During the first week of summer camp in 1992, a Scoutmaster approached me at registration and told me he had a young Scout in his troop who suffered from muscular dystrophy. The Scout was adamant about getting his rifle merit badge.
“I’m afraid he is just too crippled to shoot a rifle,” the Scoutmaster explained. “He can’t walk and he doesn’t have the arm strength to use crutches to walk. He is confined to a wheelchair, and we will have to carry him up to the shooting range.”
He also went on to explain that he had promised his parents that he would take good care of him if they would let him go with the troop to Scout camp.
The next day the troop up the hill with Tim on the Scoutmaster’s shoulders. I quickly ascertained that Tim could sit at the shooting bench and use his hands to stabilize himself and shift his position right or left as needed. A smile came over his face as I told him that in a way, it was a blessing that he didn’t have the strength to hold the rifle up himself.
That was because I was going to teach the boys to use a sling to support the rifle. All that was needed was his arm bone structure. The sling would hold the rifle for him and was perfectly in keeping with the requirements for the merit badge he sought.When I shared this story with Kurt Hofmann, he told me about a loathsome worm who blogs under the name Mikeb302000. Of this video, he says:
We cannot base our gun control regulations on an anomaly like this guy. Severely handicapped people are a danger to themselves and others when armed.As if handicapped people have gone to Mikeb and asked for help in whatever he concludes is being safe. Mikeb wants to be important and isn’t. To Mikeb and all eugenicists of the world, I see the image of God in the boy in the story. How sad for you that your view of life is so bleak and dark. I pity you. But only up to a point.
Perhaps after reading the report above, your heart will soften. If not, I hope your head explodes. In the mean time, I thought I would help the author of the story, Smokey Merkley, with a concluding sentence for the article.
And God smiled.
