There has been much talk about allowing the Police to routinely carry sidearms with the increasing violence against them, but there hasn’t yet been a serious discusson about allowing citizens the right to defend themselves from violent crime.
In New Zealand we have been content to allow the Police to protect us, but the thin blue line is stretched defending even themselves let alone the general citizenry. A call to Police for help in the face of violent crime may well be what the official line is but can you really afford to wait until they turn up.
It isn’t the Police’s fault that they are stretched and with the ever expansion of meth fueled crime it is becoming increasingly likely that, in big cities at least, that you will be assaulted, stabbed, or maimed in some way by a P-head. Calling the cops is often too late.
The problem we have is that we have allowed the situation to develop as a society where we are largely dis-armed and thus vulnerable. There was a time, not too far past where bank officers would be issued revolvers and shotguns to go pick up the cash from the Reserve Bank. I know this because I worked with a few who did it when I worked at the National Bank.
If we were to visit allowing citizens to protect themselves then I think Open Carry should be the default…for as they say no one ever raped a .38.
Discuss away.
