Why the Second Amendment is Critical to Americans’ Right to Life
Without the Second Amendment Americans have no right to life
Woman defending home with shotgun Photo: (Mesa Tactical, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)
Okay. So, you “don’t believe in guns” (whatever that means) for whatever reason. Many of you, having grown up with those pathetic, useless, mass shooter-inviting “Gun-Free Zone” signs polluting your schools and other locations, may have had something to do with that. And a biased media hasn’t helped.
Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, Photo: Gun Free Zone sign: Kidfly182, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
You may have had conversations with Second Amendment-supporting family or friends who believe in having access to firearms just in case because you never know. Have they asked you if you’d rather have a gun and not need it or not have a gun and need it? Rather than think about the question critically, do you simply assure them you’ll never need a gun?
Let me ask you one more question. How could you possibly know that?
Needing a gun and not having one is one of the worst feelings anyone could have especially if they have their kids or an elderly parent with them at the time.
The people who’ve needed firearms and had them probably didn’t think they’d need them, but they knew it was possible, and thank God they were prepared. It’s like saying you don’t need insurance because you’ve never needed it in the past. Again, how could you know? Just because you’ve never made a claim. Well, good for you, but that doesn’t prove you’ll never need it. Insurance, like firearms, is for life’s what ifs.
98% of mass shootings occur in gun-free zones Photo: (Elvert Barnes, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0)
There are some specifics and other what ifs the Founders/Framers considered when they included the right to keep and bear arms in the Bill of Rights—in the Constitution.
The primary reasons are to help repel an armed invasion of our country or your state, to defend ourselves from criminals, and to protect ourselves from an oppressive government that turns violent, as happened during the American Revolution.
You may look at this list and dismiss it because you feel most of those things will never happen to you. Let’s say you’re right. An armed invasion of the U.S. or your state or armed oppression from our federal, state, or local governments aren’t likely. But defending your life from criminals is much more likely.
Let’s say you’re diligent and avoid places like high-risk locations while out and about. Good for you. I mean that. But what about when the high-risk comes looking for you, striding into your workplace, classroom, or pounding at your front door, maybe armed with a gun?
I have family who live in storm-ravaged North Carolina. The hurricane force winds, and torrential rains had barely subsided when they told me about the armed criminals rampaging through their area, robbing people and burglarizing homes.
People could not rely on the police for help because their resources were stretched too thin. People had to rely on themselves and their neighbors. It’s a good thing so many people in the South are armed.
Even in the Northwest, where I live, I recall a story from not too long ago about a big city police chief who lived in a small rural town. Reportedly, Antifa thugs showed up in that town and threatened the chief’s safety. This prompted several of the chief’s neighbors to show up, many armed, to repel the horde essentially saying, “Not in our town; not our neighbor.”
This brings me to another story I heard recently on the Glenn Beck Program. He was interviewing Brandon Darby of Breitbart, who is the preeminent reporter on the Mexican cartels that operate along our southern border.
During the interview, he told the horrific story of a cartel that exacted revenge on one family by finding everyone in a specific town with that surname and executing them. Darby said the cartel slaughtered 500 people. He emphasized that could never happen here in the U.S. Why? Because we have insurance; we have the Second Amendment.
Cache of weapons and drugs associated with El Chapo case, including rocket propelled grenades (Public Domain)
I wrote a short play many years ago for a contest. I didn’t win, so it wasn’t published or produced, but it told the story of a town in rural America that gets invaded by a few pickup truck-loads of well-armed Islamo-Nazi terrorists.
Terrorist sleeper cells launch a coordinated attack on several towns across the U.S. I focus on one family that comes to understand the right to bear arms equals the right to life.
The terrorist cells chose semi-rural suburbs on the outskirts of large blue cities where towns had small police departments and the people were less likely to be armed because they were more likely to be Democrats.
The terrorists were willing, even eager, to die, so they cared little about a police response. They just wanted to commit as much mayhem as they could before the cops arrived or they ran out of ammunition.
I told a friend about the play, and he half-jokingly said I shouldn’t give them any ideas. I asked him if he really thought the terrorists hadn’t thought of it already. Now, we know not only have they thought about it but also, they did it—in Israel on Oct. 7th, 2023—in a horrific display of the most savage barbarism imaginable. Sadly, American colleges and universities have been aiding and abetting the barbarians ever since.
Oct. 7th, Hamas gunmen at home, Israeli flag on ground, terrorist in background shooting into the house. (Public Domain)
Remember, like other insurance, you’re not protecting yourself and your family from the likely. The protection is for the unlikely.
Here’s the self-defense formula: Your right to keep and bear the most practical means to self-defense, a gun, equals your right to life. Think of it this way: How can you have a right to life without the right to the most practical means for self-defense, a firearm? You can’t. And, if you think you have a right to life without a right to effective self-defense, explain how that works.
It’s not a matter of liking guns or enjoying shooting guns. If you do, then it’s a bonus. But the right to self-defense is not a frivolous matter of doing something enjoyable. It’s a matter of doing something necessary. Unless you don’t feel that protecting yourself, your family, and innocent others is necessary.
