In our own hands

Okay ... a friend recently linked an article to me from CNN about a man in Texas that shot two people that had apparently broken into his neighbor's house. (CNN Story)

The article mentions at one point that activists were upset that the shooter "took the law into his own hands" .... Well ... for those of you that may have forgotten, the power of law comes from the citizens. It is both our right and our responsibility as citizens to uphold the law as well as to protect ourselves. Some of you might want to look over that last sentence again ... paying particular attention to the last two words 'protect ourselves'.

Now ... I'll admit that the article does raise some questions as to whether the shooter was really protecting himself (or his neighbor's property) given that it says that he shot both men in the back. But I have to assume in some regard that despite the apparent lean of the article the man did in fact act in self defence, or was at least able to convince a Texas grand jury that he was.

You'll hear that phrase 'took the law into their own hand' in any situation in which someone uses force (particularly deadly force) to protect themselves (or their property) or someone else. The truth is, however, that self defense is not taking the law into our own hands ... it's not just our RIGHT to do it ... it is our responsibility to do it.

Some people seem to believe that we're just supposed to let criminals break the law and then get the police to go after them. Bearing in mind that the police are, by nature of the law, unable to get involved until AFTER a law is broken. These people seem to essentially believe that it is the responsibility of Government to protect us in all situations .... well I hope you never find yourself staring down the barrel of a home invader's handgun waiting for the Government to come protect you.

The better armed and self defended the population is ... the lower the crime rate. This can be seen in several studies done over the last 10-20 years ... areas in which the laws are more lenient on gun ownership and self defense generally have less crime than areas that regulate these things more strictly.

Every citizen of this country has a hand in enforcing the law ... if less people chose to surrender that right to the government this country would likely be a much safer place to live.