A Devious Attack Upon Gun Owners

Time and again, we hear that registration of firearms is simply an administrative tool. It is not an attempt to limit ones ability to legally purchase or own a firearm. Then a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals the true nature of such registration.

The State Attorney General of Illinois has ordered the State Police to release the names of all registered gun owners in Illinois with the date of expiration of the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card to the Associated Press. In the past numerous such requests have been processed with each being denied, but now there is a new mood in the Statehouse and as such the privacy, and safety, of Illinois citizens is being placed at risk by their desire to obey the laws and register their firearms.

At present a court order has enjoined the State Police from releasing the information, but one can only imagine that in a state which has a city, Chicago, with some of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the country; it is only a matter of time until the courts permit such release.

GOP Rep. Aaron Schock sent a letter to State Attorney General last week signed by 12 representatives from Illinois asking her to revoke her order. Madigan's office sees it simply as a matter of information which can be released. The Representatives see it differently.

In the letter the Representatives point out that it could become a criminal's shopping list of people who have guns which might be stolen, and it also reveals those without guns which might be easier targets. Schock compares it to releasing a list of people with burglar alarms.

The letter also adds this delicious tidbit, "Publicly releasing the personal information of gun owners seems more like an intimidation tactic to discourage the lawful ownership of firearms than a way to serve the public interest."

Folks, that is the point exactly. The elitists in our country seem intent upon disarming the general populace. Registration and the possible release of such information can serve no useful purpose other than to coerce law abiding citizens and give the governing entity a tool to suppress those citizens should dogmatically aggressive zealots be elected to high office.

Recent history has shown just such a possibility. Let us not grow weary in the defense of our constitutionally guaranteed rights to own and bear arms. Remember, the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance.

The Work We Do

Time and time again I hear people speak about having no time. They lament the busyness of their days which seem filled with the mundane and boring tasks of providing for themselves a standard of living to which they have become accustomed.

Solomon was just such a man. He complained in Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 that all his working and all his accomplishments were like the early morning fog. He had lain awake at night struggling with new ideas and seeking ways to advance himself, but now he had come to realize that all his efforts were really nothing. He would soon die and leave his accomplishments to another who would probably just squander it.

So, he mused, why should one overly concern himself with acquiring position and possessions which would soon be forgotten. Since the eye and ear are never full, one can never satisfy the desires of those senses, for attainment and accomplishment breed the desire for ever more when one is pre-occupied with the fulfillment of such. He went so far as to suggest that perhaps this was God's purpose after all, that man simply find his pleasure in what he accomplished while indulging his sensual desires.

However, Solomon could not gain the fulfillment and joy for living he sought in the excesses of sensual pleasure which his prominence and prosperity afforded him. He cried out, "It is all vanity, it is all useless, it is all purposeless." Surely there must be more than this dreary existence he was experiencing.

In Chapter 12, Solomon affirmed that although he had tried everything, he had found only one way to live victoriously. "Remember God early in your life." Oh, how we need to focus on God early in our lives in this age also. All our doings, and all our exertions in pursuit of position and possessions will never give us genuine fulfillment and happiness. Should one purchase a new boat, he'll soon see another that he longs for. Should he become Mayor, he will desire to be Governor.

Scripture teaches that God provides for those who follow Him. The primary concern for the Genuine Believer in Jesus Christ ought be to follow His will for one's life. The work in which one is engaged is primarily His provision of opportunity for that one to communicate the light and love of God to a world floundering in loveless darkness. So, one dedicates himself to the tasks his work involves with a sense of calling and ministry which enables him to be the best he can be without disillusionment when all around seems purposeless.

Solomon came to realize that work was honorable and meaningful when not engaged for the purpose of fulfilling one's sensual desires.

Why do you do what you do?