The ability to protect yourself as an American citizen is the epitome of what it looks like to live in a country where you are free. Free to dance, free to sing, free to defend, free to work, and free to worship… I could argue the free nature of such liberties as they actually come at a price higher than you could afford to pay; the lives of the American soldier. The American soldiers’ sacrifice and what our forefathers did are completely different subjects in their own right. Nonetheless, we are granted civil liberties that we can now call our rights. Well, if I may, I urge you appreciate them because you are among the few in the world that have “rights”. Specifically speaking, the right to defend yourself is one that Americans take for granted and most of the rest of the world could only dream of having. Oppressive, greedy and money-hungry governments all over the world have made sure their citizens have no ability to protect and defend themselves. This comes in handy when they feel like controlling the lives of those who live in “their country”. However, not only does it hinder you from protecting yourself against a tyrannical government but it does not allow you to defend yourself against other citizens in that country whose motives are to take what they can and give nothing back.
I currently live in one of those countries which permit its citizens to own guns, though highly regulated. However, I happen to be a foreigner so I am exempt from such a right. Coming to Italy was hard; I had to leave so many things back in America, including my guns and my right to protect myself. It is a weird feeling to walk the streets and know someone could try to kidnap me and I don’t have a way to fight back when my life is in danger. Sure I can have a knife and a kubaton and no one would know, but those weapons are no match for a 250 lb. man who decides I am his next victim. You must fight force with equal force and the only equal force in this case is some firepower. No one here even locks their house doors, partly because it is too much of a hassle to turn a key 5 times to the right to lock a front door at night but partly because here in Northern Italy they all feel safe. There really isn’t any “violent” crime in my region, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t exist; after all there are immigrants, tourists, poor people and American’s just the same. And the sex trade is very alive in this country, just like it is in many other places throughout Europe. Living in a relatively “safe” region of Italy can easily take your awareness level completely away, because it seems as if most Italians are more concerned with their siesta (three hour lunch) and riding their bike to the daily markets than being violent criminals. However, I must remember that there isn’t just Italians here and there are good and bad in everyone throughout all cultures.
Either way, please don’t take your right to bear arms for granted. You are offered something many are not…freedom via those firearms. It is the second amendment that protects all the other freedoms you are given. America really is a country like none other and our guns really are a vital part of daily life in a world that has gotten so corrupt by the greed of man.
-K
