Commentary Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Can the U.N. Ban America’s Guns?

By Claire Wolfe Website Exclusive • April, 2013 The rumor flashed across the Internet last winter: the Obama administration is going to use a United Nations arms treaty to get around the Second Amendment and ban...

A vast cultural divide exists between environmentalists and gun owners

By Dave Duffy Issue #113 • September/October, 2008 Backwoods Home Magazine has had an exhibitor's booth at the MREA Fair in Wisconsin almost every year since its founding by Mick Sagrillo in 1989, which is the...

Next time you see me, don’t be afraid to say, ‘Hello.’

By John Silveira January 29, 2000 Mom and Dad were divorced before I even turned four, so it didn't dawn on me they'd even been married until I was a lot older. But, as I grew...

Terrorist attack! Was this predictable?

By John Silveira September 11, 2001 I was awakened to news about the suicide attacks by my daughter. Quite frankly, I thought it was the beginning of a bad joke she'd heard and I was expecting...

The Runaway

By John Silveira February 9, 2006 My kids are grown. But it didn't come about without a lot of frustration, tribulations, and laughs. Runaways: What do you do with a six-year-old who threatens to run away? One woman...

We don’t need no steenking 2nd Amendment

By John Silveira Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 I usually get up to the magazine from southern California in plenty of time for the bimonthly deadline. Not this issue. I was late and way behind. But...

Guns Save Lives Chapter 1: Point Blank

By Robert Waters Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 "Why'd you shoot me, bitch?" Last words of home invader Shaarod Profitt, September 18, 1998. It was a cool fall evening in Little Rock, Arkansas, when Don Mosely heard...

Talking to your kids about death

By Dave Duffy Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 How do you talk to a child about the death of someone they love? How do you explain the impossible? It's a task many of us parents have...

How America can be saved from stupid people

By Dave Duffy Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 Fifteen years ago (in Issue No. 65) I wrote an article in this space titled, "Can America Be Saved from Stupid People?" It was widely read and stirred...

Lessons for My Children Chapter 1

By Dave Duffy Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 I've been working for several years on a small book for my kids called Lessons for My Children that will attempt to give them advice about how to...

Gulf War II opened the eyes of Americans to the UN and the media

By Dave Duffy Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 How many of you were tightly tuned to the TV like I was during Gulf War II. I hope a lot because it was a great education. Not...

Three honest words: “I don’t know”

By John Silveira Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 As we enter another political campaign season I'm reminded of my three favorite words: "I don't know." Some years back, when I lived in southern California, I met the...

The meltdown and the bailout: why, how, and what they mean

By John Silveira Issue #115 • January/February, 2009 To understand how the recent meltdown and bailout came about, you have to know what brought them on. According to some, there are PhDs who have problems grasping...

Training for the Boston Marathon

By Dave Duffy Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Ever get a wild idea in your head that just won't go away, and you start working on it like crazy? It happens to me all the time....

The ‘Curious Guy’ and the ‘Offended Woman’

By Dorothy Ainsworth February, 2004 The March/April issue of BHM magazine came out with me on the cover and my house-building story inside. I was happy to have the opportunity to share my story and hopefully...

The chances of global disaster

By John Silveira Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 We were preparing the current issue and the office hummed as it always does during deadline. Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes this magazine, explained to our new...