Common Folk Using Common Sense

Hat tip to KeepAndBearArms.com:

From The Gazette (Colorado):

Irving Kristol once said, “A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality.” That certainly seems to be the case with former gun-control advocate Michael DeBose, an Ohio state [Democrat] legislator. DeBose’s epiphany was not a result of being mugged by reality, but by being mugged by a couple of gun-toting thugs in his own neighborhood.

DeBose told Gun Week, the periodical of The Second Amendment Foundation, that he was taking a walk around his quiet residential neighborhood on the evening of May 1 when he was accosted by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun. The unarmed DeBose took the only option available to him — he ran to a neighbor’s home and pounded on the door. The hoodlums, apparently worried DeBose’s yelling would attract witnesses, jumped in their car and drove away.

Long an advocate of stricter gun-control laws, DeBose, along with his wife and several neighbors, have since enrolled in classes to obtain concealed-carry permits.

“If I’d had a weapon I could have defended myself,” said the ordained Baptist minister.

DeBose’s apparent conversion might not sit well with antigun colleagues, but as he said, “until someone has had a gun pulled on them and stuck in their face, (you can’t) put yourself in another’s place. . . . I just hope they’ll understand why I chose to change my mind.”

We wouldn’t wish getting mugged on anyone; being the victim of a violent crime is a terrifying experience. But we do hope other anti-firearms legislators can learn from DeBose’s experience and realize that people have a right to defend themselves and their loved ones. In a free society, the government shouldn’t prevent them from doing so.

“I’ve changed my mind. You need a way to protect yourself and your family. I don’t want to hurt anyone. But I never again want to be in the position where I’m approached by someone with a gun and I don’t have one.”

DeBose said he knows that a gun doesn’t solve Cleveland’s violence problem; it’s merely a street equalizer.

“There are too many people who are just evil and mean-spirited. They will hurt you for no reason. If more people were packing guns, it might serve as a deterrent. ”

I wish people didn’t have to have a gun pushed into their face to understand this simple concept.

gun-control, Michael DeBose, Ohio, Second Amendment

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