
“You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”
-Al Capone
Introduction
Violence Reaches Epidemic Levels
20 percent of Californians experienced either physical or sexual assault in the past year.
Opening a wet-weather gear store in Portland, Oregon seemed like a no-brainer when Marcy Landolfo launched “Rains PDX” in September 2019. In December 2022, after 15 burglaries in 27 months, she shut the store down.
In San Francisco, with California laws changed to make all merchandise thefts below $950 a misdemeanor rather than a felony, shoplifting has evolved into systematic looting.
Supreme Court Ruling on the Right to Carry Guns
In June 2022, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “we know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.
Americans Are Locked and Loaded
30 percent of gun owners have used a firearm to defend themselves or their property. 80 percent did not have to fire their gun. Brandishing a firearm was enough to eliminate the threat.
The most used firearm for defense, at 65 percent, was a handgun.
Conclusion
As Americans have watched cities looted and burned, with no regard for personal property rights, they have decided to take advantage of their right to bear arms for personal protection.
The freedom to own a firearm is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. This peculiar and vital freedom is what distinguishes the U. S. from every other nation on the planet.
Photo by Maze Man 2011