Owning a firearm involves certain risks other activities don’t.

If you only consider firearms as a tool for practicing a sport, a government may as well suggest you find a sporting activity that doesn’t require a lethal weapon.

When sport shooters and hunters claim they stand by the second amendment because of their freedom to practice any sport or lifestyle they desire, they don’t realize that such an explanation makes them stand on rather fragile ground.
Maybe reading the second amendment again will help me explain the point I want to make.

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

If you are American, there’s a big chance you don’t fully appreciate your own constitution. You don’t know how lucky you are, how rare and precious such as gift is.

Those of us who suffer countries with constitutions that have little backbone know better.

Maybe in European countries or safer places around the world the right granted by the second amendment isn’t as precious.
But when the need for self defense is more urgent, when you truly understand the importance of being capable of fighting for your life, you see things clearly.

Sometimes things get bad enough that being a violent crime victim is no longer a far fetched possibility. Here in Argentina, since 2001, 9 out of 10 persons where victims of a violent crime at least once.

With such a situation, a weapon for self defense is a necessary tool for self defense. Hollywood hype aside, most of the time no one gets shot, but the firearms in the hands of a trained person becomes a deterrent criminals certainly notice and will usually prefer to flee.

That being said it’s still a lethal weapon and the user must be ready to take a life to protect his own one if the situation demands it.
In safer locations, a gun be considered and unnecessary every day carry item, even by gun enthusiasts.
Now we are entering territory were principle comes into play.

Why carry in places where crime isn’t that much of a problem?

Some will say that you never know when crime or some other emergency could occur, and I’ll quickly agree with that, but there another reason, maybe even more important: Because you can. Because it’s your right, and like my Social Studies teacher told me back in High school , rights are like muscles, if you don’t exercise them you end up loosing them.

If people don’t carry, if it’s not something socially accepted or something people grow used to, a bill or decree banning such practice may slip in.

Carrying even if you never use your gun your entire life still fulfills the purpose of exercising that right.
And then, there’s the very real, very practical reason of self defense.

I doubt there’s many places any more where people can be 100% certain they wont be hurt, mugged or raped.
It never happens to you, it always happens to someone else until one day you’re someone else. When that happens, a gun is like a fire extinguisher: You have it because just in case, you hope you never have to use it, but when you do you sure are glad you have it with you.

And its not about living in fear either. No way. It’s about living in peace because you know you are capable of defending yourself.
Other people that are as helpless as sheep will tell you they don’t fear a thing either.

The difference is that you don’t fear because you know what you are capable of, while the sheep doesn’t fear out of ignorance or because he sticks his head in the sand.

Even if you one day end up drawing your weapon in self defense, 9 out of 10 times the mere presence of the weapon is enough deterrent according to NRA statistics. I assure you, they are true. No one wants to get shot. And if someone is crazy enough, you have the tool to do something about it and defend yourself and your loved ones.

Own a gun and learn how to shoot it. Carry it and exercise your right.
Hope you never need it, and hope you have it when you do.

Fernando Aguirre