The fight for gun rights is not simply about being able to carry firearms. It is more than exercising your right to defend your life and property.
These are the areas we tend to focus on as gun owners. But the fight for the right to keep and bear arms is much deeper than it would seem, which is why the authoritarians in our midst desperately want us to be disarmed.
A friend of mine wrote a profound post on X in which he responded to another user claiming he was living in “terror” because he owns firearms. “Don’t [gun owners] sit up all night with their guns in their hands looking around nervously at every door and window?” the user wrote.
Carl responded, expertly laying out what the ability to defend oneself with a firearm truly means. He explained how it represents a sense of “personal autonomy and equality,” especially “in a world where violence can come unexpectedly”:
Philosophically, self-defense with a gun underscores the idea that every individual has the right to exist free from fear, regardless of external threats. It is a practical expression of the belief that one’s life is worth defending with the most effective tools available. A firearm, when used responsibly, levels the playing field between the strong and the weak, the many and the few. It shifts the balance of power, ensuring that even those who are physically disadvantaged or outnumbered can protect themselves and their loved ones from harm.
In terms of equality, gun ownership and the right to self-defense transcend socioeconomic, racial, and gender barriers. For historically marginalized communities, the ability to own a firearm can be a means of safeguarding both personal and communal security in the face of systemic injustices. It is an assertion that their lives hold equal value and that they, too, deserve the right to defend themselves against violence or oppression.