Armed Citizens

There's a saying "The armed man is a citizen, the unarmed man a subject." I'll save my opinions on that statement for later, but I will say that the armed citizen is better able to defend themselves, their loved ones, and property. According to the National Rifle Association (NRA) "firearms (guns) are used more than 2 million times a year for personal protection, and that the presence of a firearm, without a shot being fired, prevents crime in many instances." Other sources (anti-gun sources) claim that the NRA's figures are high and that the number is closer to 600,000. Uh, excuse me but does it matter which number is correct? If we take the lower number of 600,000 people that protect themselves from criminals each year by having or using a gun isn't that good enough reason to assert our 2nd amendment rights?

The following stories of people defending themselves using their privately owned guns were originally printed in local newspapers and then reprinted in the NRA's publication "America's 1st Freedom".

A man was sitting in his vehicle while his wife shopped for groceries. To his horror, three men burst into the store with a gun, appeared to fire and began robbing customers. The man called 9-1-1, then received a call from his wife. "I just heard her saying, 'There is nothing in my purse," he recollects. "And there was a 'pow.' The phone went dead." The man, a concealed-handgun-license holder, sprang from his vehicle and entered the store with his .45-caliber pistol. He hoped to avoid confronting the bandits, but police say that was not to be. One of the robbers pointed a gun at the man, and he responded by firing two shots at the suspect, injuring him as his accomplices fled. Neither the man's wife nor any others were harmed. "I was just worried about my wife," the man said, noting he took no satisfaction in shooting the suspect. "I just wanted to get her out of there." (The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas, 07/5/07)

Johhny Johnson awoke to the sound of a gunshot and his front door being kicked in. A security system alerted the sheriff's office while Johnson phoned his mother. She told him to avoid heroics and "stay low," but Johnson had other plans. He snuck down the hallway with a 9 mm pistol, surprising one of the intruders and shooting him multiple times. Police nabbed the alleged burglars and their getaway driver at a hospital. "I'm in the right, because it's either me or them," Johnson said. Police agreed. (The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla., 07/12/07)

Stories like these occur quite often but are seldom given a place on the evening news. Why is that? Why isn't news like this given a wider audience? People have a right to defend themselves but many don't know that they are able to do so. Still others believe the propaganda put out by the anti-gun lobby that only the military and police should have guns and that the police can protect us. Don't get me wrong, I think the police do a wonderful job given their resources, but even police officers understand they can't be everywhere. Let's get the word out.