Shooting Straight: The Hard Times That Weak Men Create

A lot of you probably know the quote about hard times and weak men from memes going around, but it isn’t just a meme. It’s also not a quote from a founding father or some famous philosopher. It was author G. Michael Hopf who penned it in a novel. The quote is “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” And if you’re interested, you can find it in his book Those Who Remain.

It isn’t hard to guess where we are in this spectrum.

Clearly we’re in the weak men portion of history and that has an enormous negative impact on Second Amendment rights. Not only do weak men want to take the path of least resistance, but they fear having their power taken away. That includes any backlash from an armed citizenry.

How to deal with that? Well, take away the guns, of course.

Some of you will say that’s no one is taking anyone’s guns away and it’s paranoid and fear-mongering to state otherwise. I’m not even going to argue, I’m just going to say you’re an idiot, and move on.

There has never been a time in recorded history where our Second Amendment rights were more threatened or more vital. Anyone who’s watched the news knows that for the first time ever, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, and that our nation’s president has flip-flopped like a flounder on the issue of whether and to what extent we support Israel.

I know what you’re thinking…this doesn’t impact gun rights, it only impacts our military (and whether a draft ever becomes a thing again, and then if that draft is men only or men and women). However, I’d argue it connects to Second Amendment rights due to the conspicuous display of weakness by those currently in power.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen ‘Red Dawn’ (the original is far better, BTW). It’s easy to scoff and say it’s just Hollywood theatrics and nothing of the kind could ever happen here…that a bunch of corn-fed kids couldn’t put a major dent in a foreign invading force. I’ll just remind you how America was founded and how the Revolutionary War went. It was our forefathers’ guerilla tactics—think Francis Marion—and sheer balls that helped them win. That and the fact that they had weapons.

Imagine a disarmed populace in any type of war, civil or otherwise.

Although the United States remains an enormous power and is a major global player, we’re weaker than many of us can remember. Years of bad choices have weakened our military and made it rather distasteful to enlist. We have a mentally feeble president in office, and Americans as a whole have become complacent. We had good times, and we let those good times create weak men, then we put those weak men in power.

You might not think your firearms matter in the grand scheme of things, and you might think the Second Amendment could never be overturned. Maybe you truly believe America will always be a superpower and we’re never going to be in any real danger.

What if I told you the biggest danger might not be to us, but to our kids or grandkids? What if I told you that your complacency and an “Oh, someone else will fight for my gun rights” attitude is going to be our downfall?

Many of us have lost faith in our electoral system—and rightfully so—but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. And if you don’t believe you can impact politics on a national level, why not get more involved with local government?

Ignoring local elections isn’t a smart choice, especially now. That includes paying close attention to who gets in as sheriff, as local prosecutor, and what judges get a seat on the bench. Those in positions of authority on a local level are the ones who will truly matter and impact your life directly if and when certain rights are threatened on a federal level.

Ask yourself, are you a strong man or a weak man? And I’m not just addressing the men here, this is a question for everyone. Are you putting yourself in a position of power and strength or have you given up, and you’re just letting life steamroll over you?

Personally, I’d like to see my kids and future grandkids have a bright future that involves ready access to firearms. I’d love to see the NFA overturned and suppressors and SBRs for all. It’d be fantastic to see the ATF abolished and online gun sales like Sears on the olden days.

Is any of that going to happen? Unlikely. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try or that we shouldn’t be willing to do battle to retain our Second Amendment rights as they currently stand (and hopefully take back a few things we’ve lost along the way).

Gun owners have been treated as criminals in the making at best and terrorists at worst in too many places for too long. It’s past time to flip that narrative on its head. Why are so many in the outdoor industry doing the exact opposite by suppressing firearms images and acting like those guns are scary? All that does is perpetuate the anti-gun message being spread by those in power.

Your Second Amendment rights shouldn’t be up for compromise, let alone for sale. I know mine aren’t.

Take a look at what’s going on globally and then consider the changes you can influence locally. Never think bad things can’t happen here in the States just because they haven’t. You’re fooling yourself and you’re a fool if you believe your gun rights don’t matter or have anything to do with keeping people safe and free.

Bad things happen and weak men perpetuate an endless cycle of negativity in the pursuit of their own selfish interests. Don’t let it happen here. Fight for your Second Amendment rights…always.