Why the citizenry should be armed.

Some folks ask, “Why should the citizenry be armed?” “Why should Joe Public be able to carry a gun?”  Well, besides the guarantee of our Second Amendment (shall not be infringed), I am going to explain to you why John Q. Everyman should be able to arm himself.

So long as the police need pepper spray, a baton, body armor, a handgun with 40+ rounds of ammo, a Taser gun, a shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot, and an AR-15 rifle with one or more 30-round magazines in the trunk as well to carry out their job, then it is just as logical that we too need the same means of protection. Why?  Read on…

My life and yours, is worth every bit as much as a law enforcement officer's is, and WE should enjoy the same rights to protect ourselves as they do. In fact, if the D.C. v. Warren decision means anything at all, then you and I actually deserve to be just as well armed as the police.  You see, The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that the police have no duty to protect one individual from another from harm ¹.  Another case of interest is the Castle Rock v. Gonzales decision where the SCOTUS also ruled that the police are NOT required to protect us from injury or death from a criminal ².  Most people are not aware of this.

The police carry all of that gear to protect themselves, NOT you or I.  Ask any cop, and they will tell you that their primary goal is to go home at the end of their shift in the same condition as they started.  All of that defensive and offensive equipment is for THEIR benefit, NOT ours.  Remember, my life and your life is every bit as valuable as a police officer's.  Since we the public, encounter criminals (when the crime is committed) before the police do, (prior to their arrest), and since the public at large encounters MORE of them and MORE often (police clear less than 48% of violent crimes ³ ), then logically we can deduce only one thing; that the criminal element is much more likely to come into criminal contact with us, than they are with the police.  With that known, we can only come to the conclusion.  We the People have every right not only to be armed, but we have a the right to be BETTER armed than the police!  Some may say that the police need all of these means of protection because they are (depending on their assignment) actively seeking out criminals in order to apprehend them.  To which I answer, criminals are actively seeking out the public in order to victimize us.

I carry a weapon because it IS my inherent right and responsibility to protect myself and my family.  Besides, I cannot depend on the police, and I am too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'!  J

¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Rock_v._Gonzales

³http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/clearances