Modern Proof the Second Amendment is not an Anachronism

What is more fun than bashing gun owners? Besides promoting and passing unconstitutional legislation that "takes away" a God-given right codified in the Second Amendment? Nothing, apparently.

The ACLU, "bastion of our civil liberties," states that the Second Amendment is a "collective right," and now applies only to a state having a National Guard. Other opponents state that it is an anachronism, hopelessly outdated. After all, they suggest, "no one should be allowed to have nuclear bombs in their possession," displaying their terrible ignorance of diction by confusing "arms" and "ordnance."

Republican candidates constantly try to soften their anti-gunning views by saying "this won't affect deer hunting," as if the Second Amendment was about hunting.

Others say our society has evolved where police protect us so we no longer need guns, because guns are "bad." I know we should all hold hands, because if we are holding hands, we can't be holding a gun, but this month we sadly commemorate a recent court ruling that showed us one reason why we have a Second Amendment.

Simply put, the police have No Duty to Protect Us.

That's right - they don’t even have to come when you call during that crisis, assuming you could get to the phone. You hear that window downstairs breaking at 2am, you lock your bedroom door and frantically call 911, you wait for the cavalry to arrive. But according to the law, they don't have to come, and there is nothing you can do about it.

The government and police owe no legal duty to protect individual citizens from criminal attack. The highest court in the District of Columbia stated the “fundamental principle that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen.”

Twenty-two years ago this month, an awful criminal act was committed. In response, the courts committed an even worse act.

Early morning on March 16, 1975, two thugs broke down the back door of a three-story home in Washington, D.C. Three women and a child shared this residence. One woman was attacked and raped on the second floor, while her housemates on the third floor heard her screams and called the police.

Since the first call was assigned a low priority, the responding officers left quickly after no one answered when they knocked on the door.

The women frantically called the police a second time. The dispatcher promised help would come—but no officers were even dispatched.

A long time after things went quiet, the third-story women came down to aid their roommate. Only, the attackers weren't gone. They kidnapped, robbed, raped, and beat all three women over a fourteen hour period.

The women later sued the city and the D.C. police for negligently failing to protect them or even to answer their second call, but the court held that government had no duty to respond to their call or to protect them.

Now, let's just skip the fact that there isn't always a police officer available when you are being attacked by a thug. The police don't even have to respond to your call. What is so anachronistic about the Second Amendment now? What does it have to do with hunting now? What does it have to do with the National Guardsmen and Guardswomen assigned overseas?

Nothing - as always.

The Second Amendment is about your right to protect yourself. The Founding Fathers' believed you had a right - and a corresponding responsibility - to defend yourself and those who depend on you.

So the Second Amendment reminds (not assigns) you that you have the right to protect yourself and others.

By the way, to those who think militias are a thing of the past, who protected neighborhoods right after Hurricane Katrina? The New Orelans Police Department? FEMA? The National Guard? Nope. It was gun-owning citizenry keeping crime out of their neighborhoods by patrolling day and night. It was gun-owning citizenry acting in a militia-capacity.

Now, anti-gunners will take these arguments and try to pervert it right away. They'll label it as an attack on police officers or some such thing. It isn't. I am thankful for the police who protect my city. Buy I also know it is ultimately my responsibility to protect my family and myself. And I know that I have a God-given right to do so, regardless of what the anti-gunners say. You do, too.