Better training and a strong sense of individual responsibility could have stopped it, at multiple points. Andrew Medina’s recognition of the threat and lack of action is now a classic example of that failure.

Much remains unsettled about the political landscape we will face in the coming two years. But this much is certain—more intense battles over the Second Amendment are in front of us.

Fearful that the Right to Carry was getting too much good publicity in the wake of an Illinois concealed-carry permit holder’s heroic actions, the Sun-Times editorial board felt it necessary to lecture its readers, “One brave rescue of a Cicero cop doesn’t justify concealed guns.”

The signs will read, “WARNING: The presence of a firearm in the home significantly increases the risk of suicide, homicide, death during domestic violence disputes and unintentional deaths to children, household members and others.”

This virtue signaling will surely please the left, without solving a single problem. But that’s not really the issue here. Evidently, neither is sales and revenue.

Without the ability to defend it, life becomes meaningless. The right to life depends on our right to protect it. 

Were these gun owners lucky, or were they trained and prepared?  What can we learn from their experience?

Americans who wish to retain their elementary rights should take note of that fact—and, when the opportunity arises, vote accordingly.

Hart, who is married to the pop star Pink, did his best to warn off would-be looters, posting a picture of about a dozen men posing with guns behind a sign that says: “Looters will be shot on site [sic]. P.D.C. Posse.”

“This country was built on God and guns, and I believe in it,” Childress concluded. “The freedom that we have, we can’t take for granted.”