The nice thing about being retired and financially independent is that I am beholding to no one and can speak my mind without fear of reprisals. As such, I have decided that it is time for someone to publicly state what most legitimate gun owners are saying in private.

First, be aware that I have always considered myself a political moderate, voting for the best candidate, regardless of party. I have never been a member of any radical organization, unless you consider the Elks, VFW and DAV as radical. The words that I write are those of a quiet family man, who served his country in time of war and returned to a productive civilian life for another thirty years. For the record, I never hurt another human being after leaving the military and I have never been arrested. I am now seventy years old and counting. My bride of 22 years shares these views, hence the joint byline.

I spent a large part of my life in the military, sworn to �To Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States of America,� not a re-written Constitution of the United Socialists States of America that eliminates the Second Amendment. Only time will tell whether our newly elected and appointed leaders will honor that oath, which they have also taken. However, I became very worried when I heard our new president state that the Constitution �reflected a fundamental flaw of this country.� It has worked well for over 200 years and he dares to call it flawed? In fact, without the protection of that Constitution, he could not have run for and been elected President of the United States.

Between 45% and 55% of the 52 million households in the United States collectively own more than 260 million firearms. The estimates vary because there are many folks who already do not trust our government and do not wish to let �big brother� know that they legally own firearms. Of all those firearms, less than 1% are ever used in any criminal activity.

The first step in establishing a dictatorship is to disarm the citizens. Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens represent a threat to socialists, whether of the "National Socialist" (Nazi) or communist (Red) persuasion, and totalitarians of any stripe. Take their guns away from free citizens and they become serfs, easily controlled by a socialist elite backed by the armed might of the state, who believe they know what is best for everyone else.

The left-wing lawmakers in our state legislatures and national Congress believe that law-abiding citizens will naively and voluntarily turn-in their guns. Well, I am stating publicly and for the record, that I will never surrender my rights or my guns. If the socialists want them, they can only have them after I give them my ammunition, one bullet at a time.

Martin Luther King had the right idea. Civil disobedience of unjust laws (and unconstitutional laws) is not only justified, but mandatory. If every legitimate gun owner refused to obey the left-wing laws being proposed by those in our legislative bodies, laws that defy our Constitution and seek to deny us our inalienable rights, there would not be enough police willing to enforce those laws. A survey of military personnel revealed that only 13% of those on active duty would obey orders to confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens.

Our country is not divided into red and blue states, it is not divided into Democrat and Republican. It is, however, divided into those of us who believe that the Constitution upon which this nation was founded is worthy of the oath, �To Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic� and those who believe it is a "fundamental flaw" and would destroy our Second Amendment rights. The latter group of individuals falls into the category of "domestic enemies." If progressives and socialists reading this article interpret my words as calling them enemies of my country, because they wish to ban the ownership of firearms by law-abiding citizens, THEY INTERPRET MY WORDS CORRECTLY.

If they continue to pursue their goal of firearms ban and confiscation, they risk plunging this nation into a civil war. For those who believe that such a thing is not possible in the United States, look at history. We have already had one Civil War over the Constitutional rights of Americans. I pray that the liberal/socialist cabal will not start another. However, if they do, remember the words of Charlton Heston, �From my cold dead hands!�