People say the most revealing things during stressful times. Sure, people sometimes say things that they don’t mean, too, because they’re stressed out of their minds, but sometimes a stressful situation lets out a Freudian slip, and we hear what’s really going on in their mind.
That appears to have been what happened recently during a CNN interview which took place during the hunt for the Maine mass shooter recently. Chris Enloe writes,
“It’s very unnerving right now,” [local resident identified as] Cory responded.
When [CNN senior correspondent Shimon] Prokupecz noted that police officers have been canvasing the neighborhood with their long guns visible, Cory interrupted the reporter to explain why he finds comfort in their firepower — and why he wishes he had some of his own.
“That actually made me feel better, seeing the cops coming around here — that makes me feel a million times better,” he said. “And the situation like this, I wish I had a firearm.”
There you have it: a true statement that I’m sure that CNN wishes they could have edited out before it hit the airwaves.
During stressful times, people want firearms. Not because most people want to go on a shooting rampage like the mentally troubled shooter in Maine did, but to protect themselves and their families (Cory mentioned his two daughters) from those who would use violence to get what they want or who would just do violence for violence’s sake.
See, anti-2A zealots try to pretend that law enforcement can be everywhere at once to protect us (and, truthfully, many of them want, even crave, that kind of government control of their lives). The fact of the matter is, though, that there aren’t enough law enforcement officers to prevent people who want to do evil from getting or making firearms and doing terrible, horrible things.
Even the most totalitarian regimes with the most control over their populace still had to deal with crime. They couldn’t stop it.
So, it’s up to you to be ready and able to protect yourself and your family. Because no matter how quickly that you call the police, they can’t get there soon enough to stop an attacker if they’ve already decided that they want to hurt you. It’s up to you to be able to defend yourself and your family.