18 U.S. Code Section 287 ~ False, Fictitious Or Fraudulent Claims

December 13, 2022

It’s long past time for leaders of the Republican Party to tell election deniers, and especially one person in particular, to just shut the #$&% up. Since those spineless “leaders” aren’t willing to do so, it’s time for Democrats to take legal action, charging deniers with violation of 18 U.S. Code Section 287, which refers to filling false, fictitious or fraudulent claims. This section states “Whoever makes or presents to any person or officer in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, or to any department or agency thereof, any claim upon or against the United States, or any department or agency thereof, knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent, shall be imprisoned not more than five years and shall be subject to a fine in the amount provided in this title.”

Election deniers such as Kari Lake are making a mockery of a once proud democracy with all their election fraud charges, while offering not one bit of proof. I’m no statistician (I did take a statistics course in school), but what’s the odds of massive voter fraud occurring only in one elective office out of all others on the ballot, as is always the case by the deniers? If committing voter fraud, why wouldn’t you do so all down the ballot?

Throw them jail for five years, that will shut ’em up.

Steven H. Spring
Earth

Gun Ownership In Itself Is Not A Second Amendment Right

May 25, 2022

I hate to keep posting an updated version of my original post, which first appeared on July 28, 2012 after the horrific shooting at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that left twelve dead and fifty-eight wounded, however, once again a mass shooting has shaken America to its knees. Those who lost their lives yesterday, along with their families dealing with a lifetime of pain and suffering, cry out for me to do what little I can actually do about it, to put into writing my disgust with the gun culture and industry in this nation. This time, nineteen students and two teachers were murdered, along with another eleven wounded, Tuesday afternoon at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas just days before summer vacation was to begin.

Because these mass shootings seem to happen all the time in Second Amendment America, I decided to update the criteria for making the below list of mass murder in this nation since the Columbine High School slaughter, upping the minimum deaths to five in order to greatly limit the size of the post. The really sad thing is that my list includes only a fraction of mass shootings that occur on average every single day in America. Most of these shootings never make the national news and thus go unnoticed, except for the families involved. So far this year, there have been two hundred and fifty-one mass shootings in this nation in which four or more people were either shot or killed in a single event, not including the shooter, which is the criteria the FBI has set in determining a mass shooting.

Despite these senseless tragedies occurring quite often, I can already hear gun rights advocates opining that now is not the time to discuss new, effective national gun control laws, as they always do after every horrendous shooting. If not now, in the wake of twenty-one innocent lives shot dead, and let us not forget eleven others wounded, when is the time to properly discuss gun control? Lest anyone dismiss my ramblings as some tree-hugging liberal, take it from a gun manufacturer; William Ruger, Sr., co-founder of Sturm Ruger firearms has been quoted as saying “No honest man needs more than ten rounds in any gun. I never meant for simple civilians to have my twenty or thirty-round mags or my folding stock.”

Proponents of gun ownership and the firearms industry cite the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms. However, these folks all seem to leave out the extremely significant first four words of the actual amendment. The Second Amendment, as passed by Congress on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill Of Rights states, “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.”

If we cannot agree upon what constitutes a militia (the word dates back to at least 1590 when it was referenced in the book Certain Discourses Military by Sir John Smythe, who gave it the definition of a military force; a body of soldiers and military affairs; and a body of military discipline), there can be no disputing the meaning of well regulated. Yet, these very important first four words of the Second Amendment are never mentioned by gun advocates. It’s as if those four words do not exist.

There is no excuse for any person to own a military assault weapon or a high-capacity magazine clip, yet our politicians who dare have the courage to speak up for sensible gun laws quiver in fear of reprisal from the National Rifle Association. Politicians who do speak out in favor of new gun control legislation face the wrath of the NRA come their next election. To believe that arming every citizen is the answer to curbing gun violence, as the NRA espouses is just preposterous. Growing up during the hay-day of Westerns ruling television networks, the image I always remember is that the very first thing the town marshal did when cowboys came into town after a long, hard cattle drive to visit the local saloons was to take away their guns. However, just the opposite is occurring throughout America as more and more cities and states are allowing the concealed carrying of firearms into drinking establishments. Many feel the need to carry firearms with them into their houses of worship. One can only wonder how God feels about that. My thought is he must be horrified. The ironic thing is that gun ownership does not make a person safer. Statistics show gun owners are far more likely to die from gun violence than non-owners.

The following is a partial list of mass murders that have taken place in the United States just since the horrendous tragedy at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 when two students killed twelve fellow students along with one teacher and wounding twenty-one others before committing suicide:

Twelve dead in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999,
Six dead in Fort Worth, Texas in 1999,
Five dead in Wichita, Kansas in 2000,
Seven dead in Wakefield, Massachusetts in 2000,
Five dead in Queens, New York in 2000,
Ten dead in Washington, D.C. in 2002,
Six dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2003,
Six dead in Birchwood, Wisconsin in 2004,
Seven dead in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 2005,
Ten dead in Red Lake, Minnesota in 2005,
Six dead in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2006,
Six dead in Carnation, Washington in 2007,
Five dead in Crandon, Wisconsin in 2007,
Thirty-two dead at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007,
Nine dead in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007,
Six dead at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois in 2008,
Six dead in Alger, Washington in 2008,
Thirteen dead (thirty-two wounded) at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2009,
Nine dead in Geneva County, Alabama in 2009,
Ten dead in Covina, California in 2009,
Thirteen dead in Binghamton, New York in 2009,
Six dead in Santa Clara, California in 2009,
Eight dead in Carthage, North Carolina in 2009,
Eight dead in Appomattox, Virginia in 2010,
Nine dead in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010,
Eight dead in Seal Beach, California in 2011
Seven dead in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2011,
Six dead (thirteen wounded) in Tucson, Arizona in 2011,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2012,
Five dead in San Francisco, California in 2012,
Seven dead at Oikos University in Oakland, California in 2012,
Seven dead at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012,
Twelve dead (fifty-eight wounded) in Aurora, Colorado in 2012,
Six dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2012,
Twenty-six dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, 2012
Five dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2013,
Five dead in Federal Way, Washington in 2013,
Five dead in Manchester, Illinois in 2013,
Five dead at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California in 2013,
Six dead in Hialeah, Florida in 2013,
Thirteen dead at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in 2013,
Five dead in Spanish Fork, Utah in 2014,
Five dead in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014,
Six dead in Spring, Texas in 2014,
Eight dead (grandfather/daughter/grandchildren murder/suicide) in Bell, Florida in 2014
Five dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Marysville, Washington in 2014,
Five dead in Morgantown, West Virginia in 2014,
Six dead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2014,
Eight dead in Tyrone, Missouri in 2015,
Nine dead (twenty wounded) in Waco, Texas in 2015,
Nine dead in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015,
Six dead in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2015,
Eight dead (six children) in Houston, Texas in 2015,
Six dead (single-family murder/suicide) in Platte, South Dakota in 2015,
Ten dead (nine wounded) at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in 2015,
Fourteen dead (twenty-one wounded) in San Bernardino, California in 2015,
Six dead in Chesapeake, Virginia (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2016,
Five dead in Glendale, Arizona in 2016,
Five dead in Belfair, Washington (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Eight dead in Piketon, Ohio in 2016,
Six dead (murder/suicide domestic dispute) in Appling, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Green Cove Springs, Florida in 2016,
Five dead in Moultrie, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Ravenel, South Carolina in 2016
Five dead in Roswell, New Mexico in 2016.
Forty-nine dead (fifty-three wounded) in Orlando, Florida in 2016,
Five dead (nine wounded in a sniper ambush against police officers) in Dallas, Texas in 2016,
Five dead (family murder/suicide) in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Five dead in Citronelle, Alabama in 2016,
Five dead in Burlington, Washington in 2016,
Five dead (eight wounded) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2017,
Eight dead (domestic murder including sheriff’s deputy) in Brookhaven, Mississippi in 2017,
Six dead (workplace murder/suicide) in Orlando, Florida in 2017,
Five dead in La Madera, New Mexico in 2017,
Nine dead in Plano, Texas in 2017,
Fifty-eight dead (four hundred & eighty-nine wounded) in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017,
Twenty-six dead (twenty wounded) at First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas in 2017,
Five dead (ten wounded) in Rancho Tehama, California in 2017,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Melcroft, Pennsylvania in 2018,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Paintsville, Kentucky in 2018,
Seventeen dead (seventeen wounded) at Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Fla. in 2018,
Ten dead (thirteen wounded) at Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, Texas in 2018,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide, including four children) in Orlando, Florida in 2018,
Five dead at Capital Gazette newspaper offices, Annapolis, Maryland in 2018,
Six dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Bakersfield, California in 2018,
Eleven dead (six wounded including four police officers) at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, in 2018,
Twelve dead (including a Sheriff’s Deputy) at a nightclub in Thousand Oaks, California in 2018,
Five dead at SunTrust Bank, in Sebring, Florida in 2019,
Five dead (including shooter’s parents & ex-girlfriend) in Gonzalez, Louisiana in 2019,
Six dead (including shooter) at a manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois in 2019,
Five dead (domestic murder) in Morrisville, Pennsylvania in 2019,
Seven dead (domestic murder) in Sumner County, Tennessee in 2019,
Twelve dead (four wounded) in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2019,
Twenty-three dead (twenty-three wounded) at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas in 2019,
Nine dead (twenty-seven wounded) in 30 seconds, in the Oregon District, Dayton, Ohio in 2019,
Seven dead (twenty-two wounded) in Odessa, Texas in 2019,
Five dead (domestic murder) in Elkmont, Alabama in 2019,
Five dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2019,
Five dead in Orinda, California at a Halloween party in 2019
Six dead at Molson Coors Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2020,
Seven dead (murder/suicide) in Moncure, North Carolina in 2020,
Five dead (murder/suicide) in Springfield, Missouri in 2020,
Seven dead in Valhermoso Springs, Alabama in 2020,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Elyria, Ohio in 2020,
Five dead (domestic murder) in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2021,
Six dead (five children, one adult) in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 2021,
Eight dead in Atlanta, Georgia in 2021,
Ten dead in Boulder, Colorado in 2021,
Six dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Dallas, Texas in 2021,
Six dead (murder/suicide) in Columbia, South Carolina in 2021,
Nine dead (murder/suicide) at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2021,
Seven dead (murder/suicide) at a birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2021,
Ten dead (workplace murder/suicide) in San Jose, California in 2021,
Five dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2021,
Six dead in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2022,
Six dead (2 wounded) (domestic murder) in Corsicana & Frost, Texas in 2022,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide, 3 children) at a church in Arden-Arcade, California in 2022,
Six dead (twelve wounded) in Crips/Bloods shootout in Sacramento, California in 2022,
Five dead (2 children) (domestic murder/suicide) in Duluth Minnesota in 2022
Ten dead (three wounded) at Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York in 2022.

This is a staggering list of senseless murders and family lives shattered, and does not detail the total number of incidents, as to keep the list manageable. What is alarming is that the percentage of Americans who believe we need stricter gun control laws is decreasing. What does it take a nation to realize that something is desperately wrong with its culture of guns and violence?

The NRA convinced a good number of Americans that former President Obama’s hidden agenda was to take away all their guns. As a result, the number of firearms sold skyrocketed during his eight years in office. Yet, the only two firearm bills signed into law during his presidency reduced restrictions on gun control, contrary to popular opinion. Ronald Reagan, the former patron saint of the Republican Party, once said “I do not believe in taking away the right of the citizen for sporting, for hunting and so forth, or for home defense. But I do believe that an AK-47, a machine gun, is not a sporting weapon or needed for defense of a home.”

If a person wants to own a firearm, fine, join a well regulated militia as required by the Second Amendment. We, as a country always seem to be at war, so there will always be a need for someone who aspires to shoot something. I see nothing wrong with a hunter owning a few rifles, and have many friends who hunt, but as a general rule, hunters do not shoot their prey with assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds semi-automatically or automatically without having to reload, while wearing body armor. For anyone to have the ability to purchase military assault weapons capable of creating the type of carnage seen in this country time and again over the past twenty years is asinine.

Be it this latest, senseless mass shooting, tens of thousands of murders committed every year in America’s inner cities or our seemingly endless wars, this is a violent nation. Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

Steven H. Spring
Earth

The Ballad Of Trayvon Martin

February 26, 2022

I do not profess to be a poet, nor even a decent writer of song, however I believe I know injustice when seeing it. Here is something I wrote after the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, ten years ago today;

The Ballad Of Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin, never stood a chance
Shot down in cold blood by a man who wanted street cred
Poor George Zimmerman, he wouldn’t have done anything differently, he said
Didn’t have any choice in a shooting that left young Martin dead

“Fuckin’ punks, these assholes always get away”
Were the words Zimmerman used when calling non-emergency 911
Based only on the color of his target’s skin and the clothes he wore
Pity poor Sybrina Fulton, she had to bury her teenage son

The lawyers say Trayvon Martin was the aggressor, it was he who started the fight
Snuck up from the dark and sucker punched the neighborhood watch captain
Bashing Zimmerman’s head down against the sidewalk
His attorneys said in court over and over again and again

Busted poor George’s nose, and giving him cuts on the back of his head
He was the one screaming for help, his attorneys said
Martin had his hands over Zimmerman’s bloody nose and mouth they assailed
However, the dead boy had no blood or DNA under any of his fingernails

Thought he was a cop, talking the policeman’s jargon
“They always come out at night,” George Zimmerman had said
It was God’s plan he told a popular talk show host
For him to shoot the young man dead

Witness after witness testified that they saw Zimmerman on top during the fight for life
Trayvon was armed with a concrete sidewalk was what the attorneys said in defense of their man
Blows were raining down by the assailant from above, MMA style
Yet it was Zimmerman who had this type of training, Martin had only one small cut to his hands

The gun magazine was fully loaded and one in the chamber, locked and loaded, ready to fire
The defense team tried to say Trayvon was up to no good
Tried to run if only he could, but shot down where he stood
Profiling indeed, as he was nothin’ but a young black man in a hood…ie

George Zimmerman had an attitude and a loaded gun
Young Trayvon Martin was armed with only a 20 ounce ice tea and a bag of Skittles
Stalked like an animal, poor Trayvon Martin didn’t stand a chance
Now he won’t be able to attend his high school’s senior dance

A “creepy-ass cracker” was following him was what he told his friend Rachel Jeantel
Then the sound of headphones hitting the ground and him yelling “Get off! Get off”
There seems to be little doubt that it was George Zimmerman
The life of Trayvon Martin he did steal

Steven H. Spring
Earth

Wilson Chapel At Christmas #22D

December 25, 2021

Wilson Chapel, located just down the road from my old farmhouse, which I lost during the early stages (year five of twenty-five) of a rather severe mid-life crisis.  I shot a lot of photographs of the chapel, sometimes right after a blizzard, late at night.  I would shoot right outside my back porch, poking a zoom lens around the corner of the porch.

On such nights, there would be complete silence, except of course for the howling of the wind.  Or maybe the girls, Dakota and Arizona, my two red Dobermans, playing in the snow.

A Merry Christmas to all!!!

Steven H. Spring
Earth

To “B” Or Not To “b” (Apologies To Willie Shakespeare)

July 2, 2020

Before reading the op-ed column in last Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch by Jenice Armstrong, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, in which she detailed the new custom of capitalizing “B” when referring to Black people, I had noticed this practice for several weeks in both the newspaper and on television. My viewpoint regarding categorizing people by the color of their skin, although convenient still seems racist even if capitalizing the first letter. Ironically, for the most part, black nor white does not really describe one’s actual color of their skin.

Why is it that skin color is only used to describe Black people or White? We no longer refer to Oriental people as being Yellow. Nor do we refer to America’s indigenous people as Red, except, that is for the National Football League’s Washington Redskins. I have written numerous letters to the NFL, NAACP and Washington’s owner during the past several decades regarding the derogatory nickname, calling for its banishment.

While reading Armstrong’s article, the thought occurred to me if this new capitalization procedure would apply to the word white. Before the week was out, I found the answer when reading an article by Ben Walker of the Associated Press that appeared in Wednesday’s sports section when he wrote former baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain “Landis broke up exhibitions between Black and white All-Star teams” in his article about why Landis’ name should be removed from Major League Baseball’s annual MVP award.

The non-capitalization of the letter “W” in the word white did not bother me as a White person; it just looked funny capitalizing one color and not the other. That bothered me as someone who suffers from being a neat freak, perfectionist and OCDer.

Steven H. Spring
Earth

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Footballers

An open letter to Illinois state representative Carol Sente, regarding the dangers of playing tackle football, especially by children;

April 19, 2018

The Honorable Carol Sente
Illinois House of Representatives
59th House District
272-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, Illinois 62706

Dear Representative Sente,

While reading an article in today’s Columbus Dispatch regarding a proposal to ban children in your state under the age of twelve from playing tackle football, I could not believe your comment that parents “need more time to absorb the evidence” which links repeated blows to the head to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Throughout the past two decades, colleges and pros have cut back on tackling in practice because of the brutality of the game, however, studies on the effects to the brain has only centered on concussions.

During the past six or eight years, if not longer, PBS aired two programs detailing the impact of tackle football on our youth. I do not remember the person’s name or occupation, but I will never forget the comment he made regarding the effects on a child’s brain when helmets bang together. He compared what happens to the brain as to shaking a bowl of Jell-O. This banging together of helmets occurs on every single play in every game and during every practice.

I grew up playing football, however the only time I wore a helmet was when I made the high school reserves team in the tenth grade. The ironic thing about helmets is that the more safer we make them, the more dangerous they have become, turning them into death-defying weapons of destruction. The sporting world only seems to link CTE to concussions, however, to me, and I’m no doctor, but the shaking of brains comparable to shaking a bowl of Jell-O, especially in children, is the real concern.

My son (and my daughter too) got his love of the sport from me, and he played two years of peewee tackle football twenty some years ago. Knowing what I know now, I would not allow him to play tackle football at such a young age.

Sincerely,

Steven H. Spring

Gun Ownership In Itself Is Not A Second Amendment Right

February 15, 2018

I hate to keep posting an updated version of my original post, which was first posted on July 28, 2012 after the horrific shooting at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that left twelve dead and fifty-eight wounded, however, once again a mass shooting has shaken America to its knees, and those who lost their lives and their families cry out for me to do what little I can actually do about it, that being to put into writing my disgust with the gun culture and industry in this nation.

This time, seventeen innocent students and teachers lost their lives and fourteen more wounded on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida by a nineteen year old, white man, armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle, multiple magazines, wearing a gas mask and setting off smoke grenades before pulling the building’s fire alarm. Only two days before the horrific shooting, Parkland was named the safest city in America. Audio recorded by students on their cell phones sounded as if recorded in a war zone. The shooter, Nikolaus Cruz, has been described as a troubled, former student at the school, who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons. One can only imagine the uproar had this man been a Muslim with Middle East heritage.

Because these mass shootings seem to happen all the time in Second Amendment America, I had to update the criteria for making the below list of mass murders in this nation since the Columbine High School slaughter, upping the minimum deaths to five in order to greatly limit the size of the post. The really sad thing is that my list includes only a fraction of mass shootings that occur on average every single day in America. Most of these shootings never make the national news and thus go unnoticed, except for the families involved. In the past two decades, there have been eighteen school shootings worldwide, yet this is the eighteenth school shooting during the past thirty-five days in the U.S.

Despite these senseless tragedies occurring quite regularly, I can already hear gun rights advocates opining that now is not the time to discuss new, effective national gun control laws, as they always do after every horrendous shooting. If not now, in the wake of seventeen innocent lives shot dead, and let us not forget the fourteen wounded, when is the time to properly discuss gun control? Lest anyone dismiss my ramblings as some tree-hugging liberal, take it from a gun manufacturer; William Ruger, Sr., co-founder of Sturm Ruger firearms has been quoted as saying “No honest man needs more than ten rounds in any gun. I never meant for simple civilians to have my twenty or thirty-round mags or my folding stock.”

Proponents of gun ownership and the firearms industry cite the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms. However, these folks all seem to leave out the extremely significant first four words of the actual amendment. The Second Amendment, as passed by Congress on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill Of Rights states, “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.” Yet, these very important first four words of the Second Amendment are never mentioned by gun advocates. It’s as if those four words do not exist.

I have recently been made aware by a like-minded attorney, that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled during a 2008 case, Heller v. District of Columbia that the Second Amendment, responsible for so much carnage in America, equates an individual as being a militia. I’m no attorney, and far from knowledgeable regarding the interpretation of laws, however, the word “militia” dates back to at least 1590 when it was referenced in the book Certain Discourses Military by Sir John Smythe, who gave it the definition of a military force; a body of soldiers and military affairs; and a body of military discipline. How is it possible the Supreme Court has determined that individual citizens constitutes a militia, let alone a well regulated one?

America’s fascination with firearms has evolved into becoming the most violent nation on Earth, with the possible exception of those countries who are presently engaged in actual warfare, which it seems would include this nation as we are currently bombing on a somewhat regular basis seven countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen), dropping 26,171 bombs during 2016 alone. Even more incredibly, America, which was founded on the mass genocide of its indigenous people, has been engaged in some sort of military conflict two hundred and twenty-four years out of our two hundred and forty-one year existence.

There is no excuse for any person to own a military assault weapon or a high-capacity magazine clip, yet our politicians who dare have the courage to speak up for sensible gun laws quiver in fear of reprisal from the National Rifle Association. Politicians who do speak out in favor of new gun control legislation face the wrath of the NRA come their next election. To believe that arming every citizen is the answer to curbing gun violence, as the NRA espouses is just preposterous. Growing up during the hay-day of Westerns ruling television networks, the image I always remember is that the very first thing the town sheriff did when cowboys came into town after a long, hard cattle drive to visit the local saloons was to take away their guns. However, just the opposite is occurring throughout America as more and more cities and states are allowing the concealed carrying of firearms into drinking establishments. Many feel the need to carry their firearms with them into their houses of worship. One can only wonder how God feels about that. My thought is he must be horrified. The ironic thing is that gun ownership does not make a person safer. Statistics show gun owners are far more likely to die from gun violence than non-owners.

The following is a partial list of mass murders that have taken place in the United States just since the horrendous tragedy at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 when two students killed twelve fellow students along with one teacher and wounding twenty-one others before committing suicide:

Twelve dead in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999,
Six dead in Fort Worth, Texas in 1999,
Five dead in Wichita, Kansas in 2000,
Seven dead in Wakefield, Massachusetts in 2000,
Five dead in Queens, New York in 2000,
Ten dead in Washington, D.C. in 2002,
Six dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2003,
Six dead in Birchwood, Wisconsin in 2004,
Seven dead in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 2005,
Ten dead in Red Lake, Minnesota in 2005,
Six dead in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2006,
Six dead in Carnation, Washington in 2007,
Five dead in Crandon, Wisconsin in 2007,
Thirty-two dead at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007,
Nine dead in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007,
Six dead at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois in 2008,
Six dead in Alger, Washington in 2008,
Thirteen dead (thirty-two wounded) at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2009,
Nine dead in Geneva County, Alabama in 2009,
Ten dead in Covina, California in 2009,
Thirteen dead in Binghamton, New York in 2009,
Six dead in Santa Clara, California in 2009,
Eight dead in Carthage, North Carolina in 2009,
Eight dead in Appomattox, Virginia in 2010,
Nine dead in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010,
Eight dead in Seal Beach, California in 2011
Seven dead in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2011,
Six dead (thirteen wounded) in Tucson, Arizona in 2011,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2012,
Five dead in San Francisco, California in 2012,
Seven dead at Oikos University in Oakland, California in 2012,
Seven dead at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012,
Twelve dead (fifty-eight wounded) in Aurora, Colorado in 2012,
Six dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2012,
Twenty-six dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, 2012
Five dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2013,
Five dead in Federal Way, Washington in 2013,
Five dead in Manchester, Illinois in 2013,
Five dead at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California in 2013,
Six dead in Hialeah, Florida in 2013,
Thirteen dead at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in 2013,
Five dead in Spanish Fork, Utah in 2014,
Five dead in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014,
Six dead in Spring, Texas in 2014,
Eight dead (grandfather/daughter/grandchildren murder/suicide) in Bell, Florida in 2014
Five dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Marysville, Washington in 2014,
Five dead in Morgantown, West Virginia in 2014,
Six dead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2014,
Eight dead in Tyrone, Missouri in 2015,
Nine dead in Waco, Texas in 2015,
Nine dead in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015,
Six dead in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2015,
Eight dead (six children) in Houston, Texas in 2015,
Six dead (single-family murder/suicide) in Platte, South Dakota in 2015,
Ten dead (nine wounded) at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in 2015,
Fourteen dead (twenty-one wounded) in San Bernardino, California in 2015,
Six dead in Chesapeake, Virginia (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2016,
Five dead in Glendale, Arizona in 2016,
Five dead in Belfair, Washington (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Eight dead in Piketon, Ohio in 2016,
Six dead (murder/suicide domestic dispute) in Appling, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Green Cove Springs, Florida in 2016,
Five dead in Moultrie, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Ravenel, South Carolina in 2016
Five dead in Roswell, New Mexico in 2016.
Forty-nine dead (fifty-three wounded) in Orlando, Florida in 2016,
Five dead (nine wounded in a sniper ambush against police officers) in Dallas, Texas in 2016,
Five dead (family murder/suicide) in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Five dead in Citronelle, Alabama in 2016,
Five dead in Burlington, Washington in 2016,
Five dead (eight wounded) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2017,
Eight dead (domestic murder including sheriff’s deputy) in Brookhaven, Mississippi in 2017,
Six dead (workplace murder/suicide) in Orlando, Florida in 2017,
Five dead in La Madera, New Mexico in 2017,
Nine dead in Plano, Texas in 2017,
Fifty-eight dead (four hundred & twenty-two wounded) in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017,
Twenty-six dead (twenty wounded) at First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas in 2017,
Five dead (ten wounded) in Rancho Tehama, California in 2017,
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Melcroft, Pennsylvania in 2018 and
Five dead (domestic murder/suicide) in Paintsville, Kentucky in 2018.

This is a staggering list of senseless murders and family lives shattered, and does not detail the total number of incidents along with the considerable number of wounded in the carnage, except in cases of large numbers of wounded. What is alarming is that the percentage of Americans who believe we need stricter gun control laws is decreasing. What does it take a nation to realize that something is desperately wrong with our culture of guns and violence?

If a person wants to own a firearm, fine, join a well regulated militia as required by the Second Amendment. We, as a country always seem to be at war, so there will always be a need for someone who aspires to shoot something.

I see nothing wrong with a hunter owning a few rifles, and have many friends who hunt, but as a general rule, hunters do not shoot their prey with assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds semi-automatically or automatically without having to reload. For anyone to have the ability to purchase military assault weapons capable of creating the type of massacre seen in this country time and again over the past eighteen years is asinine.

Be it this latest, senseless mass shooting, tens of thousands of murders committed every year in America’s inner cities or our seemingly endless wars, this is a violent nation. Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

Steven H. Spring
Earth

Adam & Eve & Steve

January 28, 2018

I have been researching my family history for five years, if not longer, and have traced some branches of my family tree back a thousand years. Using Ancestry.com at my local library, and FamilySearch.com at home (a free search and family tree provided by the Mormon Church), I have found quite a few kings and queens and even one saint in my ancestry. However, what I found late Saturday night surprised me.

While searching branches on my father’s side of the family, one particular branch kept going back further and further and further in time. Once you go back about a thousand years, names become very weird (not an actual scientific term) and I usually stop. Last night though, I decided to go back in time a little further, and after going back to the year 500, to Boddw ap Serwyl, the King of Cardiganshire (Wales), I decided to see how far back that particular branch went.

This branch kept going and going and going. It flew past the AD years into BC time and kept going. Next came the year 1000 BC and it kept going. 2000 BC came and went with no problem. Then 3000 BC went by too, and the list of alleged relatives continued onward. Much to my surprise, the list went on for another 1000 years, where it finally came to an end.

Whose names were at the end of this extremely long list of potential relatives? Why, Adam and Eve, of course. I’m no genealogist, and have verified only a couple hundred years of my family tree via marriage licenses, death certificates and census records, but what I found last night was truly amazing.

Steven H. Spring
Earth

“Dissed”

December 30, 2017

I do not understand why more and more draft eligible players are choosing not to play in a bowl game, fearful of injuring themselves and potentially losing millions of NFL guaranteed dollars. Granted, in the past few years, a couple of players suffered from this cruel fate, but, how does a player face his teammates?

What I really do not understand is why coaches allow a player who is refusing to play to still be a part of the team, allowing them to stand along the sidelines. I’m no coach, but if one, would tell any player who refused to play, that’s fine, but you’re staying home.

Players have been complaining for several decades now about being disrespected. The complaint become so widespread it ended up with its own slang word, “dissed.” But, isn’t refusing to play the ultimate form of disrespect? Coming of age on the south side of Columbus through the ‘70s, we would have had one word for such a player, a word now days most associated with the president.

What does this say about a player? What does this say about us as a society and a nation?

Steven H. Spring
Earth

Gun Ownership In Itself Is Not A Second Amendment Right

October 2, 2017

I hate to keep posting an updated version of my original post, which was first posted on July 28, 2012 after the horrific shooting at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that left twelve dead and fifty-eight wounded, however, once again a mass shooting has shaken America to its knees, and those who lost their lives and their families cry out for me to do what little I can actually do about it, that being to put into writing my disgust with the gun culture and industry in this nation.

This time, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, fifty-nine innocent people lost their lives and five hundred and twenty-seven were wounded Sunday evening during the conclusion of a three-day, outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Audio from the massacre sounded like World War III had broken out on the streets of Vegas, however, it appears the carnage was committed by a sixty-four year old, white American man, armed with twenty-three firearms, including at least one automatic and high-capacity magazines. One can only imagine the uproar had this man been a Muslim with Middle East heritage.

Because these mass shootings seem to happen all the time in Second Amendment America, I decided to update the criteria for making the below list of mass murder in this nation since the Columbine High School slaughter, upping the minimum deaths to five in order to greatly limit the size of the post. The really sad thing is that my list includes only a fraction of mass shootings that occur on average every single day in America. Most of these shootings never make the national news and thus go unnoticed, except for the families involved. So far this year, there have been two hundred and seventy-three mass shootings in this nation in which four or more people were either shot or killed in a single event, not including the shooter, which is the criteria the FBI has set in determining a mass shooting. This equates to one per day.

Despite these senseless tragedies occurring quite often, I can already hear gun rights advocates opining that now is not the time to discuss new, effective national gun control laws, as they always do after every horrendous shooting. If not now, in the wake of fifty-nine innocent lives shot dead, and let us not forget five hundred and twenty-seven were wounded, when is the time to properly discuss gun control? Lest anyone dismiss my ramblings as some tree-hugging liberal, take it from a gun manufacturer; William Ruger, Sr., co-founder of Sturm Ruger firearms has been quoted as saying “No honest man needs more than ten rounds in any gun. I never meant for simple civilians to have my twenty or thirty-round mags or my folding stock.”

Proponents of gun ownership and the firearms industry cite the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms. However, these folks all seem to leave out the extremely significant first four words of the actual amendment. The Second Amendment, as passed by Congress on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill Of Rights states, “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.” If we cannot agree upon what constitutes a well-regulated militia (the word dates back to at least 1590 when it was reference in the book Certain Discourses Military by Sir John Smythe, who gave it the definition of a military force; a body of soldiers and military affairs; and a body of military discipline), there can be no disputing the meaning of well regulated. Yet, these very important first four words of the Second Amendment are never mentioned by gun advocates. It’s as if those four words do not exist.

America’s fascination with firearms has evolved into becoming the most violent nation on Earth, with the possible exception of those countries who are presently engaged in actual warfare, which it seems would include this nation as we have been at war (or wars) for twenty-five of the past thirty years. Even more incredibly, America, which was founded on the mass genocide of its indigenous people, has been engaged in some sort of military conflict two hundred and twenty-four years out of our two hundred and forty-one year existence. We are arguably the most violent nation in our planet’s history. We are currently bombing six nations on a somewhat semi-regular basis (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen), all the while the president seems intent on starting a potential nuclear war with North Korea, while also threatening Iran.

There is no excuse for any person to own a military assault weapon or a high-capacity magazine clip, yet our politicians who dare have the courage to speak up for sensible gun laws quiver in fear of reprisal from the National Rifle Association. Politicians who do speak out in favor of new gun control legislation face the wrath of the NRA come their next election. To believe that arming every citizen is the answer to curbing gun violence, as the NRA espouses is just preposterous. Growing up during the hay-day of Westerns ruling television networks, the image I always remember is that the very first thing the town sheriff did when cowboys came into town after a long, hard cattle drive to visit the local saloons was to take away their guns. However, just the opposite is occurring throughout America as more and more cities and states are allowing the concealed carrying of firearms into drinking establishments. Many feel the need to carry their firearms with them into their houses of worship. One can only wonder how God feels about that. My thought is he must be horrified. The ironic thing is that gun ownership does not make a person safer. Statistics show gun owners are far more likely to die from gun violence than non-owners.

The following is a partial list of mass murders that have taken place in the United States just since the horrendous tragedy at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 when two students killed twelve fellow students along with one teacher and wounding twenty-one others before committing suicide:

Twelve dead in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999,
Six dead in Fort Worth, Texas in 1999,
Five dead in Wichita, Kansas in 2000,
Seven dead in Wakefield, Massachusetts in 2000,
Five dead in Queens, New York in 2000,
Ten dead in Washington, D.C. in 2002,
Six dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2003,
Six dead in Birchwood, Wisconsin in 2004,
Seven dead in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 2005,
Ten dead in Red Lake, Minnesota in 2005,
Six dead in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2006,
Six dead in Carnation, Washington in 2007,
Five dead in Crandon, Wisconsin in 2007,
Thirty-two dead at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007,
Nine dead in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007,
Six dead at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois in 2008,
Six dead in Alger, Washington in 2008,
Thirteen dead (thirty-two wounded) at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2009,
Nine dead in Geneva County, Alabama in 2009,
Ten dead in Covina, California in 2009,
Thirteen dead in Binghamton, New York in 2009,
Six dead in Santa Clara, California in 2009,
Eight dead in Carthage, North Carolina in 2009,
Eight dead in Appomattox, Virginia in 2010,
Nine dead in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010,
Eight dead in Seal Beach, California in 2011
Seven dead in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2011,
Six dead (thirteen wounded) in Tucson, Arizona in 2011,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2012,
Five dead in San Francisco, California in 2012,
Seven dead at Oikos University in Oakland, California in 2012,
Seven dead at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012,
Twelve dead (fifty-eight wounded) in Aurora, Colorado in 2012,
Six dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2012,
Twenty-six dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, 2012
Five dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2013,
Five dead in Federal Way, Washington in 2013,
Five dead in Manchester, Illinois in 2013,
Five dead at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California in 2013,
Six dead in Hialeah, Florida in 2013,
Thirteen dead at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in 2013,
Five dead in Spanish Fork, Utah in 2014,
Five dead in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014,
Six dead in Spring, Texas in 2014,
Eight dead (grandfather/daughter/grandchildren murder/suicide) in Bell, Florida in 2014
Five dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Marysville, Washington in 2014,
Five dead in Morgantown, West Virginia in 2014,
Six dead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2014,
Eight dead in Tyrone, Missouri in 2015,
Nine dead in Waco, Texas in 2015,
Nine dead in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015,
Six dead in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2015,
Eight dead (six children) in Houston, Texas in 2015,
Six dead (single-family murder/suicide) in Platte, South Dakota in 2015,
Ten dead (nine wounded) at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in 2015,
Fourteen dead (21 wounded) in San Bernardino, California in 2015,
Six dead in Chesapeake, Virginia (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2016,
Five dead in Glendale, Arizona in 2016,
Five dead in Belfair, Washington (family murder/suicide) in 2016,
Six dead in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Eight dead in Piketon, Ohio in 2016,
Six dead (murder/suicide domestic dispute) in Appling, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Green Cove Springs, Florida in 2016,
Five dead in Moultrie, Georgia in 2016,
Five dead in Ravenel, South Carolina in 2016
Five dead in Roswell, New Mexico in 2016.
Forty-nine dead (fifty-three wounded) in Orlando, Florida in 2016,
Five dead (nine wounded in a sniper ambush against police officers) in Dallas, Texas in 2016,
Five dead (family murder/suicide) in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania in 2016,
Five dead in Citronelle, Alabama in 2016,
Five dead in Burlington, Washington in 2016,
Five dead (eight wounded) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2017,
Eight dead (domestic murder including sheriff’s deputy) in Brookhaven, Mississippi in 2017,
Six dead (workplace murder/suicide) in Orlando, Florida in 2017,
Five dead in La Madera, New Mexico in 2017,
And nine dead in Plano, Texas in 2017.

This is a staggering list of senseless murders and family lives shattered, and does not detail the total number of incidents along with the considerable number of wounded in the carnage, except in cases of large numbers of wounded. What is alarming is that the percentage of Americans who believe we need stricter gun control laws is decreasing. What does it take a nation to realize that something is desperately wrong with our culture of guns and violence?

The NRA convinced a good number of Americans that former President Obama’s hidden agenda was to take away all their guns. As a result, the number of firearms sold skyrocketed during his eight years in office. Yet, the only two firearm bills signed into law during his presidency reduced restrictions on gun control, contrary to popular opinion.

If a person wants to own a firearm, fine, join a well regulated militia as required by the Second Amendment. We, as a country always seem to be at war, so there will always be a need for someone who aspires to shoot something. I see nothing wrong with a hunter owning a few rifles, and have many friends who hunt, but as a general rule, hunters do not shoot their prey with assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds semi- automatically or automatically without having to reload. For anyone to have the ability to purchase military assault weapons capable of creating the type of massacre seen in this country time and again over the past eighteen years is asinine.

Be it this latest, senseless mass shooting, tens of thousands of murders committed every year in America’s inner cities or our seemingly endless wars, this is a violent nation. Our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves.

Steven H. Spring
Earth