Why Aren't You Armed?

In Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, December 16th, 2024, a disturbed young teenage woman entered a private Christian school with a concealed pistol and proceeded to shoot at the students and staff there, wounding and killing several. Despite the fact that this tragic incident didn’t fit the parameters the media hoped for, i.e. a white male with an AR-15, the usual calls for “assault weapons” bans ensued. Not noted was the fact that the facility was unguarded and relatively unsecured, with no armed personnel or controlled access to the building. Though the attacker was a student at the school, the simple fact was that the location was unfortunately a soft target.

For those of us in the Second Amendment Radical/Armed Citizen population, the answers are obvious. Controlled access, security checks, and yes, on-premise armed responders. Whether it’s a professional cadre of private armed security, voluntarily armed teachers, or both, it’s such a simple formula to secure armed locations. Far from “prison-like” as some media pundits would have it, the presence of armed defenders does provide people therein with some sense of comfort and security. Of course, in such a setup, only people duly authorized are armed, which does mean that if someone manages to beat the perimeter of controlled access points, the “nearest gun” may be a few seconds away. The downside is that there could be initial casualties before the response happens. The upside is that the casualties will likely be very light.

Ultimately though, if you are in such a place or has a loved one in such a place, you’re being forced to farm out essential self-defense to someone else. The philosophical ramifications of that are for another post, but it should spur a line of thought for those in the audience who haven’t seen the way of the gun:

Why aren’t you armed?

A caveat before we begin. The right to keep and bear arms is absolute. Whether it’s a handgun, or a capital warship, we the people have an innate and natural right to possess these items outside of government meddling as long as we can pay for them or acquire them peaceably - I’ll trade you a cow for a machine gun! Anyway, having the right innately does also mean you have every right not to exercise it. It’s your right to keep and bear arms. It’s also your right to not have a gun. You don’t have a right to deny me access to said weapons, though.

Your Life Is Worth Defending By Force Of Arms

Whether you believe in a higher power or not, the simple fact is that your life is a gift. Whether it’s from “the universe” or God, that’s on you. It’s a pretty unique thing and it’s worth preserving. The lives of those under your care who may not be able to operate a weapon for defensive purposes are of paramount importance, as well - and certainly worth defending. The ultimate “executive protection” role is when an armed citizen protects his or her family, after all. This Christmas, be that bodyguard.

Anyways, when someone supports gun control, they are pawning off defense of life to a third party, namely the State. The State has no vested interest in protecting the individual, as to the State, the individual is of no importance and is just a cog on the assembly line. You shuffle off this mortal coil today, and within the hour your output is overtaken by someone else. While an individual agent of the State may have some motivation to defend you, the body as a whole has no motivation. To the State, you are replaceable. It’s also near-impossible for the State to intervene directly during a violent incident that you may find yourself involved in. Life isn’t a Marvel movie - the police will take many minutes to show up, if they show up at all.

Yes, this is second nature to us Second Amendment Radicals, but to others, it may not be so. Sometimes these think pieces go that way, ha ha.

Think of it this way, in very simplistic terms - we have fire extinguishers at home to snuff out blazes before they become unmanageable and consume our entire homes. The fire department may respond fast, but the nature of a conflagration is that the home will at the minimum be rendered uninhabitable even if the fire itself does not completely destroy the structure. A quick response to a fire by those on premises turns a potential tragedy into a small incident that maybe takes a trip to Home Depot to repair. More importantly, lives are saved.

Similarly, whether an attack happens at home or off-premises, law enforcement simply will not arrive in time. A police cruiser can’t override the laws of physics and nature. As the meme says, the severity of an armed attack is determined on how quickly another armed party gets on the scene.

If you are armed, that time is near-zero. Furthermore, the attacking party usually doesn’t expect an armed response, so by drawing your GLOCK 19 or bringing your AR-15 to bear, you are throwing their plans way off. Victory isn’t assured, but by being armed, the chances look a whole lot better.

Again, why aren’t you armed?

Yes, There’s Legal Barriers

The ideal here is for every able-bodied and peaceable person in the United States (and around the world!) to be armed. At the bare minimum the “load out” should be a commonly-owned and serviceable handgun like a GLOCK 19 or a Smith & Wesson M&P 9 2.0, as well as an AR-pattern rifle.

Truthfully the rifle should be a real-deal M4A1 or similar, but for the sake of brevity, we’ll leave it at an “AR”. Well, an M4A1 is an AR - but let’s stay on track, haha.

Ideally, both pistol and rifle should be easily acquired at retail with no government meddling. For decades, gun sellers policed themselves, and things worked just fine. Tragic shooting incidents were even fewer and far between than today.

Sadly, we all have to live in reality and deal with the laws presented. It’s not ideal, but in most of the United States, people do have a relatively easy (as compared to the global norm) process by which to legally acquire a firearm. Whether it’s a private sale between two peaceable parties, or the infringement route of going to a retail gun shop (FFL) and submitting to a NICS inquiry, the process of being armed is relatively easy.

A background check is still an unjust legal impediment though - it’s essentially the government demanding you prove your innocence before exercising an enumerated right.

Additionally, even for those who can lawfully acquire firearms, there exists further legal barriers to carrying, i.e. bearing them, especially in the places where they could potentially be needed most, the dreaded gun-free zones. Depending on your state, mandated gun-free zones cover locations like schools, houses of worship, other childcare facilities, hospitals, most government buildings, and even private property where the property owner displays a properly-formatted sign stating that carry is disallowed on their premises. In the last case, it would be the notorious 30.06 & 30.07 laws of Texas. Most people tend to be law-abiding, even if the laws themselves are immoral. Thus even those who are armed, are usually disarmed in places where being armed would be extremely beneficial.

However, the reality of the situation is that most of these “sensitive places” have no active security measures to speak of. They prop up a sign or expect you to know it’s a gun-free zone, and leave it at that. Thus, you do hear of people doing some risk-vs-reward calculations and they carry in sensitive locations despite any laws or policies to the contrary. In places where a gun-free zone is just a request, non-compliance happens more often than not. Regardless, with the world being what it is, some people make the morally correct decision to defend themselves and others by force of arms, even if the law says they aren’t allowed to.

While it’s not advisable to break these laws, as the penalties can be harsh, the ultimate decision of being armed in these situations is really up to you.

Your Life Is A Gift - Take Personal And Direct Action To Protect It

It’s generally believed that life is a rare thing in the universe. Some will go as far as arguing that life is unique to Earth. Regardless, life is rare, and sentient life even more so. The fact that you woke up this morning and had coherent thoughts and speech is truly a unique and wonderful thing. It’s a gift. Whether you think it’s from God or some other higher power in the universe is a debate best left for another business vertical. Regardless, like any rare and treasured gift, it should be protected. And ultimately, the gift of your life needs to be protected by you yourself. Those who wish to harm or take your life are armed. Those who claim to protect your life cannot and will not. In the end it’s up to you to acquire as much firepower as you financially are able to, and protect yourself.

Why aren’t you armed?

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