I Am an Armed American
Evil exists and may confront anyone at any time and any place. G-d exists and expects me to protect myself, those I love, and those that can’t protect themselves. When G-d leads me into perilous situations, as He sometimes has, He expects me to be prepared, and so I am. Self-defense is a G-d-given, natural, unalienable right. To fail to protect G-d’s greatest gift, the gift of life, is inexcusable. My life is worth far more to me, those that love me, and to a just society than the lives of malicious criminals and terrorists.
The lives of the innocent—friend or stranger—are worth far more to me and to a moral society than the lives of vicious criminals and terrorists. Twice in my life I raised my right hand and swore a solemn oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. I have never betrayed those oaths and never will. I have never been told that oath had been completed. By carrying my handgun, I honor the foresight and wisdom of the Founders in writing the Second Amendment.
The Constitution is only paper and ink, a statement of principles and intentions. When the will wavers and when some wish to change, ignore or destroy those principles and intentions for imagined reasons good–or bad–only the threat of, and if necessary, the application of the force of arms will preserve liberty. Seldom in American history has a reminder of the immediacy of that threat been more obvious than the dramatic and chilling and accelerated rush of the Democrat Party toward Socialism/Communism since 2008.
While I’d prefer to carry a rifle or submachine gun, that’s impractical, and tends to excite the easily excitable. A handgun is the most convenient, usual and effective means of self-defense. Going armed reinforces and the Social Contract. An armed society is a polite society. Those who lawfully carry concealed weapons are among the most law abiding
. That’s why we have a Second Amendment, not for hunting, not for self-defense, but always and primarily to deter tyranny, and to allow the common man, the normal deplorables of the great cultural wasteland of flyover Country, to resist and overthrow a tyrannical government. Jefferson said, “the tree of liberty most be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots”
Democrats/Socialists/Communists scream bloody murder when anyone says this. They should; they’re the people about who Jefferson was talking, and the domestic enemies of Normal, law-abiding Americans. Circa July 2020, the force of arms may be necessary if we wish to preserve the factual history and great legacy given us by the Founders, including their images on canvas, in bronze and in stone. The Second Amendment merely recognizes the unalienable right to keep and bear arms. It does not create the right. Government does not grant the right, nor can government take it away–not that some governments care about that. It demonstrates, as nothing else can, that I am the master of my government, not its slave; that elected officials work for me and only with my consent.
I am a free man and no evidence of that fact is more meaningful and convincing than that I own and carry the firearms and other weapons situation requires. I will never be completely disarmed. It makes those that would rule me—all of us—through tyranny, soft or hard, red with rage. It couldn’t happen to worse people. It reminds them that in America, there are lines no rational, honest politician dare cross. They hate that. They want to draw the lines where they will and whenever its convenient. It reminds them that every smidgeon of power they possess is on temporary loan from me and every other American. They hate that too.
It reminds us all that the whims of the most connected and powerful politician may not prevail over the Bill of Rights as long as it lives and burns brightly in the hearts of patriotic Americans and is not merely fading ink on yellowing paper. As politicians try to abolish or emasculate the police, hire private security for themselves with taxpayer money, encourage and support lawless mobs, refuse to enforce the law, and continue to try to disarm the law-abiding, it reminds us we’re on our own. We always have been. It is the very means by which an oppressed citizenry may force despots to respect the natural rights of honorable men and women. It reminds even Supreme Court Justices their pronouncements will be honored only as long as they honor the Constitution and exclusively base their decisions on its text and the intentions of the Founders.
Politicians harboring tyrannical intentions fear armed citizens like a vampire fears daylight. Their hatred serves to positively identify those that would steal liberty and hide behind spin, teleprompters and transparent lies they think clever. Semiautomatic handguns with “high-capacity magazines” are precisely the kind of firearms the Founders intended Americans to keep and bear. Anti-liberty/gun democrats wail and claim common semiautomatic rifles and handguns would be of no use against a modern military. They expose their lie by trying to seize those weapons. Gun grabbing politicians don’t want me to have the most effective weapons, or any weapons.
A single virus reminds rational Americans how fragile civilization can be, and how quickly it can all go bad. Corrupt D/S/C politicians are increasingly convincing the police actually enforcing the law and helping honest, law-abiding Americans is far too dangerous to their pitiful fortunes, the welfare of their families and to their liberty. Most politicians care about the welfare and continuing existence of individual citizens only in the abstract, only as occasionally useful talking points. Even honorable politicians can do little more than those who only pretend to care. We’re on our own. Those who willingly and meekly surrender to criminals surrender more than valuables; they surrender their dignity and honor; they surrender civilization itself.
I am old-fashioned enough to think it my duty to protect those who have less ability than mine to protect themselves. I could not live with myself for failing to protect women in danger. Call it sexist if you must, but if you’re unarmed and under attack, would you really think to call an unarmed, untrained D/S/C? Would an Antifa “activist” assist you? A BLM “protester”? exercising the Second Amendment helps remind women it is the ultimate women’s issue. No one–apart from children–benefits more from the ability to stop criminal attacks.
I know human nature. Like the Shadow, I know what evil lurks in the hearts of men. I know some criminals experience pangs of conscience. I also know that it does not prevent them from being predators, only that it occasionally causes them to feel badly for a few fleeting seconds thereafter. I know sociopaths exist, in greater numbers than most imagine, and they have no conscience. They care nothing for the feelings and pain of others. Some people really like hurting others. One need not engage in psychological navel gazing to understand the actions of predators. They do it because they want to do it, because they like it, and some, because it is an intense sexual thrill. Such people are everywhere, and are for most, impossible to pick out of the mass of mankind. Such people can be stopped only by the presence of overwhelming and imminent force: the gun. Living a self-imagined virtuous life is no defense against such scum.
Politicians sometimes speak of a “war on crime.” They have no idea. The streets, and increasingly, our homes, are the battlefield, and whether we like it or not, we are all the combatants. The political pendulum has, once again, swung toward releasing predators from prison. The same people that brag about that “criminal justice reform” also want to abolish the police, disarm Normal Americans, and use tax dollars to hire private security. We’re on our own. The predators that would carry that battlefield into our homes are usually the most dangerous of all. They don’t care if people are armed; they just want to hurt the innocent. The possibility of having to fend off an armed attack in a mall, theater, restaurant, or other public place has never been greater, and if D/S/Cs get their way, it will become the new normal.
Gun-free zones are actually free-fire zones for killers. Every mass shooting for decades has taken place in a “gun-free” zone (virtually all schools are gun free zones, and stupidly proud of it). This is no coincidence. Anti—liberty/gun D/S/Cs know this but feeling good about their superior intellect and morality in establishing such zones is far more important to them than the lives of the little people like you and me– and our children. They want you to “feel” safe. Being safe matters only for them and their families, not you or yours.
The police have no legal obligation to protect me—or anyone. The police simply can’t protect anyone; there are far too few of them and far too many of us, and circa 2020, proactively doing their jobs is a sucker’s bet. When seconds count, the police are always minutes (or in Detroit and many other places, an hour or more) away—when they respond at all.
I accept personal responsibility and live accordingly. As an adult, I am solely responsible for my continuing existence. Accepting personal responsibility encourages me to be continually aware of my surroundings. Having situational awareness means it is more likely I won’t ever need to use my handgun. My training and experience give me confidence that if I do need it, I will use it effectively and properly, though I will still pray to God to make me fast and accurate. It gives me the ability to deter those younger, stronger or more numerous than myself. It gives me the ability to defeat those younger, stronger or more numerous than myself if they are too stupid, too drugged, or too predatory to be deterred. Criminals fear the guns of armed citizens far more than the guns of the police. They should.
Our borders, while somewhat less porous than in the past—to the disgust of D/S/Cs—remain far too open and riding the wave of illegal immigrants are vicious gang members, drug cartels, violent felons, foreign spies and terrorists. Terrorists prefer to focus on where we are most vulnerable. It’s safer for them and easier. I frequent the places (schools, theaters, shopping malls, grocery stores and other soft targets) terrorists long to attack.
Even unarmed, I would have no option but to attack killers shooting innocents. Armed, I would be able to save at least some lives and stop at least some killers. I could not bear the thought that I could have saved lives but was prevented by virtue signaling politicians and other self-righteous fools. It is important to me to know that I can make a real difference when it most matters. I appreciate well-designed and made devices. Firearms are like fire extinguishers. When one is needed, it’s needed right now, badly, and nothing else will do. The discipline of the gun helps to make me a better, more aware and more effective person. Shooting and being a part of one of the oldest American traditions is uplifting and great fun.
I recognize I am the weapon; the handgun is simply a tool.