2A: Group or individual right?

[CompanyFirstSergeant]

17. At my age...

...I have seen too much to walk around afraid for my own personal safety.

Things happen in life, and there will come a time, in everyone's life, where that 'big one' will be just too big to fight.

And I pray every night that the 'big one' comes - for all my loved ones and friends - in the form of a really long night's sleep, somewhere in the triple digits of age.

But that's not reality.

My philosophy is that at a certain age, it's time to switch over to concern for one's self to concern for the younger generation, and to at least help them get to as old as I am, hopefully much older.

For some, that means working (or at least hoping) to rid your surroundings of the 'tools' of violence.

I respect that, actually. I do.

Do not own a weapon if you do not support the ownership of weapons.

Live in a location that prohibits the ownership of weapons if you support government restrictions of weapons.

Many people have done exactly that. They live in places - some very lovely places such as gentrifying Brooklyn - where weapons are all but entirely banned.

So much so, that it seems as if they live in a weapons free environment.

But I also know, in reality, that it is folly. It is an illusion of safety. I would be doing my family, and especially my children, a disservice of epic proportions if I was not able to protect them from as many threats as I could reasonably prepare for.

1. I have simplified the threats into two general categories. Natural and man-made.

Natural disasters, economic melt-downs and other large scale regional or national issues are not the topic here.

As for man-made threats...

Considering where the world seems to be headed, there are two types of people we need to be concerned with as it relates to the ability to defend against predators.

I know there are many other people on earth , but consider only...

B. Two categories of people:

In one group are the people who have a reasonably comfortable life with, at minimum; acceptable housing, sufficient food, workable transportation, some savings, and more importantly, a liberal (in the true sense of the word) worldview on freedom of religion, speech, women's equality and personal safety.

And in the other group are those that would fight to take it away.

C. Of the latter group, are those that:

- Would fight to take what we have through political and economic manipulation of the system, by suppressing wages, unions, the media, worker protection and the availability of rewarding, well-paying jobs.

- Would use violence to achieve political or economic objectives. Anything from street violence to full-on Charlie Hebdo terrorism.

For the above two threats, we only truly have two tools at our disposal...

D. Two tools that are guaranteed to us, not only by the Constitution, by by god herself.

- The right of free speech/assembly/religion.

- The right to the tools of self defense.

Unfortunateley there are some that would work to give up, not only their own rights, but other people's rights to half of the above.

That's is what I find unacceptable.