Richard Shelby, Guns, & Sex

Richard Shelby is Alabama’s long-sitting US senator. Surprise: He’s running again. Bigger surprise: His campaign ads show him holding a gun. Biggest surprise: He simply won’t be defeated in the upcoming elections. No, we‘re not going to endorse anyone for the senate simply because there’s no need. Shelby, gun and all, will win. 

Our main question is: Does anyone out there feel more secure because Richard Shelby owns a gun and implies he can shoot…something? Show us an ad for a sheriff’s candidate holding a rifle and we might be duly impressed. The fact that our senator, or governor, thinks simply holding a gun makes him a better candidate is laughable. Voters should care more for a candidate’s economic IQ than his/her gun IQ. Sadly, some don’t.

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The most recent survey on causes of death in the United States is out. It covers the year 2014, and 21 states had a higher death rate from guns than from motor vehicle accidents. Tennessee was one of those states, and it’s causing some comments.

The percentage of families in the U.S. owning a motor vehicle? 90%. The percentage owning a gun? 32%. We’ll admit that we found the latter number much lower than we would have expected.

Should these statistics concern us? Comments please (and we know we’ll get them.)

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A recent comment in the TimesDaily caught our eye. It asked if anyone notices that the paper’s law and order section lists a gun theft almost every day. No, we hadn’t. Do any local police agencies keep a spreadsheet on these thefts?

Theoretically, guns are registered to owners. In other words, they can be traced. An intelligent person wouldn’t purchase a firearm without the proper receipt complete with seller’s name, etc. Yet we doubt gun thieves have any problems selling their ill-gotten fire arms…or even worse, using the weapons themselves in nefarious pursuits.

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Question for thought: Why do so many cry out for blood when a child is left in a hot car, but simply say “tut tut” when a child dies because of easy access to a loaded handgun? We see far more deaths among children, especially toddlers, due to guns than due to being left in a parked vehicle.

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The sex part in the title of today’s blog? Mainly we just threw that in to get your attention, but it is our opinion that Shelby, Bentley, and others we could name (from Franklin County) think holding a gun makes them more sexually attractive. News flash: It doesn’t; however, such photos do bring to mind Elmer Fudd and Charlie Whitman.



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