Hawkins: Speak Softly and Carry a Good Gun

As statues continue to be pulled down, buildings and vehicles continue to be targeted, and police remain under attack by angry rioters, it is important to speak softly and carry a good gun.

The point is not about carrying a gun for offensive purposes but carrying one for self-defense, for ourselves and our families, just as our Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the Second Amendment.

If you think I am forcing my own meaning on the Second Amendment please consider Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in McDonald v. Chicago (2010). Alito took the opportunity of writing that opinion to stress that “self-defense” is “the central component” of the Second Amendment.

My mind was drawn to this important topic on Monday when Rush Limbaugh Show guest host Ken Matthews described the Second Amendment as a safeguard for rights that allow the weak to defend themselves when stronger or more numerous individuals attack.

He said, “I always joke that people are so polite at a gun range. And they are. You know why? Because everybody is equal.”

He continued:

You want an equalizer, just take the Bill of Rights. That is a great equalizer … for any body, regardless of color or gender, that is the true equalizer. The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, the First Amendment, free speech, free assembly, freedom to protest peacefully, freedom to worship who you want, everyone should have that right. Yet, when you go to some of these cities, some of these places that are burning to the ground are “gun-free zones.”

Matthews then highlighted the gun laws in New York City, California, and other Democrat-run areas, noting that law-abiding citizens in those places have seen their Second Amendment rights curtailed.

Chicago is a Democrat-run city in a state full of gun control, yet Breitbart News reported that 100 people were shot in Chicago over Father’s Day Weekend 2020 alone. Fourteen of those victims died from their wounds.

When police are minutes away, maybe more, the self-defense tools you have within arms reach are all you count on.

The Second Amendment is a bulwark for law-abiding citizens in days such as these, especially in locations where the threat of violence in the air is palpable and single mothers fear for their children, older citizens are too afraid to go to the store, and almost anyone thinks twice before venturing out alone.

Gun sales — particularly handgun sales — are through the roof because people are seeking a means of self-defense.

If you are among those rushing to the store for a gun, be sure to get a good one and carry it softly. By that I mean, do not buy one to be an aggressor or agitator, buy one to keep close at hand so you can defend your life and the lives of your family if trouble descends upon you in these crazy times. Follow the laws of your state and take the gun to the range so you are familiar with it and can depend on it if under duress.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.