A Rifle Behind Every Blade of Grass

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass." - often attributed to Isoroku Yamamoto 

In the wake of my previous post about the suit against the City of Columbia's temporary weapons ban, I've had quite a few conversations about generally carrying concealed weapons and being a CWP holder.

Usually, when I have these conversations, I am going back and forth with people who are against carrying handguns. I mean, it does no good to just sit around and talk with people who agree with you. That's boring. In these conversations, it's hard to break through to an anti-gun person who simply has their mind made up that guns are bad. For instance, I've had people compare being a CWP holder to being a drunk driver on the theory that there will ultimately be a gun-related accident. You can't really reach those people, or at least I haven't figured out how.

However, there are a lot of people who don't have their views so set in stone. I'm hoping to reach those people.

I've also been thinking about the unarmed Marines who were shot last week in Chattanooga, TN. It boggles my mind that the United States Marine Corps has to try and hide while calling the local sheriff's office to deal with a crazy ISIS-inspired shooter who arrives at their doorstep.

So what do these carrying concealed have to do with the shooting in Chattanooga?

First, I think we would all agree that the current threat from ISIS and other similar terrorist organizations (include the crazy white supremacist Dylan Roof, too) is a wide threat. The list of potential targets is vast. ISIS has specifically called on "lone-wolf" style attacks to sporadically and seemingly at random, attack targets of opportunity here in the United States.

Law enforcement cannot be everywhere all the time. They aren't designed to be an omnipresent force. So when the threat is a nebulous threat that can strike with small attacks across a wide range of targets, you have to have a defense that counters that threat.

Enter the private, armed citizen. You go about your routine business all day long, going to work, the store, and other errands. The more good citizens we have who are capable of responding to threats, the better our defense will be. You're going to be somewhere, so make your presence a small part of the network of defense. If a normal civilian had been at that mall in Chattanooga, he or she might have been able to stop the attacker.

You are already at the scene of wherever you are. Rather than being a bystander who is forced to dial 911 on their iPhone and wait for the police, be a first responder. Have the ability to protect yourself and others. You don't have to be a bystander - you have the choice to be a first responder.

Now, this means that you have to know how to properly, safely, and competently use the firearm that you decide to carry. You can't just go buy a gun and say Mission Accomplished. You have to train. You have to be prepared. You have to know what the heck you're doing. Just buying a guitar does not make you a musician. You have to learn how to play it.

If more people carried concealed weapons in a responsible manner, we would be better prepared to deal with these sort of widely scattered attacks that happen with no warning. You're already there. Decide if you're going to be part of the background or part of the solution.

I need to get the range again.