Gun owners are often asked: "Why do you own guns?" as though doing so were some kind of oddity or aberration. In fact, responsible gun ownership has been a part of this country from its inception, and the fact that every law-abiding citizen can own guns is an integral part of our heritage. Some countries may grudgingly allow certain people to own guns (under very restrictive conditions, of course); in America, it is our indisputable right to do so. It's the reason we never need fear tyranny. It's odd that the people who worry about America becoming a dictatorship are the same ones clamoring to remove our best way to prevent it.

Especially in today's world, the illusion of permanent safety having been ripped away by the events of 9/11, gun ownership is a right more people ought to practice. We now see that violent conflict is really the norm in the world, and only fools would pretend that the same bad things happening elsewhere can't happen here. We must face the fact that we cannot always depend on the government to defend our lives and property. The authorities can't always be there to protect us from harm, nor should they be. So how do we ensure our safety? There are only two possible answers. One is a pervasive police presence -- cops on every corner, guards in every building, monitors in every home. I don't think the remedy to a tough world is a police state. The other answer is a little of the old self-reliance for which America was once famous.

Unfortunately, the tendency of government is to become more invasive and stifling, encroaching on our rights and relieving us of our responsibilities. The response to any perceived problem is to create more laws -- along with more government agencies to oversee them, and more government bureaucrats to enforce them. Naturally, some criminal will always find a way around the new laws, even if it's something as simple as carrying a hidden gun into a "gun-free zone." The response? More laws, more bureaucracy, and more restrictions on the rights of law-abiding citizens, making them more dependent on the government. And just when you need help the most, the government is least likely to be there to hold your hand.

One never knows when local order might break down due to a natural or man-made disaster such as a terrorist attack, earthquake, flood, riot, mass blackout, disease outbreak, or the dead rising from their graves to seek the flesh of the living. As test after test of our emergency response systems (including actual emergencies, with the exception of a zombie apocalypse) has shown, emergency personnel will be overwhelmed by a real disaster. Rapid transportation is often impossible. Fire, police and ambulance services will likely be unable to get immediate help to all who need it. Criminals will sieze every opportunity to rob, rape, murder and terrorise innocent people. Don't say such things can't happen. They have happened, they are happening somewhere right now, and they will continue to happen in the future. So who's going to protect you, your family and your home until order is restored, however long that might take?

Well, you, of course. It's your responsibility, your duty, your right. Don't let anyone take it away from you.