Wasted Memory

When Melissa Hortman was assassinated, I don't recall seeing a single right-winger celebrating it. When Ruth Bader Ginsberg died, I saw maybe three or four people joking about it. When Joe Biden got diagnosed with cancer, I saw a small handful of right-wingers joke about it, but most just wondered how know one knew about it and accused the Democrats of covering it up. I have never seen anything like the Left's reaction to Charlie Kirk's murder. The sheer scale of it is rivaled only by the hundreds of tweets I saw calling for Donald Trump's assassination on Election Day.

I don't support political violence, nor do I believe the people I disagree with should be silenced. However, I do believe in the right to self defense. After seeing so many people celebrate the murder of Charlie Kirk, if you see this as an opportunity to push for gun control, you are as out-of-touch as you are delusional. I will not surrender my ability to defend myself now knowing that I'm surrounded by people who would kill me to silence me if they thought I was defenseless. I will not disarm myself and put myself and my family at the mercy of those who believe killing someone who's trying to have an honest debate in good faith is something to cheer on. I will not be at the mercy of those who believe I deserve to die for disagreeing with them. There are over one hundred million gun owners in this country. The vast majority of them own guns with the hope of never needing to use them. These are law-abiding people who understand the law can't always protect them, and should they come under threat of violent people, they are prepared to use violence to defend themselves from that threat. Political violence may get worse, and though I do not wish for it, I choose to be prepared for it if it arrives at my door. Understand that I don't want to be violent, but I also refuse to be a victim. I do not seek conflict, but I am prepared for those who would bring it to me. Only a fool would surrender their guns to those who want them dead.