OPINION:
Over the weekend, so-called protesters in Seattle, Washington, descended on the suburbs, demanding that local residents give up their private property. As the mob continues its efforts to defund the police and violence continues, with a member of Congress even calling for more unrest in the streets, America is clearly in a low-grade civil war.
Or, as Attorney General Bill Barr said recently, far-left groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter are engaging in urban guerrilla warfare.
Moving out of large cities like New York, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, St. Louis and Baltimore, radicals are terrorizing peace-loving Americans in the residential neighborhoods of suburbs and smaller cities and towns like Austin, Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins, Nevada City and even Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
The worst is yet to come as law enforcement officers are further demoralized — while politicians are often even taking the side of the criminals — and media elites and Democrat leaders ignore, downplay or lie about the violence.
While some remain skeptical about the threat, each news cycle brings more shocking stories of mayhem and murder like that of a 24-year-old Indiana mother shot dead for telling protesters that all lives matter. Or New York worshippers verbally and physically assaulted after a violent mob surrounded their church. Or a 14-year-old girl in Harlem beaten in broad daylight while police could only stand by and watch after the mob prevented their intervention. Or a Virginia woman told by dispatchers to call City Hall because police weren’t authorized to help when she and her child were trapped in their car by protesters.
So what are law-abiding citizens to do when caught in the mob’s crosshairs — or our homes and businesses are looted and destroyed by protesters who are also rioters? And what can we do to defend ourselves, our families, neighborhoods and the nation we love?
To begin, we should admit that we are under attack and this is an emergency situation. And that there are forces among us using fascistic and revolutionary tactics to destabilize America and force onto us their revolutionary ideology.
Then, we should recall the words of Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Remember World War II? There was a critical point when it became clear that appeasement wouldn’t work and that the good guys had to stand up to the bad guys and stop them.
America rose to the occasion then, and now we must do so again. But instead of bad guys overseas in faraway lands, they’re here on home soil — marching through our streets and threatening our lives and property.
For good to triumph, however, it takes more than just good guys taking a stand. It’s only when good guys get good training — and then take their stand — that they win.
So how do patriotic Americans get the good training that we need to protect our families and neighborhoods?
First, we have to get educated and know what the U.S. Constitution says about our right to defend ourselves and our communities. Then, we have to get physically trained to know how to exercise our rights and properly assess and handle threats — including firearms training. Finally, we have to get the legal protection we will need in the likely event we face criminal and civil action — even when we do everything correctly.
Some may think this is about taking the law into our own hands, but we’re not talking about vigilantism. Rather, this is about doing exactly what our Founding Fathers intended in dealing with existential threats. The Second Amendment isn’t about hunting deer and pheasants; it reflects the Founders’ belief that self-defense is the first law of nature.
While there are many qualified experts teaching gun training and self-defense today, the critical component missing from most courses is the intellectual ammunition and philosophical framework established in the U.S. Constitution. Here, we clearly see our moral duty and responsibility to defend ourselves, families and communities against violent agitators. And it’s here that we more fully understand and learn to exercise our cherished rights.
Sadly, recent events show that many elected officials prefer to appease and mollify the mob. And we watch as police officials are too often told to “stand down,” instead of stand up to the bullies, all while the media rarely report on events accurately.
This means it’s up to us — liberty-loving Americans from sea to shining sea — to become well-trained men and women bravely standing up to evil while exercising our God-given right to self-protection.
A wise man once said, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions, a simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences” (Proverbs 22:3, NLT). Let’s not be fools, but instead be prepared when the mob comes marching.
• Rick Green is founder of Constitution Coach, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides free access to emergency citizen defense training and equips Americans to understand their legal, moral and physical defense rights.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.