Here's a notice to would-be thieves contemplating breaking into my home: I have several loaded firearms in my house and many of them are well within easy, non-gunlocked reach. If you break into my home, your chances of survival are slim; I'm a light sleeper, have an excellent guard dog, and will have no problem choosing my life and the lives of my family over your life.
Oh, and I'm not unique. In fact, tens of millions of Americans are equally prepared.
That's the beauty of living in America as opposed to, say, China, Russia or most European nations; our Constitution recognizes our God-given right to self-defense, self-protection and self-preservation. Oh, yeah -- and duck hunting, too.
It would be nice if gun-grabbing hysteriacs and the mainstream media -- so head over heels with its First Amendment rights -- would recognize, once in a while, the incredible societal benefits bestowed by the Second Amendment.
On Tuesday UPI published a story about a "wonderful" gunlock giveaway program in Maine -- a state with as many registered firearms as people, 1.3 million.
For me, the story started out typically -- that is, typical of the mainstream media's generally sniffy, hostile and contemptuous attitude towards gun rights and Americans who cherish them. The UPI writer, in the first paragraph, immediately described Mainers as "gun-toting," which is the press' equivalent to a four-letter-word for gun owners.
The article went on to "explain" the program, featuring details about the Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence initiative to give away gunlocks to gun-owning parents with children living at home.
So what, right? "It's a nice thing to do," isn't it?
No, it is never a "nice thing" to recommend that gun owners to do something that will end up getting them killed.
Huh? Don't gunlocks "protect" people? Yes, but mostly they protect criminals.
In fact, gunlocks kill innocent people because they prevent gun owners from rapidly accessing the best means of defense available to them against a home invader intent on raping, robbing and killing family members.
I don't know about you, but I don't keep a key ring on my skivvies when I'm in bed at night. Also, I'm not sure I'd be able to find the right key in the dark, in the middle of the night and in time to unlock my gun.
I guess I could just summon my personal police officer stationed 24/7 in my living room -- except that I, like everyone else, don't have a personal police officer stationed 24/7 in my living room.
That means, basically, I'm on my own and, hence, responsible for my own personal safety and that of my wife and children. So this whole notion that "gun locks save lives" is, in many respects, a farce perpetrated by the gun-grabbing left and impractical as a means to enhance "safety" around homes that include firearms.
When liberal gun grabbers hysterically proclaim that guns in a home increase chances that "the children" and adults will be harmed or killed, that is statistically true -- but they fail to mention that the numbers are pitifully low.
In fact, they fail to tell you that more people die in the home each year from accidents, falls, poisonings and drowning.
And they fail to recognize that guns in the home daily protect millions more people than they ever kill. In fact, folks run a bigger risk of being harmed or killed in a home without "gun-toting" adults.
Consequently, the Maine gunlock giveaway program is probably putting more Mainers at risk of harm than it is enhancing "safety" and personal protection.
I don't doubt that some people in these groups really do care about children. I don't doubt that they feel compelled to "help" us "protect" ourselves and our children.
But -- and this is tough for anti-gun hysteriacs to accept -- the millions of gun-owning parents and other adults don't need protection or safety "help" from the anti-gun crowd. That's why they got "help" from Mr. Smith, Mr. Wesson, and Mr. Colt.
The divide over guns in America is less one about constitutionalism than one about safety. I agree with the liberal viewpoint that gun use and ownership should be responsible and safe. In fact, I doubt few conservatives disagree with that.
But career criminals have often said that they will go out of their way to avoid armed citizens. And, it is not a coincidence to me that the national crime rate has fallen dramatically since most states have now passed concealed carry legislation.
Promoting laws and measures that reduce our ability to protect ourselves is not only irresponsible, it is anti-safety-minded and deadly.