Kids With Guns

Andy Snyder|June 14, 2023

We have some thoughts we want to share with you, but we’re not sure how… or why.

They’re the sort of thoughts that could get us in trouble, get us canceled or really hurt all that we’ve built.

But earlier this week, a dear reader named Steve sent us a short but encouraging note…

This type of information is why I started reading Manward many years ago. I have lots of places to get investment advice but only one to get Manward advice! – S.G.

These sorts of words mean a lot to us. Steve’s note strikes directly at our mission… which starts with the notion that wealth (of all kinds) requires logic, freedom, and a populace that’s willing to grant it and – an often overlooked factor – accept it.

You see, we’ve spent the last few weekends with hundreds of kids. All of them had guns… often several of them. These guns were high-powered and were accompanied by hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The kids were carrying them as part of a scholastic shooting sports program we’re helping with.

The cliché thing to say would be something like, “See, it’s not the guns. These kids have guns and nobody got shot.”

But that’s extremely shortsighted. We all know the fallacies in that idea.

The truth is, guns are killing an extraordinary number of Americans these days… many of whom were still too young to vote for the sort of changes that may just have saved their lives.

As Steve hints at above, the Manward mission is to skip over the cliché and overtrodden like a stone skipping across a lake.

Over the last few weekends, we saw more than just kids with guns. We saw kids who refuse to be indoctrinated by the culturally accepted norm.

In today’s world, these kids are freaks. In Joel’s terms, they’re lunatics.

Many are home-schooled. Many have strong faith. Many are highly academic. And some were simply looking to hone their hunting skills.

What was most startling was how few of these kids were staring at screens. There was no talk of politics… gender… sexuality… vaccinations… or any of the other mantras that seem to have been forced down our throats in a narrow and singular national dialogue monologue.

These students would have none of it. It was as if they had an iron shield protecting them from the arrows of modern indoctrination – a shield made out of self-confidence, knowledge and a unique way of thinking.

They haven’t been made so fearful of guns that they refuse to even look at one. They don’t cry when they see a weapon… a Bible… or somebody who thinks or loves differently from how they do.

They don’t turn to the woke phrase of the day when introducing themselves. They don’t protest an elder’s speech that may not be in line with the “accepted” way of thinking. And they don’t much mind what their neighbor does.

Despite enormous obstacles, these kids have somehow learned to think for themselves.

They’re as wealthy as it gets.

They follow the facts, do their own research, and see the liars and thieves for what they are. They seek the truth. They point a finger at tyranny. And they won’t be pushed around by a blind, mindless herd.

They want to be left alone to be themselves.

In the eyes of many, this budding unindoctrinated class is dangerous… as dangerous as the guns they hold.

They’re the kind of kids who will push back against Virginia Tech’s “Bias Response Team” – a horrendous new program that lets students anonymously report the “offensive” speech of their classmates.

They’re the kind of Americans who will protest when a group of mothers are deemed a “hate group” because they work to control the education their children get in schools.

And they’re the kind of citizens who are shrewd enough to see the damage that’s done to an economy when a runaway government uses its printing press to gain and retain power.

To the establishment, these kids are dangerous. They don’t fall in line. They don’t beg for a larger government.

Just the opposite.

They’re free thinkers. They do what they believe is right – not what they’re told is right.

For a country in despair, they are the powerful weapon… not the guns.

Many of them don’t have two dimes to rub together, but in a morally and culturally bankrupt world, they’re as wealthy as it gets.

The Second Amendment protects their guns and their sport.

Good.

But what protects these free thinkers and their independence?

History tells us we won’t like the answer.