- I grew up (through high school) in a small, North TX agri/ranching community that boasted 10k residents. Through friendships, I had year-round access to thousands of acres on which to hunt, fish and trap. To us, going to "the city" meant driving an hour to Wichita Falls (pop 100k).
- Needless to say, Houston (Harris Co: pop > 4 million) was a culture-shock. Of the 254 counties in TX, Harris Co is the only county that requires WRITTEN PERMISSION on one's person to legally discharge a firearm on property other than your own (unless the certified property-owner is present). At first, I thought this was a stupid law. But, after hanging with "city people" for more than 20 years, I now better understand the logic. Just watching these folks drive is scary enough.
- Moreover, the attitudes and opinions of those who lack a rural background are absolutely unbelievable. Most have little concept of reality outside of the concrete jungle - other than what they see on tv (think "Wild Kingdom", where animals are humanized). Yet, the urban-vote carries a lot of weight and can readily impact the way of life throughout Rural America.
- What I'm slowly getting around to saying is this: Before the advent of 24-hr network news and before an unnamed VP invented the Internet, Rural USA was able to live below city-folks' radar (
based on my personal experience). Upping the ante is the huge increase in "rural-weekenders" over the past decade (urbanites who escape to their 20-acre "ranchettes" during weekends). So, if someone (like the TX rancher mentioned earlier) does something "news worthy" that is subsequently leaked or discovered (especially by rural-weekenders), he can bet his grandfather's prized shotgun that the entire nation will hear about it - and the results may not be pleasant. JMHO
- Although I share your sentiments, I also believe there are much better (lower risk) alternatives than some that have been suggested in this thread.
