Self Defense Against Thugs

This has been cross-posted to the Western Standard Blog; The Shotgun

Imagine that it's 2A.M. ad you are at home, you hear voices outside that sound very close. You go outside and discover that there are thugs trying to break into your vehicle. You chase them off, only to run into their buddies around the corner. You run back home, retrieve some bear spray and a machete in order to protect yourself, but they pull a gun and fire at you. You run into your house and call the police. The thugs and their friends start kicking and banging your door. Meanwhile you wait for the police to arrive, knowing that they have guns, and you have bear spray.

This exact scenario recently took place in Winnipeg to Dale Dubowitz, who has decided it's time to move away.

"I'm stuck in a gang war here," Dubowitz said. "Where are these guys coming from?"

There are two points to be made here.

For most people, the government makes it illegal to properly defend yourself. Possession of bear spray in most cases is illegal, Mr. Dubowitz works as a hunting guide and can legally own it, police can also legally posses and use it; for everyone else not involved in hunting it is prohibited in Manitoba. Owning a gun, while very restricted, is possible. However, being able to use it for self-defense is made nearly impossible by the government. You need to keep the gun and the ammunition in separate locked rooms, in locked cases. When someone is banging on your front door trying to kill you and possibly your family, would you have time to retrieve the weapon to defend yourself with?

What could you do to protect yourself in this situation? How can you level the playing field when dealing with violent criminals? Gun control laws and the gun registry has done very little to keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals, because surprise surprise, they don't obey the law! It's the peaceful, law-abiding people that are victimized by these laws.

As long as violent thugs know that people aren’t armed and won’t have the tools to defend themselves, they have less incentive to back off.

Secondly, the reason that Mr. Dubowitz finds himself stuck in a gang war is because of various government actions. The prohibition on drugs gives gangs a market to thrive in, the black market trade of prohibited drugs that much of the gang violence in Winnipeg has been linked to this. If there were no prohibition, then there would be less crime as a result.

Mr. Dubowitz, the governments of Winnipeg, Manitoba and have failed you. Thanks to the police for getting there in time before you were murdered, after all, they have guns loaded and ready to go, while by law, you can't.