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Courtesy of Oleg Volk
In the wild, large predators like wolves and lions tend to select old or sick animals from the herd to attack. The reason is simple, these are the weakest animals, increasing the chance of a successful kill and decreasing the chance for injury to the predator.
It is no different with human predators. Muggers, robbers, carjackers, home invaders, etc. all look for the easiest target that will give them the greatest chance of success with the least chance of injury to themselves. This is demonstrated by the recent increase in crimes against the elderly in the Columbus area, rising from an average of 55-60 incidents per month to a reported 110 for April (nearly double).
There has been a lot of concern that the poor economy and high unemployment rate will lead to desperate people turning to crime, and this is an indicator that those concerns seem to be justified. It would also stand to reason that a novice criminal would do everything they could to increase their odds of success and take fewer risks, and this includes targeting senior citizens.
This trend, coupled with fears of new gun control restrictions and further economic complications leading to fewer police officers, is what has lead to the steadily increasing numbers of concealed handgun licenses and firearms sales. It is a natural instinct for those who feel vulnerable to take steps to increase their safety, and one of those steps often involved buying a gun and learning how to use it.
Very few people in their seventies or eighties can fight off a mugger who is in his prime if they are unarmed. But give that person a defensive firearm, and suddenly the odds for survival jump significantly. Firearms are known as equalizers for a reason. An armed senior citizen is more than capable of defeating a criminal attack by a much younger and stronger assailant.
The gun grabbers will tell you that the only purpose a firearm has is to take lives, but they completely ignore the other side of the equation, that in the hands of a law abiding citizen a firearm might very well save a life.
The right to live your life unmolested does not end when your AARP membership comes in the mail. A gun in the hands of a trained senior helps defend that right to life.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Armed customer stops robbery
- Austin: Women on Target: Preparing women to defend Liberty
- Boston: Derrick Z. Jackson’s hot air, will Obama listen?
- Charlotte: The gun debate (explained for liberals)
- DC: How would Churchill vote in Virginia's Democratic primary for Governor on Tuesday?
- Denver: Holocaust Museum shooting short-circuited by a gun
- Los Angeles: Pocket knife ban models the gun control formula.
- Minneapolis: Dirty Deeds in Virginia
- National: What could 'hate crime' bill mean for gun owners?
- Seattle: Political hypocrisy and social bigotry swirling around edges of PrideFest
- St. Louis: When gun bans are not enough--the war on . . . pocket knives?
- Wisconsin: Gun rights advocates make progress
Comments
"The right to live your life unmolested does not end when your AARP membership comes in the mail."
Daniel, with every passing year I'm becoming more painfully aware of that, thanks for another great article.
Yet AARP is on RECORD as opposing gun ownership by seniors!
I suppose they are indifferent to those who DIE, expecting membership to be made up by the SHEEP who believe their bilge!
Because of AARP's stand on seniors with firearms for protection I dropped my membership many years ago. It shows how much they care about us....... just our money.
Mr. White, you have an eloquent way of stating the obvious. I fail to understand how the gun grabbers can cling to their ridiculous position in light of the facts. Hoplophobia is the only conclusion one can draw. They are simply AFRAID of guns! "There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children. Period." - Ted Nugent
AARP is nothing but a multi-level marketing scheme for overpriced product. Why would anyone listen to their lamentations that the elderly have no right to live if they possess something a criminal wants?
At one time I was a bad man walking when accosted. Age and health have mostly negated that ability, but I still have no intention of going quietly because some young strong criminal wants to rob me. I understand no one who does not appreciate God's second most precious gift enough to defend it.
aarp is a left wing power hungry bunch who care about power and not me. gi
ve me liberty or give me death
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