Firearms Friday: Banning All Means Of Self-Defense

There have been countless bills in recent history that have been specifically designed to limit firearms ownership and essentially strip the rights away from people to defend themselves. That simple and devious objective has recently been broadened to include those items that are truly, by any political definition, defensive. By this I am of course referring to the bill proposed last month by Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) deceptively titled the “Responsible Body Armor Possession Act”. As summarized on the Congressional website:

Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the purchase, ownership, or possession of enhanced body armor, except: (1) by or under the authority of the United States or any state or political subdivision, or (2) enhanced body armor that was lawfully possessed before the effective date of this Act.

Defines "enhanced body armor" to mean body armor, including a helmet or shield, the ballistic resistance of which meets or exceeds the ballistic performance of Type III armor, determined using National Institute of Justice Standard-0101.06.

That’s right, the same people that want to strip you of right to bear arms also want to eliminate any possibility to defend yourself once those firearms have been taken away. Once again, we are all caste in the same pool as those who perform illegal, insidious, and barbaric acts with firearms. For a group that likes to focus so intensely on the lives of the one percent it is interesting that they have no problem ignoring the fact that only a fraction of a percent of the hundreds of millions of firearms in this country are actually used to commit a crime. However, I think that Robert Farago at TheTruthAboutGuns.org was much more succinct in his reaction to the bill:

That “argument” presumes that A) active shooters wear Type III bullet resistant vests, B) a ban on Type III bullet resistant vests would prevent active shooters from obtaining and wearing such attire and C) active shooters (wearing Type III bullet resistant vests) are enough of a problem to warrant federal legislation. D’oh! Forgot D) banning Type III bullet resistant vests doesn’t limit law-abiding citizens’ ability to defend themselves

It’s that last one that reveals Honda’s true agenda.

Like all gun control advocates, Honda believes that people are safer under the protection of the bullet resistant vest-wearing police than they are when they take responsibility for their own defense – which could include wearing a rifle-round capable bullet resistant vest. Self-defense is too risky! People who own guns – and wear bullet resistant vests – could turn into active shooters! Hard-to-kill active shooters!

All of this debate has spurred sales of personal body armor and those companies offering that protection at a reasonable price have been inundated by orders resulting in lead times of up to 10-12 weeks. AR500 is probably the best example of this influx of activity and while some customers have been content to wait others have criticized the small Arizona based manufacturer for the delay. However, just like the ammunition shortage we all experienced a few years ago, production can only go so fast if quality is to be maintained.

We all heard the stories of overpowered and underpowered rounds that resulted from the high input to keep up with demand. However, I can confidently say that the AR500 armor is well worth the wait. Despite the political pressure and subsequent order inundation, AR500.com maintains a high standard. I have seen the quality first hand and despite the lag times that are currently in place and the volume that they are now producing, the quality remains unquestioned and the prices remain the same. Those who are thinking about purchasing should probably hedge their bet now and at least order some plates. After all, grandfathering is a beautiful thing in the face of strict regulation when you know that you are already covered.

With that said, all of this would be so much easier if everyone could simply agree to allow people to defend themselves. All of these bills and fear mongering is getting out of hand and the encouragement of people to rely so heavily on the government is a bit ridiculous. The police do all that they can to protect us but they can’t be everywhere and when something does happen it is going to take them time to arrive on the scene. We can’t fault them for doing all that they can do but, at the same time, you can’t fault us for wanting to protect ourselves.

We don’t need overregulation and bans on everything that anyone has ever used in a crime. We need some real gun sense to finally take hold and for people to embrace the broader concepts of personal responsibility, self-sufficiency, and self-defense sense. Those characteristics should be recognized and encouraged for the solid foundation that they provide to a nation of law abiding citizens. We must defend not attack “we the people.”