This past December, a “good guy with a gun” stopped a mass shooting in a northeastern Texas town, putting (again) the lie to the anti-gun dismissiveness about civilians stopping crime. Right on cue, nanny-billionaire Mike Bloomberg chimed in with his trademark clucking tongue:

…it’s the job of law enforcement to have guns and to decide when to shoot. You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place.

What a difference a few months make.

In Portland and Seattle, to name just two, Antifa and related violence has escalated beyond the ability of local law enforcement to control. And, with cops so heavily involved in dealing with that violence, “normal” policing isn’t happening. 911 calls are not being responded to, homicide and crime rates are up dramatically, and a sense of fear has grown to the point where Joe Biden seemingly felt that picking a “law-and-order” running mate was of electoral utility, despite Kamala Harris’ atrocious record with regard to over-policing and over-prosecuting the black community. ‘Black Lives Matter’ only as lip service, it seems, despite frequent mention at the virtual DNC.

The increasing lawlessness in major cities is accelerating the urban flight prompted by the COVID pandemic, as people increasingly realize that police departments are being neutered by ‘woke’ politicians. Gun and ammunition sales are skyrocketing, to the point of creating shortages.

And yet, despite all this, nary a peep from the Democrats about addressing their tone- and history-deaf position on guns. They’ve made it clear they want to ban “assault weapons,” with Harris even vowing to skirt Congress and do so via executive fiat when she was running for the nomination (and laughing at the question of whether the Constitution would allow such an action). Biden’s platform includes universal background checks, which would only “work” if, as I discussed five years ago, a universal registration system was put in place. That such has historically been a prelude to mass confiscation is a feature, not a bug, in their minds.

What’s the message here? ‘Don’t worry, we’ll restore law and order if elected?’ Do they think that the simple removal of Trump from office will quell the civil unrest, restore the morale of police officers across the nation, and convince local-wokel mayors to suddenly tell cops “go get ’em, we’ve got your back?”

As to that last point, if they’ve been hamstringing law enforcement simply in order to get Biden elected over Trump, the injured, the families of the dead, and the owners and employees of ruined businesses should rightly take to the streets with torches and pitchforks, tar and feathers, for it would be a horrific betrayal of their primary duty as elected public servants.

But, their spinelessness in the face of the wokerati hordes on Twitter suggests they won’t, and instead they are hoping that their appeasement coupled with a Biden victory will simply disperse the “Defund the Police” mobs. Do I need to comment as to the likelihood of these hopes materializing?

Meanwhile, there’s another reality. Police are not obligated to protect you or your property. It’s their job, sure, but they can’t be sued for failing in that job. And, being figuratively handcuffed by their bosses – the mayors and governors that people elected to see to public safety – many cops are quitting a job that’s become nigh-on impossible in some places. As for the rest – who thinks things will simply click back to normal come November 4th?

Which brings us back to Mayor-Emeritus Mike Bloomberg. What’s his answer for the violence that’s hurting and killing innocents across the land, especially now that he’s thrown in with the Democrats (not that he was ever anything but…)? If the cops aren’t there to protect us in the face of a threat, what are we to do? Just hope and pray that we can sweet-talk a thug into not bashing our faces in or smashing our windows out? Good luck with that. Bug out for the suburbs and the exurbs, like so many millionaires and billionaires have? Most people don’t have that option.

People are flocking to acquire means of self-defense, despite Bloomberg’s admonition and the Left’s antagonism. And, not just conservative white racists, as the press would have us believe. The Bill of Rights is not woke. It does not engage in identity politics, or discriminate based on race, gender, or any of the other demographic markers that leftists obsess over. A couple weeks ago, a ‘black militia’ stood in armed, peaceful protest over the shooting of Breonna Taylor, who was killed in a no-knock drug raid gone wrong. Nearly three decades ago, armed Koreans stood on rooftops to protect their stores from rioters. And, here’s a dirty little secret: The first gun-control laws were passed to keep freed blacks unarmed. Yes, indeed, gun control was born of racism. Given the Democrats’ obsession with canceling anything with any vestige of “original sin,” we might think they’d walk away from gun control. Yeah, right.

We are witnessing a deluge of reasons to support guns as a means of self-defense in a time of chaos, anarchy, and potential societal collapse. An old adage tells us “when seconds count, the police are minutes away.” Now, the police may be hours away or, worse, nonexistent, practically speaking. If there ever was a time to dispense with the farcical notion that disarming the nation would make it safer, it is now.

Too bad the anti-gun zealots won’t heed a word of this.

• About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

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