It’s been a while since guns have blazed here in Allen, Oklahoma. It was only a few years back when the sound of gunfire echoed in the dark back alley behind my drug store. Three clumsy criminals found themselves isolated and trapped atop my building after they bungled their attempted break in.

Sheriff Burl Griffin and his deputy Coy Young were already on the scene when one malefactor ran away jumping over on the roof of the Farmer’s State Bank and then down to the ground. The sound of gunfire echoed up and down the alley as several local gun owners took potshots at the young criminal vanishing in the darkness back toward the post office. The other two were ordered to surrender or else by Sheriff Griffin.

One of the burglars then ran east and jumped off the roof of the Majestic Theatre but unfortunately (for him) Dr. John Oglesbee was right there and grabbed him. The good doctor did a great body slam and Burglar #2 was done. I had no intention of going up there after the last burglar. So Coy went up the ladder a little and the bad guy shouted this: “I aim to blow the head off anyone who comes up that ladder.” Coy came back down and invited Burl to go up and get him. They both looked at me and I said, “I sure ain’t going up.” Finally, Allen police chief Welton Priest said he would go up. And he soon had our bad guy cuffed and gingerly finding his way down to the armed mob below.

Since then, I can’t say it’s been real quiet here in Allen, as it hasn’t. But reading the news these days makes our little shootouts here make sense. At least the criminals were after something like money or drugs or something and it sort of made sense. They were criminals. But the mass shootings we have nowadays make no sense whatsoever to me. Some of the “experts” blame it on mental illness — whatever that is. Perhaps it is but I prefer to think of it as evil. We have and are in the process of raising and turning out a generation of people — many very angry — blaming the rest of us for both their failures and all their problems — their unhappiness.

I grew up in a generation here in Oklahoma where most of us (especially boys) loved to fool around with guns. We liked to shoot them, own them and we became proficient at hitting a target with them. Many of us collected guns and marveled at their mechanics. But somewhere, something went wrong. Some segments of society began to notice our nation was awash in guns. They mostly wanted gun control and still want it to work. A great political battle over gun control now rages as gun control efforts failed. Miserably. The two sides struggled and now are so set in their ways not much progress can be made. Gun advocates too, now feel endangered by the current gun violence want more guns for their own protection from these “nuts.” Of course, their antagonist want fewer. And there it sits.

Now we find ourselves in a national mess. Some but not all want the automatic weapons collected and banned. Those who love these things are digging in. What will happen? Something has to give or else we will just keep watching mass shootings with the shooters using automatics. And we are obliging by making sure it’s on TV. And that’s another thing. Does the way our TV news dwell and obsess on these tragic happenings make them even more frequent? If so, how do we tamp that down? I don’t know but something needs to be done. Lastly let me say this: I hope all of you enjoy seeing our 37 Allen seniors graduate this Saturday morning at 10AM. We for sure don’t expect any bad behavior from these exceptional seniors. Congratulations guys.

And be sure and go to your church on Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh cwaynebullard@gmail. com