The widely reported shooting and stabbing events the weekend before the New Year, 2020, should be a reminder of one of the reasons we have a Second Amendment.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment II
A lot of emphasis is placed on the term militia in the Second Amendment, but little consideration is given to the reason why one is important. The events of the weekend between Christmas and the New Year shows just how important our right to keep and bear arms is, and why it should not be infringed in any way, except as punishment for criminal behavior.
Texas Church Shooting
If you can stomach watching the video, it is as informative as it is disturbing. The video shows a verbal interchange between the soon to be killer and someone standing along the wall. In just six seconds, two parishioners and the killer are shot. That is six seconds from the time a life was threatened until three lives were gone. Those six seconds have changed the lives of an unknown number of people. Not just those shot and their families, but also the other members of the congregation in attendance. In fact, almost every member of every congregation in the United States has probably been changed by this incident. If not for the preparation, willingness, and quick reaction of a man willing to keep and bear arms, who knows how many others would have been killed.
While I do not know the specific average response time for police in White Settlement, TX, nationally the average is about five minutes. That is 300 seconds, or 50 times the amount of time it took for three people to be shot. Count out that time… one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, BANG. Keep counting until you reach 300 and imagine the terror of trying to save your life in that situation. Imagine your fear for a spouse or other loved one. Imagine the heartbreak of a parent who may watch their child die. How secure do you feel right now?
Now imagine you are in that church, right after the shooting. Sure, you’re probably scared. You may be looking for your loved ones or trying to call family, but do you feel secure? More importantly, are you secure? Yes, because you had someone who had taken the time and effort to be ready for just a situation. He had not only prepared for it, but was willing to act to save your life. You may be terrified, but in fact you are secure. Your security was not protected by the police, or by any government agent, but by a citizen who was exercising a right protected by the Second Amendment and willing to use it to help protect your life.
Now do you see why we have the Second Amendment?
New York Stabbing in Rabbi’s Home
In New York, a murderer entered the Rockland County home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg during a Hanukkah celebration and stabbed several people before fleeing the home. Unlike the Texas church, the people could only defend themselves by throwing furniture at their attacker. Their only hope of security was that the police would arrive before the attacker got to them. Even after the attacker fled, there was no serious deterrent to his returning to continue his stabbing spree.
How secure do you think Rabbi Rottenberg’s family feels tonight? More importantly, how secure are they and the others who were celebrating the Jewish holiday with them? Do you think the people who stood outside holding signs the next day would provide any security? These people were all but defenseless before their attacker, reduced to waiting for rescue from their government.
Security of a Free State
So what do these two incidents have to do with the security of a free state? The parishioners in Texas were not dependent on a state or local government to secure their lives and liberties. There are those in Texas today who are secure because people were willing to defend themselves and others rather than waiting for someone sent by the government to defend it for them. Meanwhile, the families in New York were stuck waiting, hoping they would survive. They did not keep or bear arms to defend themselves, so they were not secure. If we are to be secure, then we need to be prepared to secure ourselves. Otherwise we are not secure, but dependent on others.
Yes, the primary purpose of the Second Amendment is to insure we can protect ourselves from our governments. (And to those who say that can never happen, read my article The battle of Athens, TN.) It also means we can defend ourselves against anyone who would infringe on our right to life and liberty.
The Preamble of the Constitution states that one of the reasons it was created is to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”. Whenever we allow the Constitution to be violated, we are not securing the blessings of liberty but subverting them. We can see from these two events the difference between securing the blessings of liberties and subverting them. Ask yourself: When someone in coming to take your life, would you have rather been in the Texas church or the New York home? Where do you think your liberties, and those of your children, were most secure?
Any question after that is mere sophistry.
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