WHEN A WAGGING FINGER JUST WON'T DO



In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court will be looking at the Washington DC ban on firearms. Their decision will in all likelihood have wide ranging effects on our rights, regardless of how they rule. If they uphold the ban, we will know that our rights are in jeopardy and the decision will be used to expand the ban across the nation. If the ban is lifted (and rightfully so) it will mean that these Justices actually can read the Constitution and will lead to bans in other states and cities being lifted. Either way, this decision will be a real nail-biter.



Let's take the Constitution out of it for a second. Let's look at the right to carry a firearm as a simple human rights issue. Do you have the right to protect yourself? Do you have the right to protect your family? Even a liberal would have to say "yes". But a liberal would suggest that you can talk a criminal out of harming you. Others would say that you don't need a gun to protect yourself. They might suggest taking Karate or carrying pepper spray. That's all well and good if you're attacked by an unarmed assailant who isn't high on meth. But what if he has a knife or a gun? What if you're a seventy year old woman or handicapped? What if your children are with you?
In liberal utopia, gun restrictions keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and criminals don't use knives, clubs, tire irons, pipes, bricks, brass knuckles, ice picks, candlesticks, or other random objects to commit crimes. In the real world, they do.
As a resident of the real world, you have a right to protect yourself and your loved ones. The most efficient means of doing so is with a firearm. In many cases, just the sight of one will make a criminal run the other direction without a shot being fired at all. The deterrent factor of a .45 semi-automatic is a magical thing. Deterrence carries over to those who don't even own a gun as well. Providing that the town you live in allows people to carry a gun. Think about it. If you are a rapist, are you more likely to set up shop in a "gun free" city, or a city that allows people to pack some heat? After all, you know that the odds of your next victim carrying a gun are slim to none due to the laws of that city. In a "right to carry" city, you might get your head blown off. Hence, the high crime rates of all cities that ban firearms.
Maybe I would have a different outlook on guns if I were able to afford a gated community home, and a security detail...like Congressmen and Supreme Court Justices.