GunSMART: An Able Steward

Every Gun Safe and Gun Mature Citizen
understands the implicit spirit in - and - the explicit intention for
- the Second Amendment - as intended by General George Washington
being a natural Provision in the Freedom of the new American Nation
to be invoked in Liberty - as necessary for the Security of a Free State -
and through her constant Illumination - forever purposed - and proceeded -
across all generations to the last - by the duty of the Common Defense.

And in that same Faith - decisively undertook -
in God - and - in the Providence of God in Country,
thou - should now undertake to cross the same Delaware
with Washington - in thy own spirit - to train to become
after that last cold and bitter Wintering at Valley Forge
- a constant and Able Steward of the Gun.

 Every
GunSMART
Citizen - is a -

S - Safe
M - Mature
A - Able
R - Responsible
T - Trustworthy

Steward of the Gun.
---<--@

3. An Able Steward
is Safe, Mature, and quite Proficient
- in the keeping and the use of the Gun -
Fully understanding of the Power of the Gun.

That the Power of the Gun - is to kill -
and that this is a Power - utterly without recall,
without remorse to Life, without prejudice to Liberty.

The Vision of the Gun Able Citizen

is of one secure in a knowledge of the truth 

that the Power of the Gun is - never its Virtue.

So that an Able Steward,
in order to rightly Respect - the Power of the Gun
obtains for him or herself, an understanding of its Virtue.

That the Power of the Gun - is distinct from its Virtue;
that this Virtue is - Valor - and - Valor which is
the greatest expression of all Martial Virtue
and the order - and - purpose by which
all Martial Virtue must forever
distinguish themselves
from all Virtue.

For one is a fool who knows not
how to rightly respect - the Power of the Gun -
who in never seeking the truth of its Virtue and of its Liberty
can not be defended by its Power.

And another such a one
so taken by the Power of the Gun
who submits one's soul to the Allure of Arms
in the seeking to serve and to worship its Power
becomes a lowlier fool, who exceeding not the Ignorance
of the first fool - but transcends it - so infinitely so - that
he proceeds with great evil - and does great harm.

For those who serve the Sword
never serve the Sword by their Ignorance.

For
- as in the first fool -
the Ignorant
when Danger is near
may hearken to the Wisdom that arouses
their spirit to waken from the slumber of the dust.

But
- as in the second -
those who have become
by their own free submission
- evil-inspired -
are those who fear
no other ruin
more than the ruin that Wisdom herself
may call down upon their heads,
who have made a choice 
to remain unmoved.

Truly, the Sword of the Nations know of each of them
who - of its own truth - became intimate with them
only by their own Ignorance and Malice -
to their great and terrible regret.

For the Sword
that must fight against
each our own Ignorance of the Sword
- in Truth -
is the Sword that must likewise stand
against each our own Betrayal of the Sword
- in Justice -
before the LORD and before All
the Nations before God - is -
that selfsame Sword of the Nations.

And so
- they who become evil-inspired
by the Allure of their own arms
shall - against the Admonition of All
in Heaven and on the Earth -
forever know of a willful deliberation
(and the Despoliation of the Sword in them
come never by any accident of nature).

Thus,
during a time of greatest need
their own Nations shall forsake them
(and burden of their own Arms

shall work to crush them).

So that
even as their own swords are failing them,

their evil works shall die with them.

For verily, this is true -
by Providence and Gospel admonition:
all who serve the sword
shall die by the sword.

An Able Steward
does not - and - never will serve
the base nature of any Nation's Arms.

And because of it - not in spite of it -

proceeds in Confidence of his Freedom,
and through it obtains to a Maturity of its Virtue -
in Liberty, bearing its Burden firmly in the Right.

That the Virtue of Arms
wields the Power of the Gun -

for the Power of the Gun is to kill

but the Virtue of Arms is Valor
and preserves the soul 
against War.

Valor is Virtue - brightest against War,
as a Spear - set against the ensuing Darkness,
constantly aflame - with a Sacred Remembrance -
All that - in Light - must arise to lead Virtue into Battle,
commanding as Charity commands, is Valor ascending
to realize itself - in all Martial Virtue - for God and Country
in each Person of the Soldier - unto Victory - and unto Peace.

One then proceeds - to learn
of the Proficiency and the Skill
specific to each particular weaponry
seeking to Master its every utility
without ever succumbing
to the Allure of Arms.

And that the Nation is to be defended 

not by the sheer might of its Arms
but by the Virtue of its Arms -
as a Gun Able Citizen.

---<--@

*At the conclusion of this series,
I shall post a simplified version of GunSMART
and the GunSMART oath.



To my beloved nieces 
- Aleksis, Clara and Leila -
and their common generations
utterly deserving of safer schools,
saner communities, and abler mentors -
upon a brighter world, under nobler skies.

GunSMART: A Mature Steward

Every
GunSMART
Citizen - is a -

S - Safe
M - Mature
A - Able
R - Responsible
T - Trustworthy

Steward of the Gun.
---<--@



Every
GunSMART
Citizen - is therefore -

2. A Mature Steward
adequately cognizant of his or her
personal role in the keeping of the Public Trust
as a public Citizen bearing private witness
of our Liberty in the Virtue of Arms.

That the Vision of Gun Maturity is - in spirit -
fully realized in the National Remembrance
and in the living Traditions of the Republic
as a common duty to the Common Defense
and the Stewardship of the National Arms.

Mature Stewardship 
fully cognizant of the antecedent reality 
that continually forms and informs the Gun culture
stands to safeguard this reality at its source.

So that all evil
as it pertains to the Gun culture
as it should - presently must always exist - may
ever find its efficacious remedies not through Laws
that endanger its intrinsic accountabilities in Liberty
but through Mature Stewardship of its Freedom
and the Duties and Responsibilities particular to it
that are in keeping with the National Common Weal.

A Gun Mature Steward
therefore, exercises Gun Maturity
as an affirmation of the Second Amendment.

And recognizes from this Maturity 
- in the spirit and virtue of the Nation's Arms -
what is necessary in Liberty and what is extraneous in Legality
specifically as it pertains to the Gun culture in the Republic -
its conservation, adaptations and necessary evolution.
---<--@



To my beloved nieces 
- Aleksis, Clara and Leila -
and their common generations
utterly deserving of safer schools,
saner communities, and abler mentors -
upon a brighter world, under nobler skies.

GunSMART: A Safe Steward

Every
GunSMART
Citizen - is a -

S - Safe
M - Mature
A - Able
R - Responsible
T - Trustworthy

Steward of the Gun.
---<--@

Every
GunSMART
Citizen - is therefore -

1. A Safe Steward 
and knowledgeable of Gun Safety
rules and principles - specifically
in the National sense.

That the Vision of Gun Safety is - in principle -
fully expressed in the Second Amendment
as necessary to "the Security of a Free State".

This implies
that the Gun is - firstly -
an instrument of the Common Defense.

And
that the Gun is - lastly -
only the extension of its first purpose.

So that all evil 

as it pertains to the Gun per se

that is specific to the free expression 

of the National Spirit and its Sovereignty

begins from Unsafe Stewardship.

- selah -

A GunSafe Steward 
therefore, exercises Gun Safety
as a vindication of the Second Amendment.

And recognizes from
this awareness in the Nation
what in spirit must animate all other
derivative Gun Safety rules and principles
in their individual and personal sense.
---<--@



To my beloved nieces 
- Aleksis, Clara and Leila -
and their common generations
utterly deserving of safer schools,
saner communities, and abler mentors -
upon a brighter world, under nobler skies.

Guns and Colonial Mentality

"Ang baril ay mabuting alipin ngunit masamang panginoon. (The gun is a faithful servant but an evil master.)" - Fernando Poe, Jr.



This quote encapsulates a liberating view of arms, one that releases our spirit from the colonial mentality that inclines us to believe - through the common experience of our people - that the prime utility of arms is to gain power over others, especially others weaker than we are.

If during past times the strength of arms were indiscriminately used to subdue the strength of our spirit, then the same truth that lives in the virtue of arms shall be the necessary remedy that shall awaken our nation from the error of past ways - so let us together reflect upon this...

Guns mean goons only if the virtue of arms is forgot dahil ang baril ay masamang panginoon.

But if we remember what FPJ said and make use of arms as our arms were intended - for the defense of our nation and in faithful service of all that we love - we serve ourselves well, my brothers and sisters of the Promise.

We serve ourselves well because we have - together - mastered the gun and by this throw off - more and more - of the lingering yoke of dark spirits past dahil ang baril ay mabuting alipin.

- selah -

People who fear the gun, in truth, fear other people.

But it is a work of Justice to instill good will and solidarity among men and peace and brotherhood among the nations of man that this fear may eventually turn into fellowship.

Arms do not serve individuals, arms always serve a community that looms greater than the self.

(Can we realistically conceive our local defense industry prospering in the absence of this truth in our culture? No, because colonial mentality holds us back in many places and through many diverse ways.)

To do justice to the gun, we must first do justice to ourselves - as ourselves - and re-discover ourselves as a nation - together this time.

In this context, the utility of arms find their original purpose and scope.

Through the reality of nationhood, the virtue of arms find strength and meaning and the ends for which it's knowledge and grace has been by God ordered and intended - in and among - our kindred nations of our one family of nations - the safety and peace of humankind.

This is the virtue of arms.
---<--@



So let us remember what FPJ said - to us - and - for us - about guns and the knowledge and virtue of arms - and say to him in return - "mabuhay ka, FPJ!"

The Interlude

Found in the interlude between hope and hope - is a prayer
and this prayer is lifted by those wings both left and right
that from both near and far they may soon take flight
unto God and the Light, and an end to the night.



I wrote this and posted it on my Facebook page around Christmas time -

Believe me, Connecticut,
the hurt you feel is bigger than yourself
and this is not such a bad thing...

It only means that it must be shouldered
by something much more than
just your own community.

We feel it here too...

I feel it when I think about the things
that must be done to rightly remember the fallen
after this season is over...

It is indeed confusing
to experience such a thing,
especially during a season
such as Christmas.

(We had a Yuletide typhoon [Pablo]
that took and orphaned many of our own children;
it struck us in the south but was felt all over my nation.)

If only we could forget it all...
even for just a moment.

But since we can not forget,
we certainly may (and must) rely on the shelter
of the peace of our togetherness
in this hour of suffering.

So
may the words,
deeds and prayers
of all people of good will
be with you...and with all of us.

That God may soon
bring us peace.
---<--@



Things today, they stir... as they always must.
For the nation must now endeavor to right itself.

As the survivors struggle to piece together their lives -

may we all find strength in the quiet we found in the interlude;

in that solemn silence, at each somber vigil, by that respectful calm

let the actions demanded by the needs of the day be always tempered.

If there is a means to be found,
to advance the end by which every citizen
is empowered by the Bill of Rights to bear arms
let this be a solution that works,
let it be a national solution.

For if the worst happened in Sandy Hook -

if things are not now made right in their memory,

(and the memory of all who under similar guises 

have been so brazenly stolen from our midst)

how shall next one be... but unbearable?

Grounds for unity in hope must be broken 

that common foundations may be established
in the building up of new mores and strictures
sanctified by the remembrance of these things
- if they are not yet made - must now be made.

Thy togetherness, America, as a nation

not thy lingering divisions - is the only force -

capable of making it right - for all of thee!

Be thus, O Land of the Brave,
that thou may ever know
this is for certain -

Unity is Eternal.

---<--@

I have my own proposal
to add to the growing pool of ideas
toward a workable solution to the problem
of gun-related violence in the US
as well as in the Philippines...

It is called Gun SMART 
and it's still a work in progress...

Salutation #165

This picture unnerves me...

It is however, the unseen reality that lives underneath our visible, external reality... one that can bubble up any time, any where.

Let us think about this when we sit down to meditate about realistic disarmament for our nations...

A safer world (in our times) is not a world without weapons but a world with lesser fear of them. (Fear of weapons generate more weapons, while ignorance of them encourages more war.)

Therefore, disarmament - nuclear disarmament above all - is (ultimately) a Justice issue (as opposed to political) and one that is planetary in scope.



(Peace and Disarmament)

PEACE
is directly related to disarmament
only to the degree that the spirit of War is banished
from the souls of our nations (in plural form).

Disarmament leads to strength
but only to the degree that peace is understood
and accepted by the many, and therefore, by the all.

Disarmament by itself,
without a vision of a clear destiny
is - of itself - unsure.

   (Defense and disarmament
   are not opposed but are [qualitatively] consonant
   to each other.

   Therefore,
   a disarmament that is unsure
   is also consequently an action that is unsafe.)

It only seems to lead us to weakness,
and this weakness is a symptom of a sickness
that no nation wants but - in truth -
all nations need.
---<--@

Salutation #163

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution introduces to the people - equally engaged in that Republic undertaking of Country - the right (and the duty) to bear arms in the common defense of the nation.

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

It underpins two essential concepts of American Constitutional Liberty - Freedom and The Common Defense (of Freedom) - concepts which must be well defined for its essence to prevail as truth in the will of the people.

(I recall to mind the US Army motto: "This we shall defend".)

For the bearing of those arms - in and by itself - does not guarantee the life of liberty. Indeed, it might prove to be the death of it.



(On the Bearing of Arms)

Do I believe in guns? No.
Do I believe in the necessity of guns? Yes.

Furthermore,
I believe that the loftiest vision of weaponry
and its development in our world is to make itself obsolete -
in time.

I believe the necessity of bearing arms
provide the means to finally and eventually surrender their utility -
in time.

   (In the last great age of war
   that culminated in the Cold War,
   the nations built and developed weapons
   without an ultimate purpose in mind and heart
   and therefore, mindlessly submitted themselves
   to the truth which is implicit in the nature
   of all weaponry - destruction.

   Weapons were developed
   and refined to such a fine degree
   so as to make it - entirely possible -
   to make our humanity utterly obsolete.

   Weaponry were made to be the ultimate means
   to our own final and complete destruction
   and not the other way around.)

- selah -

Do I love guns? No.
Do I love what guns defend? Yes -
Most certainly.

I believe the means and the resources - to develop -
as well as - the will to wield - weaponry is entrusted to the nations
because the dream in making these weapons is to make safe our world -
not to undo it.

And that only its virtuous use (in the defense)
will lead all Mankind to this greatest of all desired (temporal) ends -
a world where (short of the appointed time, known to God alone,
when heaven and earth are made into one), God-helping,
peace is the rule and - not anymore -
the exception.

- selah -



I believe in a local defense industry
infused with this ethos and professing this motto:

"Filipino arms for the primary defense of the one Filipino nation".
---<--@



Bedevil the gun! 

Let us fear it,
let us make it a thing of mystery,
let us pour all our blame on it -
let us not understand it, 
that we may lay ourselves prone
to higher forms of slavery.



"The gun has played a critical role in history. An Invention which has been praised and denounced, served hero and villain alike...

and carries with it moral responsibility.

To understand the gun is to better understand history."

- Tales of the Gun, a History Channel series

Salutation #162

My beloved, it will be remiss of me not to speak what I feel about this...

Here is a priest blessing weapons - what feels wrong about this picture? 

(Mind you, I have seen priests of other denominations as well as holy stewards of other honorable religions doing the same thing - but I choose to be represented by my own shepherds within my Mother Church - so let he or she who has not sinned cast the first stone.)

(On the Blessing of Victory)

Since we tend to bless only those things that have an everlasting value -
the blessing of weapons seems to imply to the human heart that War
(and the suffering that war and its abominations - murder, hatred, genocide -
has continually wrought in and among the nations of the children of Mankind)
is a thing that may reach out and across into Our Eternity
to do us more ill - which is not the truth.

For in heaven, there is no War.

We may bless the individual soldier along with their kit - weapons included -
since the weapon (or weapons platform) is only an extension of the soldier
who hopes (as all soldiers across all the major arms come to hope -
through his or her submission to freely serve in the defense forces
raised by his or her particular undertaking of Country, Republic or otherwise,
to preserve his or her own nation - family, friends and communities -
from the ancient curse of War) not for the continuation of war but
for the consummation of peace).

Or we may bless the soldiers in his or her own position and place
within a particular weapons platform - terrestrial, marine, aerial, or space.

Or soldiers arrayed as a unit whole - being within their organized teams -
from the very basic maneuver element to the one whole army itself -
complete with individual kit and organic combat, combat support,
and service support attachments.

We may do this (and bless their victory) - but know and understand -
that the weapons - in and by - themselves are ultimately destined for destruction
and should never receive our blessing outside the context of the noble military
and apart from the person of the soldier.

Let us then reflect upon this and pray about it.
---<--@

Farewell to Arms

The Myth of the Magic Sword

Starshine, do you know the myth of the magic sword?



The myth of the magic sword is that the magic does not come from the sword.

:::Think and Unlock:::