Hell Hath No Fury Like A 2A Activist Scorned

-John Moraga

Founder, Conservatives Corner 

       I was appalled at one of my most recent experiences at a gun store. I went in to inquire about the process of obtaining my old friend, the Beretta M9. For nearly four years, it was the standard-issue small arms weapon I carried while I was on duty, during my service as a member of Security Forces in the U.S. Air Force. After the gun dealer educated me about the egregious hurdles of which the nanny-state of California has burdened law-abiding citizens in order to acquire a firearm, I was then told that my old friend had to go on a diet and could no longer store 15 rounds of ammunition in a single magazine. California law prohibits magazines from carrying more than 10 rounds each! (Oh, and a background check has to be conducted on me every time I purchase new ammunition.) 10 rounds for each magazine?!? Try to image how disturbed I was when this was revealed to me.

       As a member of Security Forces, I became proficient in the use of several weapons. Just to list a few (not all): M60 machine gun, M203 grenade launcher, M249 SAW, M16 rifle, and my old friend the M9 pistol. I also utilized my proficiency when I took part in simulated war exercises in South Korea. Obviously, I am fully aware that my training was exclusively intended for combat purposes, and it was not intended to translate to my civilian use of firearms. My point is just that for somebody who had as much large arms and small arms training as I had, I was beside myself when the gun dealer told me that California law restricted magazines to carrying only 2/3 of their normal capacity. My ignorance was in large part a result of me not owning or even firing a gun since I completed my enlistment. So, I had not kept myself informed during the past two decades about the political battles regarding the Second Amendment. I was asleep.

       Although it had been nearly two decades since I had even held a firearm, I was ready to "get back in the game." I began my enlistment at the ripe age of 17 right after I graduated high school and I completed my enlistment at the virile age of 21. So, it only took about a year post-military for me to enter a world of hedonism. The dawn of a post-911 society also contributed to my identity transformation. At the end of my enlistment in the fall of 2001, I was enrolled full-time in an undergraduate program. In fact, I was still on active duty while I was attending classes, I was just on terminal leave. Once I became heavily involved in my studies, my military identity began to fade. Then, as I became more curious about non-studious and rebellious activities: sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, I really became apathetic to politics. I was living a life of self-gratification. I spent much of the decade of the early 2000's in a haze, but I did manage to graduate with a BA degree in that time. During the subsequent decade, I got married, and I became a father of several children. Once I became a husband, I started to consider purchasing a firearm to protect my wife and myself. The responsibility of being a husband began to sink in. However, the thought past. Then, I became a father for the first time, a baby girl, and the consideration returned. The responsibilities of being a father began to sink in. Unfortunately, my financial status at that time forced me to reconsider. After my wife gave birth to each of our other children, I became increasingly burdened with the obligation I had to protect my wife and our children, especially our daughters.

       Eventually, I finally took the steps necessary to arm myself. I felt that I needed to utilize my proficiency in firearms to protect my children, my wife, and myself. So, that is when I walked into a gun store and began the process of purchasing my old friend. Ironically, soon after I purchased my firearm, the hysteria of the Coronavirus triggered a depletion of ammunition in the inventories of gun stores across the state of California. To add insult to injury, Gov. Newsom briefly deemed gun stores non-essential and forced them to close (they have since reopened). There was even a lawsuit filed by the NRA against the state of California (I have not followed that case closely). For several reasons, there is still a shortage of ammunition. Many of those reasons are a result of politically liberal policies, but one of those reasons is that gun owners have actually purchased large supplies of ammunition. I find this a bit humorous. In an effort to conspire against legal gun owners, liberal politicians inadvertently cause them to become more heavily armed. 

       I have now become a staunch Second Amendment defender. No longer can I be a side-line observer or have any level of apathy regarding government efforts to infringe on our right to arm ourselves, especially in the wake of the State's experiment of mass population control during the Coronavirus outbreak. I am awake now! Unfortunately, it required me going through the process of actually purchasing a gun that I realized how much my constitutional rights have been infringed. I am quite a vocal and opinionated person. So, I intend to use my skills of articulation to join the fight to defend our Second Amendment rights. As a result, CONSERVATIVES CORNER will also dedicate more attention on our platform to promote the preservation of the Second Amendment. Let us unite. Let us fight. Let us stand for what is right. May God be with us!