points. During one of those breaks I was very happy to get this shot. I don’t know if having a better camera would have really made a difference.  

And here we are back at Longwood Gardens. More than a year after our previous visit we were there with my siblings and their families to take some pictures as a gift for my parent’s 40^th wedding anniversary. While the photographer was taking some pictures of the younger kids I turned around and saw the reflection in the pool. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try and get the picture. I was really happy when it worked and I captured exactly what I was seeing.

Disney World in July; Yes, it was hot. This was a big trip as my parents took all of us down to Florida to celebrate their 40^th. During the course of the week we spent a lot of nights just walking around the park and enjoying the lights in the dark. This night in particular was a welcomed cool respite after a sweltering day punctuated by icy rain. It was a nice end to a weird day.

I had the idea in mind for this post I tried to figure out what would be a good way to end it. Then it hit me. What better way than to take a picture of the previous night’s sunset and end with a splash of color? With or without details, the colors make the photo worth capturing… color transcends pixels.  

Unification, Division, and Mourning

Today’s post is one that I have not been looking forward to but I think this is something that needed to be written. There will be many of you that agree with me and many of you that will not. Some will think this post inappropriate while some think it necessary. It is on a topic that has been heavily debated for some time now and that is, to say the least, very polarizing.

Six months ago this Friday this country was shaken by the devastation imparted by a deranged individual at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. To say that this was a senseless tragedy is an understatement and I firmly believe that we should unite to find a means to put an end to such horrendous acts of man.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case as the root cause of this murderous endeavor has been skewed by placing the blame on the means rather than the motive and the individual. This was an evil act carried out by a human being (that term is admittedly used loosely in this instance) without morals against the most pure and innocent in our society. We know what happened and how it happened but what should be focused on is why it happened.

We need to stop focusing on inanimate objects and look at the core of the problem which is mental health and the factors that contribute to moral disconnect. Violence is an issue that plagues every country, every community in this world, without any preference as to the means in which it is carried out and in every case the individual(s) must be held accountable. These crimes cannot be an excuse to condemn an entire group of people… we cannot judge people because of race, religion, politics, or any object they legally own or sport they legally participate in. 

We are a nation of laws. We are a nation of rights. We are a nation of freedoms. Those who break, repeal, or limit these should be held accountable for their actions. Let your voice be heard and don’t let changes be made without your vote being cast.

We grieve as a people united. We judge as a people divided. We accuse as individuals. The means to unite this nation lies within us all. Respect is as the heart of unification. We must show respect to those lives lost. We must seek to punish those who do not respect the lives of others. We must respect the opinions of others. We must respect the laws of this country.

In the end, no justice can be done to ease the suffering stemming from this event, no law or campaign can change the past, no right can be trampled that would prevent this in the future. What we can do, and what we should all agree upon, is that we need to take time to mourn and remember those who were taken from this world, their families, and the community that will forever be shaken.