About Present-day Attitudes & Practices

I grew up in a gun-oriented family, Mom and Dad, crack shots, hunting and competitive target shooting - I learned to shoot before I went to school, learned to understand and respect firearms. I combined a love of history, a thirst for knowledge and understanding of the past in a convenient outlet, the field of reenacting.
In working with the men of my late husband's artillery unit we studied artillery treatises of the past, and present day practices. In the course of the latter, as spokesman of the group I formulated proposed changes in the rules and regs for the firing of cannon and mortar, worked with the members of the Public Safety Board of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for more than two years in passing the necessary revisions.
Over the 5 decades I have met hundreds of men and women from all walks of life who spend time and money on learning and recreating, and instilling into the minds of young people, an understanding and appreciation of the struggles of the past. At one time I owned a list-server with 1140 members worldwide devoted to research of the 18th century. Having done programs in over 250 classrooms it is evident that children have been deprived of, and are fascinated with the stories behind the freedoms we acquired and are rapidly losing to those who despise the rule of law and the Constitution, those who would denigrate and revile our founding fathers.
I have been a gun owner, a re-enactor, have had an occasional beer, selectively watch tv, am a self-educated consultant, lecturer, and historian, with ancestors who first appeared in North America in 1605. I am that boring individual that insists on thinking for myself and always looks for documentation, documentation. I am a patriot who is not afraid of war because in my 83 years on this earth, I have seen over and over again, that FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
I shall now step daintily from my soapbox (while contemplating a commentary on schools today)