The Parable of the New Gun Laws

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, shouldn’t the neighborhood containing military headquarters be the safest neighborhood in the town?”

Josh spoke thus:

Two gunslingers were standing in the doorway of a saloon, watching the passersby.

“Do you remember the days before the new gun laws?” one of the gunslingers asked the other.

“I sure do remember the days before the new gun laws,” the second gunslinger said.

“A man could come into town,” the first gunslinger said, “Walk up to the saloon, walk right in the saloon, and without so much as a howdy-do, start a-shootin’.”

“There weren’t nobody could stop him,” the second gunslinger said, “There weren’t no way to stop him.”

“A stranger with a gun could do just about anythin’ he wanted to,” the first gunslinger said, “A stranger with a gun could walk into the store, take whatever he wanted off the shelf, and walk right out with it.”

“There weren’t nobody could stop him,” the second gunslinger said, “There weren’t no way to stop him.”

“And what about botherin’ the young ladies?” the first gunslinger asked, “What if a stranger with a gun walked up to a young lady and started botherin’ her?  What if a stranger with a gun took that young lady by the arm and demanded just about anything he wanted from that young lady?”

“There weren’t nobody to stop him,” the second gunslinger said, “There weren’t no way to stop him.”

“Gosh, I miss those days,” the first gunslinger said, “Those were the days!”

“Those were the days when it was good to be a gunslinger,” the second gunslinger said.”

“But with these new gun laws, it ain’t like that no more,” the first gunslinger said.

“With these new gun laws, a gunslinger can’t be a gunslinger no more,” the second gunslinger said.

“It ain’t safe to be a gunslinger no more,” the first gunslinger said.

“With these new gun laws, everyone’s got a gun,” the second gunslinger said, “With these new gun laws, crazy people got guns.”

“The streets ain’t safe no more,” the first gunslinger said.

“It’s a war zone out there,” the second gunslinger said.

“Did you know the trauma center in this town is where they train army doctors how to treat gun wound trauma?” the first gunslinger asked.

“There’s that much gun shootin’ goin’ on in this town,” the second gunslinger said, “There’s so much shootin’ in this town that the army can find more ways to train their doctors for gun wound trauma in this town than they can find in their wars.”

“Washington D.C. just ain’t the same town since those new gun laws,” the first gunslinger said.