Greetings from the land of guns and religion

Pro-gun organizations, and there are many such local and statewide groups, outside of the NRA, will now become the watchdogs for their communities. The PA Firearms Owners Association, who bill themselves as “Pennsylvania’s largest pro-gun political action committee,” has a headline on its website regarding the McDonald decision, proclaiming, “We Win,” along with a request to “please take a few minutes to thank the members of the legislative branches of government who worked on our behalf to encourage the Supreme Court toward this position. I find it interesting that PAFOA publicly acknowledges the belief that a politician can “encourage” the Supreme Court toward a ruling; now that’s some serious lobbying. Equally fascinating are the names at the top of the list of those who supposedly did: Pennsylvania’s two Democratic Senators, Bob Casey and Arlen Specter.

Political affiliations aside, this recent victory should not be a reason for complacency. Supreme Court rulings can and have been altered and “reinterpreted” over time. Let us not forget that for the past twenty or so years, there were many assaults on the Second Amendment that argued the original intent applied only to citizen militias, and lacking the modern need for such militias, the amendment was moot.

Although Pennsylvania did not make the top twenty in the recent ranking of “The Most Armed States” based on NICS background checks, gun ownership and gun safety is a proud tradition in the land of “The Deer Hunter” and Lincoln’s “First Defenders.” This is a place where the spirit of the Founding Fathers lives, where it is not unusual for a high school to close for the start of hunting season, and where we take our history, our guns, and our religion very seriously.

Pamela Varkony is a writer, commentator, and native Pennsylvanian. Her work has taken her across four continents including two fact-finding missions to Afghanistan. Her blog is: http://perspectives.pamelavarkony.com.