Yes, pack the guns for your trip
Posted By Barbara Simpson On 05/29/2016 @ 1:55 pm In Commentary,Opinion | No Comments
Were you set for the weekend? It is Memorial Day: Another government-sanctioned three-day holiday wonder that enables Americans to forget the reason for the holiday – honoring our war dead, those who lost their lives fighting in defense of their country and for freedom and liberty for our allies – and concentrate on getting out of town for picnics, barbecues and sports.
So, patriotic thoughts or not, I hope the holiday and picnic gear was packed in the van or camper, there was a full tank of gas and everyone was set to go
Oh, except this year there’s something else that we’re advised to have with us: a gun.
Yes, you heard me right. Depending on where you intend to celebrate the weekend, it’s suggested that you have a weapon at hand. And, of course, that means that you know how to use it.
In a major announcement, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu put out the word that anyone planning to hike, camp or just drive through and enjoy the back roads in the southwestern areas of Pinal County should be packing heat.
What do YOU think? What does Memorial Day mean to you? Sound off in today’s WND poll.
He isn’t kidding, and this isn’t the first time there have been such warnings from him for his area.
The “enemies” in this case are the paid assassins working for the drug cartels. According to Sheriff Babeu in his press release, the cartels put out hits on anyone suspected of trying to steal their drugs and money. The sheriff is concerned that because of the tense situation, there might be armed confrontations between the cartels and civilians.
He noted there already have been gunfights in three locations since March: Interstate-8 near Casa Grande, near Sunland Gin Road outside Arizona City and on the Tohono O’Odham Indian reservation.
Pinal County is at the center of major drug- and alien-smuggling routes to Phoenix and other cities east and west and has been for years.
Back in 2010, the federal government posted signs along a 60-mile stretch of I-8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, warning travelers that they would be in an “active drug and human smuggling area” and that they might encounter “armed criminals and speeding smuggling vehicles.”
I’ve interviewed Sheriff Babeu on my radio program many times over the years, and his position on the infiltration of the drug cartels into this country hasn’t changed. He’s said the cartels literally control parts of Arizona 80 to 100 miles from the border with equipment as good or better than our law enforcement.
I just got back from a somewhat lengthy trip to Arizona dealing with business and family issues and as always, going there is like being in another world.
The most immediate and impressive part of Arizona is the feeling of space. It’s the land of big skies, big deserts, big mountains and it is, I’m told, the land of two seasons – hot and rainy! You haven’t seen rain until you’ve been in Arizona during the monsoon season, June through September.
It’s also the land of good-natured, welcoming people. Say hello to someone you pass on the street, and they’ll smile and return the greeting.
And I admit, I love it when a man passing me tips his hat and says, “Morning Ma’am.”
That just doesn’t happen in California!
There’s something else that’s different in Arizona, and it’s something you definitely don’t see in California – or most anywhere else – and that’s seeing a person in public with a holstered gun on his hip.
Not just policemen – but average citizens, walking around, armed.
I admit, the first time I saw that – a couple of guys in a book store – I was take aback. But then I realized it was perfectly legal there and, as I thought about it, it made sense. We all were safer because those men were armed.
And I’ve learned that guns there are a part of daily life: My neighbor carries a handgun when checking things outside the house, and the rancher does the same as he works on his property.
So that’s what the sheriff has in mind for protection against the drug cartels, illegal, foreign criminal operations, which seem to have free reign on U.S. territory.
But don’t think the vacation warnings are just for the U.S. It appears that because of rampant gun violence in Acapulco, beach goers are advised to carry a small black leather tote holding a small pistol.
According to a lengthy report by AP reporters, the advice is for men and women and stems from the hired killers working the city for the cartels. People are killed in broad daylight on main streets and on popular tourist beaches.
Mexican tourism has been hard hit and, according the AP, the U.S. government has barred employees from traveling there for any reason.
Three other Mexican states have the same problems – Tamaulipas, Guerrero and Michoacán. Given the limitations of government security, things won’t get better.
And, it’s getting worse in the U.S. because of the lack of interest by the administration in admitting border problems and the dangers to Americans.
The feds say the border is safe. The rest of us know the truth.
Michael W. Cutler, a retired 31-year U.S. INS senior criminal investigator and intelligence specialist, told the Washington Times that the U.S. government is “ceding American territory to armed criminals and smugglers.”
He added, “At the rate we are going, the ‘Red White and Blue’ of the American flag will be replaced with a flag that is simply white – the flag of surrender.”
He said that six years ago, and it still applies.
Article printed from WND:
http://www.wnd.comURL to article:
http://www.wnd.com/2016/05/yes-pack-the-guns-for-your-trip/ 
