Typically, when I think of weapons and musical instrument cases - which is not something I do very often - I think of violin cases and Tommy Guns.  Good old Al Capone-style stuff.  I’ve never really envisioned somebody pulling a 12-gauge shotgun out of a guitar case, which was the case today in Tennessee when some idiot walked into a church and [1] opened up on the congregation, killing two and leaving at least five others in either serious or critical condition.  As a children’s play, based on the musical “Annie”, was being performed at the time, it’s amazing and fortunate that no children were hurt.  According to witnesses at the scene this was due to one of the victims, who was described by a witness as a ‘refrigerator with a head’, interjecting himself between the shotgun and the congregation.

Society today is filled with tragedy and heroism.  The tragedy of the acts perpetuated by those consumed by hate, intolerance and irrationally perceived personal affronts are counter-balanced by the unselfish and unthinking acts of instinct for preservation, whether for self or others, of those such as Greg McKendry.  I don’t know the man, never met him in my life, never even heard of him before today, but I know many like him.  They are all around us.  If we’re lucky, we can even count ourselves among them.

I generally like to make fun of everything - poke holes in the fabric of the thought and the rationalizaton that serves as such a pitiful attempt to mask the absurdity around us.  There’s nothing laughable about this story - other than the laudable attempt of the writers to clarify to those of us living in the trees on insects and fruit what exactly a shotgun is… 

Is there such a thing as ‘holy ground’ anymore?  There used to be a time that you could safely sit next to your mortal enemy in a church, even though prudence dictated that you may want to leave by separate exits after the services.  I’m sure that the anti-gun movement will add this tragedy to their stockpile of ammunition in their war on guns.  Of course, the other side will point to the efficacy of concealed carry laws in deterring crimes such as this.  If we keep heading down this road with church shootings, I see one of two things happening, neither more laughable than the other: 1) An appearance of metal detectors at church entrances or 2) half the congregation packing heat.  You tell me, which is more absurd?

If a guy wants to walk into a church and start blasting, he should have the balls to leave the guitar case in the truck.  If he believes so strongly in his twisted sickness, he should have the courage to declare himself and be ready to fight for those beliefs instead of waiting to declare until he’s safely inside the sanctuary of his defenseless victims. Jim D. Adkisson, you are a worthless coward and a loser.  Guitar cases are for guitars and shotguns are for enthusiasts.  You are neither.  I hope you like anal sex…