Our last line of defense

By Joseph Farah

Has this ever happened to you?

A man comes up to your house and starts beating on the doors and
windows. He kicks on the front door. He bangs on the back door. Maybe he
even picks up a makeshift battering ram attempting to break in.

It has happened to me. Your options?

    1. Call the cops. If you live in a rural area or an urban
      area, you could easily wait 45 minutes for a patrol car to arrive. If
      and when it does, you could easily be dead.

    2. You could open the door and try to reason with the intruder. I
      find this works best when you bring along your two best friends — Glock
      and Colt. (My two best friends used to be Smith & Wesson, but not
      anymore.)

One north Houston resident had an encounter like this
recently. It didn’t make headlines. It was a story relegated to the news
briefings section of the local papers. The homeowner shot the intruder
— dead.

This kind of thing actually happens every day. That’s why it’s not
front-page news. By definition, news is unusual. It’s unusual when an
intruder gets the better of an armed, law-abiding citizen. It’s unusual
when the cops prevent a crime. It’s not unusual at all when someone uses
a gun successfully to defend himself.

It’s also not unusual when an armed citizen performs heroic deeds and
does the work you usually associate with police work. That was the case
this week in Madisonville, Tenn., when a kidnap and rape suspect was
held at gunpoint until local sheriff’s deputies could take the man into
custody.

Here’s how that one worked: The citizen, whose identity wasn’t
released, heard his dogs barking, got his gun and went outside to
investigate. The resident saw Timothy Clayton Thompson, whom he
recognized from media reports as the suspect in an alleged rape. When
deputies arrived at the scene, they found Thompson handcuffed and
sitting on the ground. He’s accused of striking a 19-year-old woman over
the head, abducting her at knifepoint from a car wash, then raping her.
He has been previously convicted of sexual battery in Florida.

Aren’t you glad that unidentified hero had his gun and knew how to
use it?

I know you didn’t hear that story on the radio or see it on
television. It’s just one of those everyday, dog-bites-man stories. And
that’s the problem.

Because Americans don’t realize how many lives guns save, they are
becoming conditioned by hysterical, out-of-context media reports and
power-hungry politicians who would prefer you were dependent on them for
your very survival.

If you think I exaggerate, listen to this one: A politician in
Maryland wants to start a buy-back program for toy guns.

You heard me right — TOY guns!

Annapolis alderwoman Cynthia A. Carter proposed recently that the
city start a program to buy back water pistols, cap guns, and other toy
weapons to curb “violent behavior” among children. The first-term
Democrat argued that children “can’t distinguish between a real gun or a
play gun,” and said she would eventually like to make all toy guns
illegal. But until that happens, Carter said she will seek city funds or
private contributions to start the toy gun buy-back program.

What a great contribution to society!

This is the ultimate in symbolism over substance. But not enough
people in this country are laughing at such proposals. Too many of them
are being taken seriously. The war on guns by government and the
corporate-establishment media that serve the interests of big government
is escalating every day.

Most Americans are simply unaware of the facts — that guns save
lives, that they are a prerequisite to freedom and self-determination,
that confiscation of guns is the last step to slavery and genocide.

If you are one of the few who do get it, you better raise your voice
by several decibels. Because time’s running out.

Joseph Farah

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND. He is the author or co-author of 13 books that have sold more than 5 million copies, including his latest, "The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament." Before launching WND as the first independent online news outlet in 1997, he served as editor in chief of major market dailies including the legendary Sacramento Union. Read more of Joseph Farah's articles here.