I don't chew tobacco and I don't wear camouflage

I lost a friend today. No he didn't go to that great armory in the sky. He just made a request, more of a statement really, that in good conscious I had to follow. His request was along the line of "if you support the NRA, get out of my life you, sully it" It was a general post to everyone on his Facebook page. It was not directed to any particular person. I had the feeling it was a knee jerk reaction to the fact that the Senate didn't pass the background checks for guns. I had a feeling he meant if you support the lobbying the NRA does I don't want to be friends with you. At least I hoped that's what he meant. I hoped if he knew, he wouldn't have put it quite that way. I hoped that our friendship was something of value to him as it is for me. I almost ignored it. I did for a little while. But then my sense of honesty and integrity kicked it. Along with a sneaking suspicion I was being a coward. Darn it. I was going to have to do what he asked and go away. Having such a strong sense of right and wrong, and being brought up to understand that in most cases there is no gray area when it comes to such things, really sucks sometimes. A thing is either right or it's wrong. Simple as that. And keeping my mouth shut was cowardly, and that gets chalked up on the wrong side of the score card. So, I screwed up my courage, because I knew the finality of what I was about to do. And frankly I really really didn't want to do it. He is my friend and he's a really great guy, and he's sweet and he's a lot of fun to hang out with and he does wonderful things for people in need. And I knew I was going to miss him. And it hurt that because I am who I am he no longer wanted to be my friend. But, I support the NRA. Have all my life. Now, let me stop here for a minute and explain that viewpoint. Because, seriously, I don't own not one piece of camouflage. See, the NRA is way more than the idiots running it. It started almost 200 years ago. 185 to be exact I believe. And it was founded on the believe that every citizen of these United States has the right to own and use guns to protect themselves. We have the right to protect ourselves from The Son of Sam, and Uncle Sam. With the belief that we all have the right to live in peace the way we chose with the beliefs we chose. And we didn't want anyone coming in and trying to tell us how to do it. Like everything else in life it has evolved over the years. And what most people think of when they think of the NRA is the lobbyists in Washington who have more money than sense. They think we are all gun totin' tobacco chewin' camo wearin' lunatics that have a bomb shelter and a stockpile of weapons in our back yard. And we all walk around looking like Rambo wannabes with Jessie James attitudes. And that couldn't be farther from the truth. It's also the people in the community who teach people about guns and gun safety. They teach people how to care for and shoot a gun. They teach children safety and respect for guns. They teach us all to respect the fact that it is a weapon, meant to kill, and the gravity of that decision should you choose to make it. They do a lot for their communities in their area. None of these programs would be possible without the membership and monetary backing of a large organization. These people are also members of the PTA and they belong to Unions and countless other organizations. We are just like everyone else. I don't currently own a gun nor does anyone else in the house. We had a LOT of young kids for a lot of years and I just didn't feel comfortable having them in the house. Heck, I don't even let my kids play with water guns. Because GUNS ARE NOT TOYS. A water bottle works just as well on a hot summer day. Personally I don't have a problem with background checks. Maybe they'd do some good. Not to keep criminals from getting a gun. None of us are stupid enough to think they won't get them anyway. But say, a guy gets mad and on a whim decided to go buy a gun and shoot his wife. Give him a couple days to think on it and get over his mad and maybe he'll decide he didn't really want to shoot her after all. Lives saved. It's a good thing. I don't believe anyone outside of a war zone needs an assault weapon. Because frankly, if you need more than 10 bullets to take someone down who's coming at you. You can't shoot worth shit and need to get your sorry ass to a shooting range and work on your aim. There I was with my little cursor on the unfriend button. Having quite the internal war with myself. Because while I support the NRA, I don't support the idiots running it. Kinda of like how I support and love my country. But not so much the idiots running it. I've often said the worst thing that ever happened to this country was when politician became a profession. That gave birth to lobbyists and nothing has been quite right around here since. But, I apparently couldn't have it both ways. So, I lost my friend. I talked to a couple of people about it. Which is big for me because I don't talk about my personal life much. Oh people know what I'm making for dinner, and when I'm running to pick up kids and when my husband is getting on my last nerve. But I don't talk about who I know, what I believe, or the really important things in my life. But this bothered me enough to mention it to a couple of people and a comment was made that someone was surprised because she would never have pegged me as an NRA member because I didn't fit the stereotype. That I found fascinating. First, that I was a "type" at all. Let's be frank here, I'm a middle aged housewife with 5 kids. I thought I was long past being anyone's "type" ;-) And second that stereotypes are still going strong in this country. Not that I wasn't aware that they do, I just never thought of them in reference to me. No matter how hard we try and ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, humans tend to put each other in neat little categories based on what we think we know about them. It's been a a few days since I started writing this and I received a gift in the mail as a thank you from my friend for something I'd done before all this happened and mailed out before all this happened. I wasn't expecting it and it made me cry a bit. Because it was a very sweet thing to do for me and because I couldn't just jump on the computer and tell him how much I appreciated it. It is something I will treasure forever. It will remind me to do good things for others always, to treasure every friend I have because I never know when they are going to leave my life and to try my best always not to categorize people because in the end we truly don't know someones story. I can say now that while I am still sad about it all, I do hope maybe some day we will be friends again. Everyone deserves a second chance, everyone makes mistakes. Even us camo wearin' tobacco chewin' members of the NRA. In the mean time, I wish everyone the best life has to offer. Be good to each other and remember that golden rule we were all taught as children. It's worth remembering.