I love Westerns, but not guns

This is a post about guns. No, I'm not going to rant about the latest gun massacre on the national scene. I'm passing on the Washington, D.C. Naval Yard gun violence. I'll probably pass on the next massacre and the one after that and the one.........enough already. That's not what I want to write about. I've already done it 47 times and realize I'm beating a dead horse.

My issue with guns in this post is a passion of mine. I love Westerns. I'll turn off a baseball game

with the Indians at bat in the bottom of the ninth, the bases loaded and no outs, in order to catch a movie about the Wild West. The Wild West equates with guns. Lots of guns and lots of mayhem. I'll stay glued to the TV set fascinated by the fastest gun in the west. It's been this way since I was a child. I recall my cousin and I replaying every Western we just saw at the neighborhood theater. My favorite role was playing Tom Mix (not because his horse was named Tony).

 Even in the midst of a depression, gun sales (toy guns that is) were brisk. They came in all forms. I loved the ones that fired caps. My cousin opted for a bee-bee gun. My father emphatically let me know that anything more deadly than a cap gun was taboo for me.

The point is, I'm having a difficult time rationalizing my passion for Westerns with my passion for more effective control of guns in our modern society. I never traded in my toy gun for the real McCoy. I feel fortunate that I have never wanted to settle a dispute in the manner of those quick draw artists of the past. With my temper, this has been a blessing. Still, I don't feel like a hypocrite while I'm watching a Western. As the song goes, "that's entertainment".

 This country, whether we like it or not, was put together by gun violence but it does not follow that gun violence must continue to be at the forefront today. Had to get that last piece of preaching or "botta" into this post. Now it's time to bring it to an end. It's almost time for "Gunfight at the OK Corral".