Hohenfeldt: We were better people in those days

A few nights back, I listened to the Jim Bohannon radio talk show, because Jimbo usually has interesting guests. He was talking to a fellow who had written a book about World War II, specifically about the Flying Fortresses and their pilots and crews.

The writer told of one pilot who grew up in rural West Virginia and attended a one-room school. As a schoolboy, the kid who became a bomber pilot worked the farm, went to school and then earned money keeping the school and grounds clean after the school day. The writer noted, too, that in those days, boys would carry their guns to school, hang them on pegs in the back of the classroom and then go hunting after school to get meat for their families. The talk show host, Bohannon, noted that times have surely changed.

I got to thinking about when I was a high school kid, students would carry guns in their cars and trucks, because they would go hunting after school. Or maybe before school. No one thought a thing about it. The administrators had guns in their cars, too.

Nowadays, when a gun is taken to school, it's carried in by some weirdo loser kid who has spent years playing violent games on the computer and has grown into an adult loser who doesn't hold a job and can't function in society. Adam Lanza, for instance, was 20 years old and lived in his mother's basement. He rarely slithered out. Part of the problem was he didn't have a dad who would whip his butt and make him do chores.

Well, I'm starting to rant.

Suffice it to say that I believe the generations before me had better character, and my generation has better character than the current generation.

We were simply better people in those days. As a society, we are degrading. Young people have a sense of entitlement and no sense of responsibility. Because of young people, most of them city kids, politicians are demanding that guns be taken away from old geezers like me.

I keep thinking I should try to be more positive in this column, but then I make the mistake of reading the news, watching it on TV and listening to it on the radio.

As a firearms owner, I'm irritated by the implication, in some instances the outright accusation, that I'm responsible for mass murders throughout the United States. Because weirdoes kill people, the government wants to take my guns away.

"Why do you NEED an assault weapon?" is a favorite question of those who believe in the government as our Father. These are the same people who believe the government/Father should shut down the fast-food restaurants because they serve food that makes us fat and limit the size of soft-drink cups to 16 ounces because soft drinks are full of sugar,

"You don't NEED a Big Mac or Whopper or What-a-Burger" and "You don't NEED a Big Gulp soft-drink," they say.

These are the same people who say businesses don’t NEED to make big profits.

I'm tired of people looking to the government/Father to lead, guide and direct us. Some people have made an idol of the government.

I don't NEED a Whopper, but sometimes I WANT one, and in our free enterprise system there is a company that is willing to provide that to me for a price.

I don't NEED a Big Gulp, but sometimes I WANT one, and there's a company willing to sell it to me if I have the money.

Businesses don’t NEED to make a big profit, but I WANT the two companies I work for to make profits so I can remain employed.

I don't NEED to drink beer. I don't NEED to eat meat. I don't NEED to go fishing. I can drink water, eat vegetables and read a book, but sometimes I WANT to drink a beer, eat a slab of ribs and cast a line.

I don't NEED an assault weapon but I WANT one because it might protect my life someday.

Let’s do something about the weirdo criminals who use guns, knives, tire irons and other weapons to kill people instead of going after responsible gun owners.