If The Second Amendment Isn’t About Self-Defense, Why Are We Seeing Record Gun Sales In America?

It's hard to remember the beginning of the lockdown, since it seems like so much has happened recently in our country. In April, we thought our biggest concerns were the violent criminals released from prison, and police departments being ordered to stand down on crime due to the pandemic. This set off a massive spike in gun sales starting in March, and the riots have not slowed the trend.

Protesters have been calling for cities to “defund the police” as you watched looters, rioters, and criminals steal, assault, and kill innocent people. The police have either been ordered to step back or in some cases, have actually resigned or refuse to go to work. This leaves the average American wondering, in a time of nationwide unrest, how can I feel safe? For most people, the answer is clearly by owning a gun.

Now, I will add a disclaimer here: while you have a constitutional right to own a gun, and it's an excellent form of self-defense, they're extremely dangerous weapons. If you intend to buy a gun, make time to get licensed and learn to use your weapon safely.

How the Second Amendment Protects Your Rights 

If you’re a citizen who respects the law and cares about self-defense, you’d naturally look to arm yourself against any possible threat, especially if it also means protecting your own family. Fortunately for you, since you’re in America, the Second Amendment protects your fundamental right to self-defense.

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

The Second Amendment serves two fundamental purposes, according to the founders: it allows citizens to defend their person and property with a weapon, and by extension, allows Americans to form a civilian army, or "militia", in the event of internal unrest or external invasion. We know that guns are effective against crime: the CDC has estimated that guns prevent up to 2 million crimes per year in the US.

The founders knew that the right to defend oneself against violence was fundamental to their nation – which is why it's the second amendment. Yet it's common nowadays to act as if the second amendment is passé, a right reserved for the time of muskets and cannon fire. We also hear a lot of talk about how it's just too easy to get a gun in America, and we need better gun regulation. Let's break through the noise.

The Police Have No Obligation To Protect You

Gun control advocates like to bring up the objection of “public safety” against legal gun ownership. They argue that no one should own firearms because of the risk they pose to public safety because “guns can be used against innocent bystanders.” But if it’s a question about public safety, let’s be reminded that the mob of rioters used fists, rocks, and planks of wood to pummel, attack, and assault the innocent. 

Rioters used fists, rocks, and wooden planks to assault the innocent. 

These are all weapons just as capable of injuring and killing an innocent person. In these situations, it’s the weakest of us who will be the ones most vulnerable to violence. Take, for example, the case of that young woman in Rochester, NY who was attacked by six men when she tried to stop them from looting a store. In an interview with the press, the young woman’s mother said she was frustrated that the police didn’t respond to her daughter’s 911 call for help. Was this an egregious dereliction of duty on the part of the police? Unfortunately no. The courts have ruled again and again that the police have no obligation to protect you from harm. So it's not realistic to expect the police to serve as our bodyguards.

We the People Are Sick and Tired of Crime

What we’re witnessing with the rise of firearms sales in America is simply the willingness of rational people to assume the personal responsibility of defending their own safety and property. These are people who are tired of being told they don’t need a gun because they can just call the police in the event of a crime. Now they’re denied even that when they hear that society should also “defund the police.” 

Logic says, “If I can’t depend on the police, then I have to depend on myself to keep my family safe from criminals.” And fortunately, in America, law-abiding citizens are guaranteed the right to bear arms for their own protection because of the Second Amendment. 

If I can’t depend on the police, then I have to depend on myself to keep my family safe from criminals.

Harsh Gun Laws Actually Make It Very Difficult To Buy a Gun

Unfortunately in America, there are those like the governor of New York who would trample on this right to self-defense by preventing the sale of firearms during times of crisis. This is just the latest example in a decades-long campaign against self-defense. We constantly hear how this or that shooting could have been prevented if our gun laws were only more strict. Many people believe this. They believe guns are only a weapon used by mass murderers to kill innocent people.

Except now, in the face of societal collapse and a severe outbreak of crime, many anti-gun voters are rushing out to buy their own weapons. To their horror, it's not so easy to waltz into a gun store and run out with your own arsenal. Stories like this one have popped up across the country, where pro-gun control people are surprised (and sometimes angry) to discover how difficult it actually is to buy a gun.

Closing Thoughts

Perhaps these events will serve as a wake-up call to the Americans who think the Second Amendment is a thing of the past. Our constitutional liberties are just as valid today as they were during the founding of America. We clearly can't rely on the police to defend us, and we have the right and the duty to protect ourselves as Americans. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “important principles may and must be inflexible.” Never is the Second Amendment more important than during times of public unrest.