The Terror Threat

5 May 2002

Fighting terrorism with tanks and napalm is like going after a virus with a chainsaw. The problem is spread throughout the entire body politic. Excising them will take precision tools, not blunt instruments. For years, Al Qaeda conspired, expending untold millions and man-hours. So far nineteen of their number have shown their hands. Leads have been tracked down and many of their confederates perhaps have been detained or otherwise neutralized. How many remain? Patiently they go about their lives, waiting for some message, some specific date. The National Guard isn’t going to smoke them out, and neither will the newly federalized Security Squad now Groping Granny at an airport near you!

They tell us not to panic. To cooperate. To understand. And give up just a few more rights for a little more security, a little more peace of mind. After all, they tell us, America welcomed the terrorists with open arms. They used our very openness, our civil rights, against us. The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact, they tell us. Quite accidentally and unintentionally, they’re right. The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact, it is a Covenant with Life and a Covenant with Liberty. The terrorists didn’t use our freedom against us, they used our disarmament. They win this war for as long as our government infringes on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

If terrorism is a virus in our society, then we are the antibodies.
The Citizen Militia must be Remobilized. The People must be Rearmed.

Could you imagine trying to hijack a jet with knives knowing that the passengers were carrying guns? You’d have to be out of your mind to attempt it. However, if you knew that everyone had been disarmed, you’d feel a lot more confident going in. Your determination and meticulous coordination have given you and your teammates the upper hand. You have the element of surprise, and they have… not. Now suppose the Federal Authorities were confiscating knives. No sweat, you’ve practiced with nylon cord garrotes woven into your ties, ceramic belt-buckles that break into razor shards, ball-point pens, the heel of your hand, and your keys.

Gun control is a dangerous illusion. It is predicated on the notion that, because weapons can aggravate violence, reducing the availability of weapons will reduce the level of violence. The idea, however, is not borne out by the evidence. Admittedly, martial skill and superior firepower can inflict terrible damage, but a great advantage of bearing arms is social equilibrium. It has been said that, “God makes men, but Sam Colt makes them equal.” Yes, weapons can aggravate violence, but they can also mitigate threats, and do so far more often, and therefore prevent violence. What is more, we are surrounded by weapons — lethal, quick, sometimes messy, myriad are the ways of destruction. Who has time to study all the arts of warfare? It’s much easier to carry a half pound of blue steel that’ll do the heavy lifting for you. Whether you weigh ninety pounds or three hundred, it only takes a few ounces of muscle to squeeze that trigger.

The United States should not invade Iraq or Saudi Arabia or Somalia or Afghanistan. The Terror War will have to be fought and won here, on American soil. The enemy is already here and it is up to each of us to shoulder our responsibility.

The Militia is us. Every able-bodied citizen has a responsibility to protect this Republic and its Constitution, from all enemies, foreign and domestic. It’s an oath I swore when I served in the Standing Military, and it’s an oath I’ll swear again as your Representative to the Congress. The greatest threats today to the security of the United States and the American People are the interventionist foreign policy of the Federal Government, and Citizen Disarmament.

Jeremy Glick and Todd Beamer and the other Heroes of the Militia stood up one September morning and, laboring under an unlawful, unconstitutional, and immoral handicap imposed on them by their own Federal Government, wrested a measure of triumph from a day of disaster. It was a day of bitter tragedy and abominable atrocity. There is no shortage of guilt to share. The Bipartisan advocates of Citizen Disarmament are as bloodstained as any suicide bomber. Would that any of dozens of air travelers of September last had been packing heat, the world “would little note nor long remember” the passing of a few dead punks. We have spent most of the last century disarming ourselves. We have domesticated ourselves into a Nation of Sheep. Why wouldn’t the wolves find us tempting prey?

update 180426: It can be seriously depressing being right so much — about The War on Terra’, victim disarmament, and the tempting dangers of “Gun Free” zones. I thought (and said loudly) that going into Iraq was a mistake. I thought (and said loudly) that pursuing Al Qaeda through the Stannous Republics would be arduous, expensive, and probably futile. I guess there’s been some measured “success” on that score. But by and large, the Occupation’s efforts to inflict mass casualties, foment resentment, and engender blowback, has been a resounding success.

And I’m still freely swiping from “Honest” Abe Lincoln, America’s Poet Laureate Emeritus Magna Cum Laude, but if I’m going to steal, why wouldn’t I steal the best?