Defend Yourself!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

So says the Declaration of Independence. The inalienable rights of all men; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness do not come from anyone but God. And if you don’t believe in God, you cannot deny that they come from nature herself. These are not given to you or I by any one man, or by any government for that matter.

Among the “certain inalienable” rights, is the right to life. First of all, what is life? Life is, as one description states in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings.” Well, whether that makes sense to you or not is besides the point. Even though life is hard to define, we all know what it is. If you can read this, you’re alive. For me to type this, I obviously had to be alive.

Since life is an inalienable right (and there is no disputing that), then what rights derive from the right to life? Well, one of those rights is the right to defend your life. Every creature on this Earth fights for survival; fights to live. It is a pretty sad and pathetic creature who won’t even defend itself. The lady bug, small and cute, secretes a yellow fluid to deter birds from eating it. The stinging nettle plant has tiny needles on it which if touched by a passer by, causes a thousand little stinging sensations on the hapless victim.

So if you believe you have the right to defend yourself (which you do), then by what means? The answers to this question are where people’s opinions start to differ. Some people might say, “by any means necessary.” To them I would ask the question, “are bazookas or bombs in your back yard necessary?” Others might say, “by any physical means (just using your body or brute strength) necessary.” My question to that response is, “what about when the assailant is obviously bigger and stronger than the victim?”

Everyone has the right to protect themselves by any means necessary so long as, in my opinion, they are on an even keel or at a slight advantage against their attacker. The gun has been called “the great equalizer.” It really is when you think about it. If a quick and strong young criminal tries to assail an elderly woman who is slow and feeble, what do you think is her best deterrent? A phone to call the police? Something to swing at him? No. A gun is without a doubt the best weapon for anyone’s self defense.

The founding fathers and framers of our beautiful Constitution knew that after fighting a revolutionary war against the strongest country in the world (at the time), and to defend themselves as a young nation, it was necessary to have an armed citizenry. That’s why they created the second amendment to the Constitution. Ratified  in 1791, Amendment II reads, “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.”

When it states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”, one has to ask, when they pass gun laws restricting a citizens right to carry (and basically defend themselves), “is that not a violation of our constitutional right?”

Long Live States’ Rights!