I really hate that this article needs to be written. Years ago, I wrote two articles asserting that gun rights and self defense are essentially illegal in the US and that the second amendment is irrelevant. Even the most conservative and libertarian States punish people for using the natural rights supposedly protected by the Bill of Rights. So, why do the smartest legal scholars and political analysts fail to see this? What can be done about it?
In July of 2018, as a rookie writer, I wrote an article where I made a compelling case for not carrying a firearm. Using sources, statistics, current laws, and logic, I explained that it is unwise to use a firearm, even if you believe that your life is being threatened. This is due to the tremendous pressure that politicians and their enablers (voters, law abiding citizens, police, etc.) have placed on peaceful gun owners. Almost any time a firearm is even drawn from a holster, law enforcement agents arrest the person and seize all of their firearms. Getting out of prison and getting your property back often requires a king’s ransom, saintly patience, and lots of luck. This travesty of justice has caused an entire industry to be created in order to handle the inevitable costs and difficulty associated with self-defense encounters.
The USCCA and many other organizations now offer ‘self-defense insurance’. These programs generally provide gun owners with lawyers and other resources that help them survive the government’s punishment that they face whenever they defend themselves. They cost a few dollars a month, and there is now plenty of competition. If you do not have one of these policies and you use a firearm in self-defense, you can expect to be imprisoned and/or go bankrupt proving your innocence. You’ll also likely lose all of your firearms forever.
In the second article, another writer explained why carrying a gun is extremely dangerous – largely because it drastically increases your chances of being shot by a cop. If you ever use a firearm to repel an attacker, the sad truth is that once police arrive, you put yourself at risk of being shot.
During the violent BLM riots in St. Louis a few weeks ago, a large group of rioters trespassed on private property and forced a couple to arm themselves with their firearms to defend their property. The couple – themselves left-leaning attorneys – successfully repelled the mob without firing a single shot. They should be commended for their restraint. Instead, ‘law enforcement’ arrested them and confiscated all of their firearms and charged them with felonies. Now, even if the charges are dropped or they are found innocent at trial, their lives are potentially ruined. Additionally, the government’s lawyer and the police seemingly tampered with evidence by altering a non-working firearm into a working firearm in order to increase the likelihood that the couple is convicted of the felonies.
Conservatives around the US are shocked and outraged that the couple is being charged with a crime for peacefully defending their property, especially in a State with a ‘castle doctrine’. Those who are informed on these issues are not surprised at all, because this is what occurs nearly 100% of the time. In all of my years covering this issue, I’ve yet to hear of a single defensive use of a firearm (including those who didn’t even squeeze the trigger) that did not result in the individual being punished for defending themselves. This punishment occurs without a trial and generally involves being arrested and the law enforcement agents confiscating all of their firearms. All without due process.
Now, conservatives are hoping that a judge who works for the government to rule against the government. It has already come to light that the government (the prosecutor and police) seemingly tampered with the evidence to help their case.
Even a victory in a court on this issue does not greatly enhance our freedom. By the very act of asking a government official for permission to exercise a freedom, we are ceding our freedom to them. Slaves ask for freedom. Citizens demand freedom. And even if a judge rules in favor of liberty in its interpretation of the law, anti-freedom politicians often violate the law, forcing citizens to return to court to again assert their rights.
So, instead of obeying anti-gun politicians, letting police confiscate our firearms with no due process, and begging judges to rule against their coworkers and in favor of our liberties, why don’t we stand up and demand that our natural rights be recognized?
