Choosing Victimhood
12.15.06“He that suffers his life to be taken from him by one that hath no authority for that purpose, when he might preserve it by defense, incurs the Guilt of self murder since God hath enjoined him to seek the continuance of his life, and Nature itself teaches every creature to defend itself.”
Sermon given in Philadelphia in 1747
I don’t watch too much tv. I have been watching a couple shows more often though. I’ll drop what I’m doing to watch Cops, and Most Shocking. Court TV’s newest show of extreme criminal footage. From high speed police chases, to a couple of punk ass thugs taking a steak knife to a convenience store clerk.
I’ve seen several of these security camera movies, where innocent people get brutalized, and come mighty close to death over a few bucks in their register. It’s hard for me to watch. But I have to, and I want my wife to watch it as well. She needs to see it. Everyone needs to. You all need to know that every day is potentially your last day. Granted that some areas high higher potential than others. But there will always be drug-induced crimes, or a desperate convict with nothing to lose. Will you be a victim or a survivor?
Last nights episode showed a 12 year old girl working the register at her folks bakery. In broad daylight a blood thirsty animal came in with a hammer. She didn’t stand a chance. He walked right up and repeatedly beat her over the head, until blood was everywhere. She pretended to be unconscious at one point, and he left her alone. Then decided to come back for one more clean hit to her head. Then as he went for the register, she was able to crawl to the door and run across the street to her home. By then, the savage was gone with the money, and still on the loose.
This stuff happens. Might not be often where you live. But there’s always a chance. After every gun-point robbery, when they interview the clerk… the clerk always says “I thought I was dead. I thought of the people I loved, and how I would never see them again.”
Choosing to be a victim. That is what our society preaches. Our law enforcement, our leaders, and sometimes our pastors. Why? Why would they teach us a defeatist outlook on our existance? Why would they teach us something that goes against the very fiber of nature? The basic human right to self defense.
The bank across the street from my bank was robbed a couple months back. I was talking to the middle aged teller about it. I asked her if this banks employees even carry concealed. Her response: “No. Never. Never have anything that can be taken away and used on you”. I stood there with a blank stare on my face. Just incredulous that she seriously believed what she had just said. I glance over to the young guy at the next teller, hoping for a hint of disagreement in his face. Nothing there either.
Ever since my daughter was born, I really think alot more about what it means to be their dependent. They depend on me for their safety. As they should. But at the same time, I’m not always there to be the defender. My wife is a preschool teacher. What if a deranged parent walked into her school with a firearm. Just like the Amish school, and the Jewish preschool before that… and the countless other times it has happened. I want her to be mentally able to defend herself. And we’ve had talks about this before. Unfortunately, it just might take a life threatening situation before she’ll fully understand. Her response is “I’ll kick em in the groin”. A nice tactic, I’m sure of… but not realistic when this guy weighs in at 250 and has a baseball bat, or shotgun. What can I do to help her understand? I dunno. I guess I just need to teach her to be more comfortable around weapons. Build her confidence with them.
In my state, it is legal to carry concealed anywhere, BUT a school. The one place we would want to be able to defend our children most. We basically send our children into a bad guy sanctuary. Think about it. This law basically says “All law abiding gun owners not allowed”. And what does that say to any bad guy??? Easy target children, with no other firearms around. It blows my mind.
Christians and guns. Thats pretty much a whole nother topic. I’ve heard it, you’ve heard it. “Jesus says to turn the other cheek” etc. True, only in the sense that your neighbor just bad mouthed you in front of everyone. Not true when a drug induced rape/murder spreeing thug just broke into your house at 3am. Self-murder as it was used in the beginning quote that was pulled from a sermon in the 1700’s. In refusing to preserve your own life you become lower than animals. You consider yourself worthless.
I could talk about this all day. Only because it holds so true to common sense. Why is common sense so uncommon these days? Why do gun owners, and gun advocates have to constantly defend a basic human right daily? In our friends and family’s houses, in our capitols and courthouses.
Gun owner or not, I encourage everyone to just fill out this questionnaire. You don’t need to submit it. It’s just for re-enforcing the common sense of a basic human right.
Image credits: http://a-human-right.com/
Here's a toast to
Excellent post, bro. My wife isn’t the least bit interested in carrying or learning how to shoot, either. Her response is usually something to the effect of me or one of the boys will be around to “handle things.” I hope & pray she never ever finds herself in a situation where she becomes a victim.
# December 15th, 2006 at 3:06 pmExcellent article Chad. Ironically enough I was reading another article about a debate over allowing teachers to carry guns in Schools. You can read it . A congressman is actually trying to get a bill passed to allow teachers to carry guns. That may be radical and I’m not sure if teachers should carry that burden but I can say it needs to be open for armed citizens that have their permit to carry. Why not allow law abiding citizens when thugs and idiots are carrying them already?
The debate is going on in Las Vegas. Here is a quote from the article.”The president of the teacher’s union told Eyewitness News he believes our schools should remain gun free and not be turned into ‘military camps.’”
My issue with the President of the teachers union is simple. Would we rather send them off to military camps or to war zones? Just because you open it up for teachers to carry concealed and allow lawful citizens to carry hardly turns the schools into “military camps”. What kind of warped logic is that? On the other hand keeping guns out, will ensure the front lines of the culture war to have casualties.
My wife and I were having this conversation just last night. I got out my P95 9mm (I know your feelings about 9mm’s) and showed it to her and let her handle it. I told told her how to take it off safety and then squeeze the trigger. She is ready to learn in order to defend herself and our children! Thank God for a wife that is willing. Besides she is a heck of a good shot! “Turning the other cheek” is a personal choice about a personal matter. Survival of your family is no longer a personal attack it is life or death. I will have no problem “eliminating the threat” if they are going after my family.
Recently in Nashville a crime wave has struck small 24 hour convenient stores. Several fatalities. Who in there right mind would not carry being the owner or store clerk?
# December 15th, 2006 at 6:01 pmI think my comment has an error with h ref. Opps. A typo maybe?
Ohh and the “Have your say” should be to your chadness. It should read, “Have yer say” Just a small suggestion to keep the flavor.
# December 15th, 2006 at 6:07 pmHaha. I’ll add that flavor in when I get a chance. I’m actually up at a ski resort with the family, and our room has teh internets!
Back to the story. I firmly believe that carrying concealed should be outlawed in bars and honky tonks, before schools! And I also believe that our teachers should be allowed the choice to carry as well.
As for that quote, I’m pretty sure a grade schooler could see through that nonesense. Nevada offers concealed carry permits to it’s citizens… does that make it a “military state” ???
no.
As a parent with a future grade schooler, I would love to go to my daughters vollyball games, and know that I have the right to carry concealed. And that woulden’t make the school a “military camp”. Neither would the teacher who was packing, yet nobody even knew. Thats the beauty of carrying concealed… the bad guys won’t know which teachers carry, and which teachers don’t. Thus, they’ll probably avoid any crime at a school from that very knowledge
# December 15th, 2006 at 9:10 pmSo guns are the solution to any situation in which there is risk, or fear that there might be?
Students might be attacked at school.
Arm the teacher.
A madman might take people hostage on a bus or plane.
Arm the driver.
Thieves might hold up a bank.
Arm the employees.
Someone might attack an abortion clinic.
Arm the doctors.
Someone might attack Tom Cruise.
Arm Tom Cruise.
I know I’m exagerrating, but where does it end? In which sort of risky situation should people not be armed? Is there even such thing as a riskless situation? This kind of thinking seems to be motivated by a paranoid and cynical world view - where one sees danger and malovolence around every bend.
I understand that you don’t want to completely trust the police or the government or other people with your safety - some people (i.e. your standard homicidal lunatic) are definitely not deserving of that trust. But to be a constructive member of society, you have to put a reasonable amount of faith in the societal structures. To carry a strap around, with the impicit threat that you will shoot anyone who threatens you or appears to do so, doesn’t really seem to me to display that necessary level of trust in your fellow man. You are always ALWAYS at the mercy of others. The strongest, best armed, smartest, most careful man in the world can still die a sudden, unexpected and unpleasant death in an infinite variety of ways.
Mortal danger, to one degree or another, is a natural and inextricable part of life. Surely you agree that to live in constant fear of that ever-present, unavoidable danger is foolishness. Do you need a firearm to feel safe enough to carry out your every day business?
# December 16th, 2006 at 11:53 amSS, only you can overthink and unsuccessfully debate such a simple concept as self defense. I pity your rationale and your poor significant other.
# December 16th, 2006 at 12:47 pmSimon I think you are being a little off in your assessment. Let’s tilt your argument to the right just a little and further down into human psyche. No one has stated that guns are the total solution. Once again guns are a tool not a thinking rational object. Guns can’t solve a situation – but thinking rational humans can when given the proper tools and sometimes when not. When a criminal understands that they may face deadly force then they are less likely to carry out a crime. I bet if you just post a sign that reads, “Employees are armed and trained to respond to threats.” Would dramatically impact the statistics. Allow me to reword your poem.
Students are attacked at school.
Give a thinking rational object, who has been entrusted with the care of lives, the tools to neutralize the threat.
A madman has taken people hostage on a bus or plane.
Give a thinking rational object, who has been entrusted with the care of lives, the tools to neutralize the threat.
Thieves have held up banks.
Give a thinking rational object, who has been entrusted with the care of lives, the tools to neutralize the threat.
Abortion clinics have been attacked.
Give a thinking rational object, who has been entrusted with the care of lives, the tools to neutralize the threat.
Tom Cruise may be attacked.
Give a thinking rational object, who has been entrusted with the care of lives, the tools to neutralize the threat.
All of those people and places are real targets. So what you are saying is we shouldn’t try to protect or act responsible?
This isn’t about trusting the societal structures. Just because I lock my house and have a alarm system installed doesn’t mean I distrust my neighbors. It means I distrust the thief. Being armed doesn’t mean I distrust anyone except the lunatic behind another trigger or device of destruction. You are right I will use justifiable force to neutralize any threat to my life or anyone else’s life around me. As long as the man acts like a fellow instead of a felon then all will be well. This business of trying to make a law abiding citizen feel guilty for carry a concealed weapon is foolish. I can’t act control the forces around me, I can only hold myself responsible for the force I use. If you’ve been through handgun self defense course then you’d understand the meaning and duty of self defense.
It is my duty to be able to respond to a potential threat. I carry a pager that is on 24/7/365. Not because I am terrified but because it is my duty to be on call to respond to an emergency or a potential destructive situation. This is being a responsible member of society. Going on a shooting spree in a school is not being a responsible member. Just because I believe police should be armed does not mean I should not be armed. Can I stop a fire that is destroying my house or do I have to wait on the authorized firefighters? Should I even exercise or should I trust in doctors to keep me healthy? You see what I’m saying?
Forces beyond my control are exactly that, beyond my control. My daily business is survive and to provide for my family and be a man that displays the truths in God’s word. Because I carry, or have the right to carry, does not make me less than a man of God nor does it inhibit my daily business. In the town I live in I do feel safe. I still carry. Why? Because I exercise my right to carry.
# December 16th, 2006 at 7:34 pmExcellent response, CS. I’m not sure we could spell it out any more than that….
# December 16th, 2006 at 8:13 pmteh internets at a ski resort? Man your dedication to pta is amazing!
# December 16th, 2006 at 9:18 pmyea… I gotta work hard at keepin the gay porn spam offa here.
# December 16th, 2006 at 9:44 pm
Raising a glass to one of the most truthful, well written posts I’ve seen in a long while. It’s amazing what can happen when people realize they have an option beyond “lay down and die!”
# December 17th, 2006 at 4:50 amThanks, friend.
# December 17th, 2006 at 11:01 amSo would you say that legalized handguns make us safer?
# December 17th, 2006 at 3:03 pmsometimes, Simon… talking to you is like talking to a brick wall… and i think you do it on purpose.
If you don’t “see what we’re saying” from the previous post… then you won’t be seeing anything…
# December 17th, 2006 at 4:23 pmSimon, answer this question: If a teacher/driver/pilot/clerk/*insert your own here* is armed, who will attempt to commit a crime with them present?
# December 18th, 2006 at 6:23 amArgh, i wrote something, but it disappeared into the void of cyberspace.
So I did a little reading, and the conclusion i’ve reached is that this is one of the rare situations in which moderation is a bad thing. that is, either you should have lots of guns, so that both criminal and citizen are likely to have them, or very few, so that neither do. cases in point: england and switzerland.
in england, handguns are basically illegal, and thhe police carry only batons (except in special situations). the british homocide rate, especially firearms-related, is much lower than our own.
on the other extreme is switzerland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland
there, just about every adult male carries as part of a sortr of national militia/army. switzerland is also famously peaceable, much more so than here.
so judging from these case studies, the way to make ourselves safest is either to have lots of guns or as few as possible (this means cracking down on illegal arms especially, which england does much better than america). both of these serve to “level the playing field”
the real question is “which would be easiest to do?” In a country like america, where guns are pretty abudant, the answers seem to be: arm everyone.
but there is a problem with this analysis. for every switzerland, there are many examples to the contrary - the DRC, Sierra Leone, Iraq, the list goes on. all of these places have lots of guns, and horrific violence. so does one thing lead to another? do more guns = more violence. i don’t have enough information to say conclusively that they do, but you can’t definitely say that they don’t. In many of these places, the violence would occur by (for example) machete, if not by gun, so you say “what’s the difference? guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.
but guns grant people physical power that they would otherwise lack, and whether that extra power is good or bad, depends on the person and on the situation they are in. a concientuous citizen in one scenario can easily become a murderer in another.
the US government’s history of backing some rather dubious allies with weapons to bad effect is evidence of the dangers…
# December 18th, 2006 at 4:22 pmGuns are not just a weapon. They are symbols. To the law abiding US citizen it is a symbol of freedom, a symbol of sustaining freedom, a symbol of protection and survival. For a criminal it is a symbol of lawless power. To remove guns from the fabric of freedom would leave a tattered rotten rug.
Tools have power and a gun has the power to persuade more than any other weapon.
# December 18th, 2006 at 9:04 pmI thank God I live in a nation where I can choose too or not too own my gun/ssss
Four per household sounds like a good number, minimum, if the owner is not drugged or wacked out of his mind.
Defense or hunting, I’m keeping mine WITHOUT DEBATE!
# December 19th, 2006 at 8:40 amhECK, good point CS @ 17…
You’d been crap outt’a luck in Katrina without at least a 10/22. But if your not willing to shoot, guess yA’ choose VICT’M HOOD > DEBATE
Katrina: PROOF the cops and government can’t save your a##, all that government cheese for naught
# December 19th, 2006 at 8:48 amJust to add to cs’s comment, and steal a little from V for Vendetta… guns are symbols, as is the act of owning them. A symbol alone is meaningless but it is given power by people, and with enough people a symbol can change the world.
# December 19th, 2006 at 10:01 amGuns symbolize power. and whether it is good that a particular individual should have that power depends on who they are.
# December 19th, 2006 at 10:55 amGuns dont symbolize power, guns give people power, good or bad. There are many people who should not have that power, and IIl keep my guns to balance out the power of those who shouldn’t have them should I ever need to.
# December 19th, 2006 at 3:36 pmSimon guns are like freedom of speech in one way. If you take it from one it is taken from all. I understand that a felon shouldn’t have the right to carry concealed (they may anyway). Freedom of speech shouldn’t be impeded upon just like the right to bear arms. They both protect freedom. One protects but truth and persuasion while the other protects it by force.
# December 19th, 2006 at 4:03 pmSomeday we who love the rights we have maybe forced to fight a corrupt government, “within 10 years”, we will see this so-called government become fully hispanic In all areas and with that the government and people will not be American’s but become the enemy of freedom,
buy Guns for the ideals of justice and the rule of law over the rule of evil doers.
# January 7th, 2007 at 5:56 pmopen your eyes and look at Mexico city who own our so called political leaders. BUY GUNS FOR LIFE.