By now, it’s likely you’ve seen the gun-wielding couple out in front of their home as Black Lives Matter protesters walked by. If you haven’t yet, I’d check out the more detailed rundown by my colleague Elizabeth Vaughn.
I want to say that this is the new America, but it’s not the new America that you might be thinking.
To me, it’s not sad that American homeowners are standing out in front of their property with rifles and handguns. It’s, of course, sad that they have to, but there’s a part of me that takes a modicum of pride in watching as a husband and wife stand in front of their home displaying their ability to use deadly force. This is a right of ours and seeing it exercised when it needs to be is nice.
No, the “new America” that I’m sad about is that this couple who had just watched weeks of protests turn into riots, looting, vandalism, autonomous zones, extreme violence, and chants of eating the rich, them standing in front of their home with firearms automatically wins them villain status by the mainstream culture.
This is entirely unfair.
This was a mob who was there to protest in front of the Mayor’s private residence to demand a resignation. You do not go to someone’s home and maintain the “peaceful” status. Someone’s private residence is where their family and private property are. If you show up en masse, that’s already an implied threat.
Especially this one.
This mob’s purpose, we’re told, was to demand the Mayor’s resignation. Fine. You can demand her resignation with protest but do so in front of City Hall. Going to the Mayor’s personal residence is now taking it from being a matter of local politics to a personal issue. Going to someone’s private property makes it personal.
What’s more, Black Lives Matter protests have demonstrated repeatedly that they’re only a few instigators away from a violent riot. This is surely heartbreaking for those who have very real things to say about very real problems, but the sad fact is that there are people who don’t want to talk, they just want to destroy, and they infect too many of the legitimate protests. After weeks of hearing hard-left chants about the rich, hatred of white people, and more…wielding a gun in front of your home isn’t all that crazy.
I have some gripes, of course. That couple hasn’t really been through much training by the looks of things, but other than that, this couple that the media is currently condemning was perfectly in the right to do what they were doing. I would have done it, too…albeit from a slightly better position.
To be clear…
Common sense should have come in to play here for everyone. Even if the protesters had every intention to just protest peacefully, they should not have been shocked to find firearms displayed at their arrival at private residences. They’ve taught people to be wary of them and they should understand the rules when it comes to people’s homes.
A neighborhood, private property, or a home is not where you mess around. It’s one thing to burn down a store belonging to a corporation, or vandalizing statues. It’s a whole different ballgame when it comes to the place where people’s wives, children, pets, and things are.
(READ: A Warning to Rioters and Antifa Members Threatening to Come to the Suburbs)
The Second Amendment is often looked down on by the elitist left and the moral busybody who deals in ignorance as much as she does in outrage, but the truth is that the couple holding guns in front of their home was a very clear warning that, like it or not, those protesters understood.
