I sat down to write a story about a little gun club in Washington state that is under assault. The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club is a wonderful Washington institution that provides a great service to the shooting community in and around Kitsap County since 1926. I wanted to weave a story telling of the county administration that is hell-bent on shutting this club down because the county officials want the land the club is on for a community park. It is the same old story of tyranny money and power. But as I ran my initial ideas for this story around I came to the conclusion that this is the same story facing many gun clubs in our great nation. I want this story to grab hold of the reader and not let go.
The grave situation that plagues the Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club (KRRC) is not unique or new. It is about so much more than firearms it is about a way of life the pursuit of happiness and freedom. These days stories of power hungry politicians are everywhere and frankly people are tired of reading about it. But we have to read them; we have to listen to the stories being told because freedom is being squelched to the point of abolishment.
The people who run Kitsap County have been trying in earnest since at least 1992 to take control of KRRC property because the vision they have is to have a park much like Central Park in New York City. The surrounding land would be developed into apartments condos housing whatever the county can come up with. As we know this kind of thinking is centralized around money and power. It is an old story but frankly people are getting a bit tired of hearing it.
Kitsap County keeps trying to force operational permits and other ordinances on the club to make it look to the public like the concerns are genuine. The club has been grandfathered in and has won recognition of in court but the county officials just do not care. Why.... if this has been settled in court and Washington State agrees that the club has grandfather status is this fight still ongoing? Well at the root of all this of course is not just gun control but gun abolishment. The officials who want the KRRC to go away are acting on their personal beliefs instead of just doing their respective jobs for the public.
The issue is not complex at stake are property rights freedom of assembly freedom of speech the right to keep and bear arms in fact the whole preamble to the U.S. Constitution would be completely wiped out in Kitsap County if the county officials get their way. This is not just a gun club under assault we are
all under assault. If you think this is isolated you are sorely mistaken. You could be next. If this club goes under and is bulldozed into a park your hobby or business or way of life could be next.
This great nation is a free society with the powers of that freedom and liberty granted by God through the founding fathers to all of us. The founding fathers were centuries ahead of their time they gave us the blueprints to build the greatest nation on earth. We are still to this day following those blueprints and building as we go adding to this great country. The U.S. Constitution went from the ideas of men into the rock solid foundation of our nation never meant to be torn down or changed…..added to yes but never changing the base blueprint. Kitsap County is trying with all its might to chip away at that foundation.
We have to come together and be united because that is the only way we can succeed like the saying goes
united we stand divided we fall. All freedom loving people from all walks of life are needed in this fight. ALL gun owners regardless of what you own are needed. Government is supposed to be at the disposal of the people not the other way around. Today it is guns tomorrow who knows this kind of thing can happen at any moment anywhere.
Life is too short to be spent cowering. Too short to give up and follow along. We are here in this country to pursue our liberty and freedom as we choose. It is for us to decide how we want to live not for government to stifle our lives and stomp out freedom. Let us all come together and make this our last fight and make it clear we will not be beat down and we will not go away. Lets win this fight and show those in power who really has the power and put this behind us.
For more info about KRRCs fight please go to gunsafety.org
