In the wake of Tuesday’s somewhat unfortunate events in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 elementary school students and two fourth-grade teachers, it is important for us to remember the sanctity of the Second Amendment.
That’s why our God-fearing elected leaders here in Mississippi — from U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith to U.S. Representatives Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Steven Palazzo to Gov. Tate Reeves to Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to Speaker of the House Philip Gunn to a supermajority of Mississippi legislators — support concealed carry and open carry and oppose such radical, communist, socialist, satanic (take your pick) things like a national registry of gun ownership, waiting periods on gun purchases, red flag laws that allow guns to be taken from people exhibiting signs of violence or mental illness, universal background checks and prohibition of ownership of some of the most lethal types of guns ever manufactured.
Occasional school shootings, tragic though they may be, is the small price we pay for the indisputable right of American citizens, no matter their mental state, to own and carry any type of firearm virtually anywhere they choose without question, delay or interference of any kind.
And, by an “occasional” school shootings, we mean:
Robb Elementary School (Uvalde, Texas).
Pearl High School (Mississippi), Holmes County (Mississippi), North Panola High School (Mississippi).
Thurston High School, Columbine High School, Heritage High School.
Deming Middle School, Fort Gibson Middle School, Buell Elementary School.
Lake Worth Middle School, University of Arkansas, Junipero Serra High School.
Santana High School, Bishop Neumann High School, Pacific Lutheran University.
Granite Hills High School, Lew Wallace High School, Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.
Appalachian School of Law, Washington High School, Conception Abbey.
Benjamin Tasker Middle School, University of Arizona, Lincoln High School.
John McDonogh High School, Red Lion Area Junior High School.
Case Western Reserve University, Rocori High School.
Ballou High School, Randallstown High School, Bowen High School.
Red Lake Senior High School, Harlan Community Academy High School.
Campbell County High School, Milwee Middle School, Roseburg High School.
Pine Middle School, Essex Elementary School, Duquesne University.
Platte Canyon High School, Weston High School, Central Catholic High School.
Jeanette High School, Eastern Hills High School, DeAnza High School.
Ridgway High School, Reginald F. Lewis High School, Saugus High School.
Pleasantville High School, Waukesha South High School, Oshkosh High School.
Catholic Academy of New Haven, Bellaire High School, North Crowley High School.
McAuliffe Elementary School South Oak Cliff High School.
Texas A&M University-Commerce, Sonora High School, Western Illinois University.
Oxford High School, West Nickel Mines School, Joplin Memorial Middle School.
Henry Foss High School, Compton Centennial High School, Virginia Tech.
Success Tech Academy, Miami Carol City Senior High School, Hamilton High School.
Louisiana Tech, Mitchell High School, E.O. Green Junior High School.
Northern Illinois University, Lakota Middle School, Knoxville Central High School.
Willoughby South High School, Henry Ford High School, University of Central Arkansas.
Dillard High School, Dunbar High School, Hampton University.
Harvard College, Larose-Cut Off Middle School, International Studies Academy.
Skyline College, Discovery Middle School, University of Alabama.
DeKalb School, Deer Creek Middle School, Ohio State University.
Mumford High School, University of Texas, Kelly Elementary School.
Marinette High School, Aurora Central High School, Millard South High School.
Martinsville West Middle School, Worthing High School, Highlands Intermediate School.
Cape Fear High School, Chardon High School, Episcopal School of Jacksonville.
Oikos University, Hamilton High School, Perry Hall School.
Normal Community High School, University of South Alabama, Banner Academy South.
University of Southern California, Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Apostolic Revival Center Christian School, Taft Union High School, Osborn High School.
Stevens Institute of Business and Arts, Hazard Community and Technical College.
Chicago State University, Lone Star College-North, Cesar Chavez High School.
Price Middle School, University of Central Florida, New River Community College.
Grambling State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School, Ronald E. McNair Discovery Academy.
Carver High School, Agape Christian Academy, Sparks Middle School.
North Carolina A&T State University, Stephenson High School.
Brashear High School, West Orange High School, Arapahoe High School.
Edison High School, Liberty Technology Magnet High School.
Hillhouse High School, Berrendo Middle School, Purdue University.
South Carolina State University, Los Angeles Valley College.
Charles F. Brush High School, University of Southern California.
Georgia Regents University, Academy of Knowledge Preschool.
Benjamin Banneker High School, D. H. Conley High School.
East English Village Preparatory Academy, Paine College, Gwinnett College.
John F. Kennedy High School, Seattle Pacific University, Reynolds High School.
Indiana State University, Albemarle High School, Fern Creek High School.
Langston Hughes High School, Marysville Pilchuck High School, Florida State University.
Miami Carol City High School, Rogers State University, Rosemary Anderson High School.
Wisconsin Lutheran High School, Frederick High School, Tenaya Middle School.
Bethune-Cookman University, Pershing Elementary School, Wayne Community College.
J.B. Martin Middle School, Southwestern Classical Academy, Savannah State University.
Harrisburg High School, Umpqua Community College, Northern Arizona University.
Texas Southern University, Tennessee State University, Winston-Salem State University.
Mojave High School, Lawrence Central High School, Franklin High School.
Muskegon Heights High School, Independence High School, Madison High School.
Antigo High School, University of California-Los Angeles, Jeremiah Burke High School.
Alpine High School, Townville Elementary School, Vigor High School.
Linden McKinley STEM Academy, June Jordan High School for Equity.
Union Middle School, Mueller Park Junior High School, West Liberty-Salem High School.
University of Washington, King City High School, North Park Elementary School.
North Lake College, Freeman High School, Mattoon High School.
Rancho Tehama Elementary School, Aztec High School, Wake Forest University.
Italy High School, NET Charter High School, Marshall County High School.
Sal Castro Middle School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Great Mills High School, Central Michigan University, Huffman High School.
Frederick Douglass High School, Forest High School, Highland High School.
Dixon High School, Santa Fe High School, Noblesville West Middle School.
University of North Carolina Charlotte, STEM School Highlands Ranch.
Edgewood High School, Palm Beach Central High School.
Providence Career & Technical Academy, Fairley High School, Canyon Springs High School.
Dennis Intermediate School, Grambling State University, Blountsville Elementary School.
Prescott High School, College of the Mainland, Wynbrooke Elementary School.
UNC Charlotte, Riverview Florida (school bus), Carman-Ainsworth High School.
Williwaw Elementary School, Monroe Clark Middle School.
And, finally, hauntingly, Second Chance High School.
Think of the thousands of family members and friends these gun deaths represent.
Is there a single parent, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle or cousin who would not gladly choose the life of that beloved child over a Second Amendment that is holy and therefore beyond constraint?
So you can see what we are up against.
These cry-baby family members and people whose consciences are stirred by their tragic stories — bleeding hearts, we call them — are a threat and the memories of their slaughtered children are a bloody stain on the Second Amendment as it is currently interpreted. Take heart, though. In their infinite wisdom, our Founding Fathers foresaw and accepted such carnage, as the Originalists who now dominate our nation’s Supreme Court assure us.
So, please, let’s all pray not for the victims and families of this week’s murderous rampage, who are little more than fodder and will be forgotten within a few days’ time, but for the Holy Second Amendment, which endureth forever and ever, world without end, amen.
Because, let’s face it: If you aren’t willing to sacrifice our nation’s children on the Altar of Gun Jesus, America is just not for you.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
