…have a gun! The saying is generally attributed to Mark Moritz, and is perfectly true. 

It’s also nothing new.

While in Texas recently I had occasion to read “Trails and Trials of a Texas Ranger.”  It was written by William Warren Sterling, who was a Texas Ranger himself on the way to becoming Adjutant General of the Lone Star State.  His career was an impressive one.

Reading that autobiography, it became clear that Sterling was seldom without his engraved, five and a half-inch barrel single action Colt .45 revolver, and not often far from his lever action Winchester Model 1895 .30-06 rifle. 

His career had taught him good reason for that.  He wrote, “Ex-Ranger Joe (Pinkie) Taylor … was a member of a pioneer family in Goliad County, and made a fine record in the Rangers. He married, settled down and became a Valley farmer. His family objected to pistols. Shortly after he discarded the familiar weapon, the enemies he had made in the Service killed him and mutilated his body. He was a crack shot, and if he had been armed, the assassins would not have ventured within range of his six-shooter.”

In another incident during the “Bandit War” of 1915, Sterling wrote of one gang, “They robbed a store, and then went to a corn sheller, which was being operated by A. L. Austin and his son, Charles. These inoffensive farmers had recently moved to Texas from Montgomery, Missouri.  The outlaws captured the unarmed Austins and held them prisoner until young Elmer Millard drove up in a wagon.  They put the Austins in it and forced Millard to drive them to a spot near their home. The Austins were then killed by a fusillade from the bandits’ rifles. Miller was released.”

Another atrocity occurred on a train. “Seated in the smoker were four unarmed soldiers who were returning to Fort Brown after being absent from duty on furlough. Two State officials, Dr. E.S. McCain, Deputy State Health Officer, and District Attorney John I. Klieber were in the car. Harry Wallis, a former Ranger, was also a passenger. When the train came to a stop, four bandits entered the car and began shooting the occupants. One soldier was killed instantly and two others badly wounded. Judge Klieber was on the floor with one of the wounded soldiers, who bled profusely. The blood partially covered his clothing, and the bandits apparently thought that both were dead. Wallis and Dr. McCain hid in the toilet. The bandits fired a number of shots through the door, hitting the doctor in the abdomen and Wallis in the hand. Dr. McCain died the next day and Wallis recovered. A Mexican passenger on the train told the bandits about the secreted men. I knew both Klieber and Wallis very well. The unbelievable part of the whole affair was that no one on the train was armed. Wallis told me that he would have had his pistol if he had been traveling by automobile, but thought it would not be needed on the train.”

The criminal is the actor. He gets the first move.  He doesn’t need to carry a gun until he decides he’s going to use it.  The good guy or gal is the reactor: we don’t know when we’ll need it, which is why it behooves us to carry a defensive firearm wherever it is legal to do so.

33 COMMENTS

  1. As part of my marriage counseling, I was asked to give up my guns. I did the next day, selling them through my FFL. Sometime later, I was car jacked on my way home at 2 am in front of my home. The career criminal did’t get my truck but I was unarmed and not sure were he went after the contact. So, I did the best I could… I parked my running truck in my driveway in front of the gate in reverse gear. I called the sheriff and explained that an armed man had tried to stop me on the home. Then I waited in the truck… I figured I could use the truck to ram anyone that came up… And if the worse happened, It would be easier to find the truck then me on the side of the road at 2 in the morning. It took 20 min for the sheriff’s deputy to get to my place. He confronted the carjacker just down the road from me (he had been knocking on doors to get someone to call the police). Given he had a criminal history and was in violation of his parole terms, he was taken into custody. The deputies found his gun not far from where he tried to stop me. I’m going through a divorce now, but I carry everyday and will not let anyone disarm me again…

    • So sad to hear of the car jacking and impending divorce. Both are tragic.

      Relationships are complicated, but I must say your willingness to give up your guns in order to save the marriage shows a glimpse of your true colors towards a resolution, IMHO.

      Your gun totin’, fish guttin’ , truck drivin’ Mama awaits…here…it’s me! Lol!

      Blessings for your new beginning.

  2. “…carry a defensive firearm wherever it is legal to do so.”
    “Something something …shall not be enfringed.”
    Hmmmmm….serious question: in a sane world why should it ever be illegal for a law abiding citizen to carry a defensive firearm?
    How far we have fallen.

    • Because the citizen is…

      * Partially or completely blind

      * Suffering from dementia

      * Suffering from palsy

      * Mentally impaired by the side effects of a pharmaceutical drug

      * Under the age of 18

      * Impaired (or expecting to be) by alcohol (or marijuana, where it is legal)

      All special cases, but none particularly rare (especially the last)

      • Rostrum – Doesn’t matter. (Obviously those who are adjudicated as not in their right mind would be an exception.) Everyone is responsible for their own protection no matter what their circumstances may be. If they have any debilitating conditions then as a coherent & responsible citizen they can choose not to carry. They can make that choice, not the govt. If they choose to carry and end up injuring someone then they are responsible for their actions, just like anyone else.

    • > .serious question: in a sane world why should it ever be illegal for a law abiding citizen to carry a defensive firearm?
      —
      Legislators, lawyers, doctors, priests… among the people who speak out most urgently about “the gun problem”, it’s not the criminals that they’re worried about. On extended discussion, it always comes down to “if I had a gun, I’d…”

      They see *themselves* as the ones behind the trigger. Because, obviously, why would you bother to carry a gun if you didn’t intend to use it? In their minds, the millions of law-abiding carriers simply haven’t gone a-viking *yet.*

      Because if *they*, the self-proclaimed “elites”, can’t be trusted with guns, neither can you…

  3. Setting aside the gruesomeness of these stories, and tragic consequences of some people who should have always been armed, I’ve always enjoyed reading the old time stories about the Texas Rangers. Maybe some of that interest is because of a Texas Ranger ancestor of mine, a very rough character nicknamed Captain Jack (his real name was James Jackson Cureton), who was in charge of a Ranger company providing Texas frontier defense against marauding Indians during the Civil War.

    Jack’s life was adventurous and complicated, to put it mildly, but after the Civil War he was elected sheriff of Bosque County, Texas. It was rumored that he regularly participated in vigilante activities, and in one sordid occasion may have helped murder four brothers held in his jail cell, late at night. He was, to employ the language of that era, “a man with the bark left on.”

    Just a minor correction to your otherwise fine article: the Bandit War was in 1915.

  4. Thank you , for all you do Mas, I’m sorry to say in Texas we have Betos, and I made sure he never made it to the senate.

  5. I married a girl that likes to shoot, fish, go camping, and play in the mud. Those were the criteria. Life is good.

  8. we don’t know when we’ll need it, which is why it behooves us to carry a defensive firearm wherever it is legal to do so.

    I know you won’t publically advocate for this but I’d add “and sometimes when its not”
    I’m an avid road cyclist, and sometimes need to get to a city that is a full day’s long ride away. I ALWAYS carry when I ride, in fact the extra risks we take out ther,e so vulnerable and often fer removed from any real help, is WHY I decided to get my Mother May I Card and begin carrying. Sometimes I need to get far away, say, to pick up a car and bring it back home. Amtrak has a very inexpensive ticket for the hundred mile distance, so I hop on the bike, pedal to the near station, get off at the other end, hop back on the bike, and ride the whatever distance to my final desitnation. I’m not too concerned about my security on the train, but very much AM from home to station, thenfrom station to final desitnation. WHY should Amtrak’s stupid policy disarm me for the whole day, AND the return trip as well? I won’t let them/ I’ve learned there are no metal detectors on my route, nor on the trains. Yet. So I shut up and behave as nothing is wrong… which is true. However, IF something like the incidents you described SHOULD occur along the way.. well, I’d have to weigh things out as to whether to intervene. It would have to be VERY cut and dried.. if I don’t that guy, or this guy (as in, ME) will surely die.. then I’ll take my chances in front of the twelve, rather than rest in the careful arms of the six who will carry my empty tent to the empty hole in the ground. Might even get forced into a challenge to the AmTrak rule about no guns on their trains.. except the ones folks sneak on. Not worried about MINE< but guys like the ones you descrive in this piece. When their target populationis all but guratneed to be unarmed, their fear factor decreases to near zero, not a good number.

  9. Here is the scripture for today:

    Luke 22:36 – Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

    These words of Jesus can be interpreted in many ways. However, one view is that it is better to be unclothed then to be unarmed.

    I have to say, if I leave the house without being armed, I DO FEEL unclothed! 🙂

  10. Get Armed! Carry Daily! Carry Safely!

    Have been carrying daily since 1978, that’s 41 years now.
    I realize the utmost importance of it as a retired law enforcement officer I’ve seen the worst of the worst folks and never stopped carrying after retirement still qualify annually and shoot often. I feel very strongly about always being armed where legally able to do so.

    Thank you Mas for bringing the subject matter up.

  11. In my case, it’s not a matter of me being armed at all times, but how many guns I’m carrying and have readily available.

  12. It burns me each and every day that I work at a gun free Iiberal university. I spend as little time there as possible and always stop home to arm myself before going to job #2. At the university I get to see all the anti-gun propaganda displayed as “works of art” in glass cases. I get to hear the misinformed faculty make comments like, “I’ve read studies that indicate a gun in the home poses more risk to the family than not having one in the home.” Where did they get their training in research methodology? And this place prides itself on teaching students critical thinking skills?!

    I treat a young teen with autism in private practice who says, “There’s no shortage of stupid in this world.”

    How true- and you can’t treat that.

    In addition to considering a career change- I plan on leaving past issues of my firearms magazines around the campus. I will also leave photocopies of well-written pro-2A arguments on bulletin boards. The brainwashed, Leftist indoctrinated youth need a proper education- especially at 50K per year.

    • Make sure you remove your name and address (if any) from the gun magazines before leaving them at the university and be sure there are no witnesses to this diabolical deed because if a shooting occurs later, you may be blamed for inciting the shooter by brainwashing him/her with those vile firearms publications. You may even be charged for contributing to the delinquency of a young impressionable liberal, a most terrible sin and heinous crime against humanity.

      Not only is there no shortage of stupidity, there’s a huge surplus of it, especially here in the U.S.A. and it’s growing larger by the day.

      • Tom606,

        Yes- thank you. I had planned on cutting out the label with my name & address. I also am aware of the security cameras- and plan on being discreet.

        Perhaps I will focus on the civil rights literature and 2A argument and not so much on the hardware. It’s tough for me to throw out old magazines anyway: they often end up being much needed reference material at a later date.

        Perhaps more importantly, I never want to give the other side anything to use against us.

        Thanks so much.

    • VinFromNewYork,

      If I was an optimist, I would tell you that that university is your mission field. Being a pessimist, I think you better keep your mouth shut. Which is more likely, that you will open a closed liberal mind, or that you will be figuratively burned at the stake as the heretic you are to their liberal orthodoxy? Isn’t it amazing the amount of ignorance a person can display after years of education; K–12, Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctor’s degrees?

      One tactic may still not get you into trouble. That would be gently inviting people to go shooting with you at a range. My range has one day a year when anyone can shoot for free, under supervision, of course. I like to tell people that the USA is one of the only countries on earth that allows its citizens to shoot rifles, pistols and shotguns. You can’t do what we do everywhere. And some places where firearms are very commonly used, you don’t want to visit, like Syria.

      • Roger Wilco

        Thanks for the feedback which was helpful in making me think about potential consequences- as Tom606 had also done. And I had just commented above about “no shortage of stupid in this world.” I don’t want to contribute to the supply!

        Upon further reflection, I will also follow the advice I gave to others at the university: keep the politics out of work. It’s not what they pay us for. I will fight the good fight on my own time.

        It’s great to see the contributions of so many people with experience and common sense in this discussion forum. Helpful and therapeutic!

  13. I pack daily (I’m a Texican in Texas) and my wife is fine with it. Had my CHL/LTC since it started many years ago (and taught classes for 10 years.) JKD and Krav Maga are my hobbies to boot along with IDPA/IPSC.

    Just never know what may happen so be prepared.

  14. I realize federal law, the Second Amendment, declares it is our RIGHT to keep (own) and bear (carry) firearms. We don’t need a permit to exercise a right. Permits are for privileges like driving a car. I also realize federal law trumps state law, but my argument will not work in any court, because the states believe that all amendments, and all laws, are subject to modification. So we do need to declare that we should only carry where it is legal, in order to avoid trouble with the law.

    What happened to that amendment where states would recognize each others’ carry permits?

    We don’t need to look to history to see citizens who are oppressed because they don’t have the Second Amendment. Venezuela has an oppressive government, and the disarmed people are starving. Cuban citizens have suffered under their government since about 1959. Hong Kong demonstrators could be crushed by the Red Chinese army, and those people of Hong Kong are not armed. Some European countries have imported immigrants, some of whom would like to take over those European countries, and declare Sharia Law someday. How can the Europeans defend themselves if that day ever comes? Sounds to me like the British government is actively working against its own subjects, by not shutting down grooming gangs.

    So, we see that right now, today, not just back in the twentieth century, disarmed citizens are sheeple who can be pushed around and stepped on. And still the Left wants to disarm US citizens, and have us hand over our guns to a government run by Donald Trump, whom some on the Left have called a dictator. They have a blind trust in government. Leftists have lots of education, but they never learn wisdom. With their climate change hysteria and their multiple genders, the Left have even become science-deniers. When you deny science, you become superstitious, like people in the so-called Dark Age. Western Civilization just went full circle, from uneducated, superstitious people living in a pre-scientific age, to highly educated (or highly schooled) superstitious people who deny scientific facts. Their minds are closed.

    • @ Roger Willco – The definition of a closed mind is one that is so sure of its own correctness that it never, for an instant, even considers the possibility that its ideas are wrong.

      Consider the massive efforts that the Worldwide Left has spent, and is still spending, to indoctrinate Americans, and the other peoples of the world, with left-wing ideology. They have spent literally centuries (Karl Marx was writing about communism prior to 1850) pushing their ideology. No effort has been spared. They have employed propaganda, disinformation, character-assignation, real assignation, violence, brain-washing, political manipulation, dirty tricks, protests, warfare and even genocide in order to push it onto the people of the world.

      Indeed, their interest in disarming the people of the world is largely driven by a desire to make the people helpless to resist their left-wing ideology. Heck, the Sullivan Act was passed in 1911 and it was not the first firearms-prohibition law to hit the books!. The efforts to disarm Americans was running before I was born (I’m pushing 60) and it continues and has intensified today.

      I would like to ask all leftists just one question: If your left-wing ideas are all so perfect and wholesome, if they will create a utopia for mankind, then why is it requiring centuries of effort, massive expenditure of resources and such terrible strong-arm tactics to shove them down the throats of the people?

      Do you think that the people don’t know good ideas when they hear them? Do you think that the people are stupid sheep who have to be herded, literally at gun-point, into paradise? One would think that some of these leftists would stop, just for a second, and question their ideology if the people resist it so much!

      But no, there is no questioning at all. I have never seen a leftist experience a single second of self-doubt. Instead, they blame resistance upon the actions of the “Radical Right”. They declare them to be the lunatic fringe and insist that their program is righteous and true. The thought that the “Radical Right” is a result of, and a reaction to, their own radicalism never crosses their minds.

      I say that the resistance to left-wing ideology, which continues despite the HUGE EFFORTS and MASSIVE RESOURCES that the Left has thrown into its indoctrination and brain-washing program, for decades, is the best evidence that left-wing ideology is FALSE. If it was a truly good ideology. If it was truly wholesome. If it was correct, then it would have succeeded by now and be embraced by the people instead of being rejected at every turn. The long history of left-wing rejection and failure is the best evidence that their Marxist ideas are false and dangerous.

      The fact that the leftists cannot even understand this point. The fact that doubt in their program is not even considered, is the very definition of having closed minds.

      • Some corrections to my comment above. I meant “assassination” not “assignation”. This illustrates the dangers of relying upon spell-check! 🙂

      • TN_MAN,

        If the Left had created a utopia somewhere, or even a country that was better than the USA, immigrants would be flocking to that place. Even Americans would emigrate, if there was a better place to go. Instead, immigrants flock here, because we are the best country on earth, and our borders are open. We are sharing our wealth and our way of life with the world. Yes, I realize there are greedy Americans with a “me first” mentality, who are not helping others, and who are even exploiting the people in other countries. But still, many people in the world wish they had what we have. I’m sure some people wish they could live as well as our pets do.

        I’ve just written a novel. It’s brief, and here it is;

        A TALE OF THREE CITIES

        Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Detroit. Two cities destroyed by atomic bombs, one city destroyed by liberalism.

    • Roger, how dare you say such mean things about our benevolent liberal friends who are only trying to save us foolish conservatives from ourselves? And stop using common sense, which isn’t very common among liberals, who would be ignored by the majority of people if their thought processes were more logical. The Dark Side has spent decades insinuating themselves into the American education system so they can brainwash our children into liberal zombies who would obediently follow in lockstep with their teachers’ and professors’ Marxist agenda. Folks in Silicon Valley are some of the most book smart people on Earth, but most of them are complete idiots when it comes to using their brains to better society and make our country, and the world safer.

  15. I read the piece and then reflected on when I carry or have immediate access to a firearm (within 1.5 feet). Only time I can figure I don’t is in the shower: then it’s 2 feet.

  17. Roger that, Mas. I’m on a brief motorcycle ride across western Pennsylvania. My Glock 21 is on my hip the entire ride.

  18. Mas – A number of books detail real-world examples where having a firearm available saved people from criminal attack. Such titles as “Thank God, I had a Gun” and your own “Ayoob Files” are examples of this kind of material.

    Has anyone ever produced a book that illustrates the opposite? That shows the dangers of being disarmed?

    The only thing that I have read, along this line, is “Life at the Bottom” by Theodore Dalrymple.

    Even this book is not a true example. Most of the book deals with the social ills caused by left-wing ideology in the UK. The dangers of being disarmed, by the UK gun-prohibition laws, is illustrated by a few examples provided by the author. However, as a whole, even this book does not focus on the problems caused by a disarmed public being helpless to criminal attack.

    Do you know of any book that is focused on this topic?

  19. A bit off-topic but, you know, I like facts and figures.

    The FBI has just released the crime-rate statistics for 2018. I am glad to know that the homicide rate dropped, a bit, compared to 2016 and 2017. You would never guess that from media reports that continually state that we are in an “epidemic” of “Gun Violence”.

    If one listens to the narrative spun by the Anti-American Media, then one would expect that deadly “Assault Rifles” are being used to “mow down” defenseless people by the bushel. One leftist former Congress-woman, Donna Edwards, claimed that “they’re mowing down hundreds, thousands of people every single year”.

    Well, hundreds is right (297 in 2018) but thousands is wrong. What is not said, however, is that handguns, knives, blunt objects, and even personal weapons (fists, feet, etc.) all rack up larger totals then rifles. Note that the above figure includes ALL RIFLES, not just so-called “Assault Rifles”. So, where are the handgun, knife, blunt object, fist and feet ban proposals? Shouldn’t they come first since they all rack up bigger numbers of victims?

    Here is a link to the Table with all these figures:

    https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-8.xls

    Dang it, there I go using logic again! I should know (by now) that only “Emotion” is important and those nasty, black rifles all LOOK so DANGEROUS!

    Another set of facts from the 2018 report. Whites (includes Hispanics) account for 73 % of the US population and also account for 69 % of all arrests made for crime. I guess that seems about right.

    Asians compose about 5.4 % of the US population but account for only 1.2 % of the arrests. Boy, those Asians are good people!

    African-Americans / Blacks make up 12.7 % of the population but they rack up a total of 27.4 % of the criminal arrests. They also account for the greatest portion of murder and robbery arrests. Sorry, I am not a racist. I am just reporting the statistics as published by the FBI.

    No doubt, the Leftists see the above statistics as “proof-positive” that the Police are RACISTS. Just look at how many African-Americans / Blacks that they have arrested last year alone! Such is the ideology that fuels organizations like “Black-Lives Matter”.

    To me, CRIME is what matters!

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