Alaska is a big place - a huge place - and law enforcement is thin on the ground. Out here in the countryside, the only law enforcement is the Alaska State Police, and like many law enforcement agencies around the country, they are short-staffed. Because of that, last Tuesday, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly, meeting in Trapper Creek, passed a resolution encouraging Mat-Su residents to arm themselves.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted this week to encourage all eligible residents to own firearms and ammunition, as residents express concerns about crime and low Alaska State Troopers staffing in the area. 

Assembly members Ron Bernier and Dee McKee cosponsored the resolution, which passed unopposed during a Tuesday meeting.

Some residents expressed concern at the Assembly meeting, questioning how the resolution would increase safety. Bernier said the resolution is meant to help deter crime throughout the borough, with a focus on outlying communities.

At a public meeting last summer in Trapper Creek, state Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell explained that funding was not the cause for the lack of trooper presence. Cockrell said that the department had trouble recruiting talent, despite offering a significant sign-on bonus. At that time, 11 positions in the troopers’ B Detachment covering the borough remained open. Troopers at that meeting noted that there may only be five officers on duty to cover the detachment, an area slightly larger than the state of Arkansas.

Spoiler: This is Alaska. Pretty much everyone is already armed. Out here in the Borough, even the hippies have guns. It's not so much that we're worried about crime. It's that one never knows when a moose might get aggressive or a hungry black bear might decide to take a foraging run in your pantry. We all have guns, and what's more, we know how to use them.

Alaska, sure, like any place, has its bad actors. But it's been shown time and time again how armed citizens are one of the best deterrents for crime, and not just here in the Great Land.

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The resolution, which you can read in its entirety here, states in conclusion (you folks in the Lower 48, feel free to borrow this as an example):

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough encourages residents to take advantage of the many resources available for instruction on proper maintenance, carrying, and use of firearms.

There are such resources, even here, where humans, in general, are thin on the ground in plenty of places; there is a private range up the highway, for instance, that offers instruction, including the required course for an Alaska concealed-carry permit; Alaska is a Constitutional Carry state, but the permit's a good idea if you travel outside, as quite a few other states recognize the Alaska permit.

Alaskans tend to be pretty practically-minded people. It would be difficult to live out here if one didn't have a good solid grounding in practical matters. Taking responsibility for your own safety, be that from two-legged or four-legged predators, is part of that. That's probably why you don't see many carjackings or home invasions in the Great Land; getting shot, after all, can ruin a criminal's whole day, and in Alaska, betting on your chosen target being unarmed isn't really the smart way to go.

It ought to be that way everywhere, of course. It's not, but it should be. The reason why is something known as the Second Amendment.