"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
--Edmund Burke

"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."
--Col. Jeff Cooper

Mid-2008 in York, PA a man named Brian Fentiman came to the defense of two strangers, his fiancé, and then was forced to defend himself from a crazed attacker. He has written an article called "Guns in the Hands of Good People - A testament to 2nd Amendment rights". It's a compelling article on the responsibilities of CCW holders, and it reminded me of the above quotes. Here's a taste from his expose:

"June 28, 2008, was a defining moment in my life. It was the day I shot and killed a man in the defense of my life and the lives of others. We all have defining moments. They might not be as tragic as taking another man's life, but they are events that change the way we look at things -- or even, perhaps, how we live our lives."

It's a compelling read. Give it a look-see if you have a chance.

Also, I send words of thanks to all the CCW holders out there. It's a huge responsibility coupled with the risk of prosecution even when you've done everything right. Kudos to you all.

It's a common theme among liberals and liberal government to take away an individuals right of self-protection, and proclaim the best method of dealing with an assault is to "give the assailant what he asks for, and he will leave you alone". This sort of advice in the best of cases is not only counter-intuitive, it fails to recognize that there are people in society who are more than just violent opportunists, they are criminally insane. Case in point:

Man Beheaded on Greyhound Bus
Screaming passengers fled in terror from a Greyhound bus as an unidentified fellow passenger suddenly stabbed a man sleeping next to him, decapitated him and waved the severed head at horrified witnesses standing outside.

"He didn't do anything to provoke the guy. The guy just took a knife out and stabbed him, started stabbing him like crazy and cut his head off," said Garnet Caton, 26, a passenger on the Edmonton-to-Winnipeg bus.

Granted, there is very little chance that the victims carrying of a firearm would have allowed him to save himself in this case, but what about other passengers? Would the killer have attempted such an attack had he known there was a probability that other passengers had concealed firearms? Even if he had, wouldn't an alert passenger have been able to stop the attack, possibly saving the victims life? Yes, a lot of "if's", but at least it's a chance.

As people are continually conditioned to allow violent predatory criminals to do as they please, there are fewer out there who possess the mental fortitude to rise up and stand in defense of themselves and their fellow man. If we won't stand to protect ourselves, then who will?