Self-Defense Is a Human Right

By Chris W. Cox

NRA-ILA's Chris W. Cox
NRA-ILA’s Chris W. Cox

FAIRFAX, Va. –-(Ammoland.com)- Your right to defend your life and the lives of your loved ones when faced with a deadly threat is NOT bestowed on you by government.

Indeed, self-defense is the most fundamental of all human rights, and it’s the duty of our elected officials to preserve it.

That is why the 5 million men and women of the National Rifle Association will not allow self-defense to be used as a scapegoat so that President Obama and his administration can continue to exploit tragedies to push their political agenda. We will continue to defend the right of every law-abiding American – regardless of race, color and creed – to defend themselves and one another.

Attorney General Eric Holder shockingly claimed that pro-self-defense laws “sow conflict.” Last week, President Obama demonstrated that he, too, does not recognize that your right to save your own life is a fundamental human right.

“Stand your ground” or “no duty to retreat” laws, recognize that a person who is attacked in any place where that person has a right to be, may use defensive force without first being required to retreat.

This is important, because determining whether a safe retreat is available may require a split-second calculation that could end up being a losing gamble for the innocent person who is under attack. Criminals don’t always back off when their victims retreat. Some chase them down. They corner them. They gain a significant, and deadly, advantage once a victim turns his or her back.

Fundamental justice does not demand that law-abiding people endanger themselves, or their families, in such a manner, and neither should our laws.

Despite the Obama administration’s assertion that “stand your ground” laws are a new concept in self-defense, they are in fact founded in common sense, natural law, and are well enshrined in American jurisprudence.

As pointed out by numerous constitutional law scholars, the right to stand your ground against a threat can be found in common law at least as far back as the 1895 case of Beard v. United States. Here, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a victim “was not obliged to retreat, nor to consider whether he could safely retreat, but was entitled to stand his ground, and meet any attack upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force as, under all the circumstances, he, at the moment, honestly believed, and had reasonable grounds to believe, were necessary to save his own life, or to protect himself from great bodily injury.”

Gun control supporters falsely claim that “stand your ground” laws cause an increase in crime. To the contrary, the national violent crime rate has decreased in 18 of the last 20 years, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Furthermore, the murder rate dropped significantly between 2005 and 2009, the same time frame in which approximately 25 states passed stronger self-defense laws.

The right to self-defense is a fundamental human right that deserves bipartisan protection at every level of government. No parent should ever be denied the right to defend his or her children. No woman should ever be denied the right to defend herself against a violent, sexual predator. Very simply, no one should be denied the right to defend themselves in the face of grave danger. And despite the views of the president and his attorney general, this is a point on which most Americans agree.

Chris W. Cox is the executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action, the political and lobbying arm of National Rifle Association.

About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org

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BRBruce

For a while I couldn’t understand how and why “We the people” have allowed it to come into question or so far into question. Then I took a real hard look at people and how ignorant they are. People now have more access to free information than ever before and they are more ignorant than ever before.

BJ

Obama’s people seem to go biserk if someone uses a gun to defend themselves. I’d like to know if there are any statistics to show they feel different if a person uses a knife
or their fists to defend themselves and it still results in a death.
I would bet they don’t even comment.
Can anyone respond to this?

Self Defense

Exactly… HOW DARE THIS ADMINISTRATION PAINT SELF-DEFENSE AS WRONG???

I’m not going to be a victim. Get these Socialist retards out of our Government, NOW!

Anyone who believes the crap they are feeding us is a complete moron.