Why We Have the Second Amendment

By Paul Angel

If you ever wondered why our founding fathers included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, the events of late May and early June should have made the reason crystal clear. We have the right to own guns so we can protect our property and the lives of our families. Fact is, there aren’t enough police officers to protect everyone when large numbers of thugs lose their minds and begin looting and pillaging communities. Unfortunately, there are people in this nation who are too stupid, too blind or too brainwashed to comprehend this. Most of these buffoons are wealthy enough to live in steel-gated communities with private security forces who are paid to do one thing: protect them and their property. But for the rest of us, when things go bad, we are on our own. Many times, the only thing standing between life and death for us is a fully loaded firearm.

But even as citizens across America were watching as the businesses good people had spent their entire lives building up were burned down—looted and destroyed—leftists defended the rights of the criminals and condemned those who were willing to die to defend not only their businesses, but their families and friends, as well. In Philadelphia, Chief of Police Danielle Outlaw spoke against “vigilante justice,” as she calls it. When a 67-year-old man refused to allow four looters who had broken into his gun store intent on stealing weapons they might illegally use against his law-abiding fellow citizens, those looters found out quickly what happens when a bullet from a Bushmaster M4 enters your skull. His cohorts in crime ran away as fast as they could, not wanting to experience the same thing.

Even though the armed citizen might have saved countless lives, Chief Outlaw said, “We do not endorse or condone any form of vigilante justice.” Philly Mayor Jim Kenney was saddened by the news that a dangerous criminal with mayhem on his mind was taken off the streets. “While I respect the rights of individuals to protect their property, I am also deeply troubled about the ease with which another life was taken amidst the chaos,” he said. Outlaw added, “We strongly encourage if there is a non-violent way to protect one’s self or property, that should be the option.” In other words, abandon ship. Good thing Outlaw wasn’t in charge of the men at Lexington Green or Kenney wasn’t leading the troops at Guadalcanal.

In this case, the armed citizen in question was fully within his rights to not only protect his personal property and his own life, but also the lives of those peaceful people in his neighborhood.

In St. Louis, retired police Capt. David Dorn, an African-American, was shot dead while attempting to defend his friend’s pawn shop from looters. Dorn was said to have been a “gregarious and outspoken leader who mentored youths and insisted on strict ethical conduct among his employees.” He was described by policemen he worked with as the kind of person who would lay down his life to save a friend. That night he did just that. Unfortunately, this extraordinary man will no longer be around to mentor and guide the very kind of youths who shot him.

A bystander called 911, but also photographed Dorn as he lay dying, and posted it on the internet. At least he died with a gun in his hand while trying to stop pure evil. His was a life that mattered, whatever race he was. But you didn’t see any outrage from the Black Lives Matter crew nor the neo-Bolshevik media. To them, Capt. Dorn was not the kind of black life that mattered, as he did not die at the hands of a cop or a white man. If it counters their race-baiting narrative, the event is ignored.

History is replete with examples of despots disarming the people. In every instance, as one would expect, law-abiding citizens were placed at the mercy of government thugs and dangerous criminals. Here in Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam has made it quite clear he will do everything in his power to disarm citizens. Let’s hope he is not reelected. Other politicians are actually discussing abolishing police departments.

But there are a few sane people in positions of power left in America. In Polk County, Fla., Sheriff Grady Judd is not infected with political correctness. He warned those looters who threatened to take their hooliganism into the suburbs to think twice. The citizens of Polk County, says Sheriff Judd, love guns, and if these would-be looters “value their lives,” they shouldn’t invade suburbia. “In Polk County . . . I encourage people to own guns, and they will be in their homes tonight, with their guns loaded.” In his warning to looters, he said, “If you break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I am highly recommending they blow you back out of their house with their guns. So leave the community alone.” There is a guy who understands the Second Amendment.

By the grace of God, there are many people in this country who still believe there are things worth dying for—faith, family, friends, the right to be safe in their persons, and their nation. Unfortunately, many also believe there are things worth killing for: Samsung TVs, Air Jordans, bottles of Mad Dog 20/20, and fancy watches, to name a few. It’s those people who pose the greatest physical danger to average Americans, though that is far from the only threat we face from thieves in this country. Our own kleptocratic elite steals much more from us every year than looters ever could. That being said, violence in almost any form is always to be condemned, but there are times when even the most peaceful people are reluctantly forced to resort to it. Let’s hope you aren’t.