Politics

The Jackson Reaction: The story of a good guy & a gun… and how he lost his freedom

As much as the right and libertarians use the phrase “the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” the American Left love the counter phrase “so where are these good guys with guns”? It’s a fair question, that’s for sure. And after the cowardice of the Broward County Sheriffs Department in relation to their lack of engagement in the Parkland MSD shooting, it’s one of the few times where I have to admit that most of the time someone does not step up.

But wait a second; once one considers what the gun laws are in any given state, the presence of “gun-free zones” as well as the presence of a black market willing to supply illegal guns, doesn’t that kind of change the tone of the discussion?

I think so.

Here is an example: these are the actual laws on self-defense in the once great state of Vermont.

Pretty cut and dry… eh?

No fancy language. Pretty plainly written.

But one man (who happens to be this writers co-best friend/brother from another mother) was not treated as “guiltless” at all. He was stripped of his Second Amendment rights…for defending his family.

On May 28th, 2017, a disturbed adult male name Joshua Many attempted to assault Christopher Akers two stepsons (who are minors). When Akers wife attempted to block his access to them, he began to assault her. Upon hearing his wife’s screams, Akers ran to her aid and engaged the assailant.

While Mr. Akers is known locally for being a supreme hand-to-hand fighter (he grew up in Newport News, Virginia) he was quite surprised to learn the slightly younger Many was very much his equal, allowing him to injure Akers and force him from the fight. It was at this point that Akers is said to have ran to his house, grabbing a 12 gauge shotgun and ordering Many off his property. It was at this point that Many made a quick dash either for his car or towards Akers. Akers is said to have felt threatened and that Many might have been dashing towards the car for a gun. He shot Many once in the leg, who then got into his car and left.

While released that night (Many remained in the hospital) Akers was formally charged (aggravated assault with a weapon). Now before anyone jumps in with “well, maybe he was just running off the property as ordered”, yes that is true… or maybe he was running at Mr. Akers with the intent of finishing the job before moving on to his family. But that shouldn’t even be a focus of our society or our taxpayer-funded law enforcement officers. Let’s look at the basics, shall we?

His property: it belongs to him, and he should be able to do whatever he wants with it as long as it doesn’t hurt another’s property. (Pollution would be an example here.)

Force: He should be able to defend himself and his property as he sees fit. Someone came onto his property and attempted to hurt two minors and then attacked a woman. Let that sink in.

Did I mention he tried to attack MINORS!!!

It is at times like this that I remember another story. The story of a brave young woman (who happens to be my sister); Alexis Jade (no, that is not her real name… it’s her live-action role-playing name…no, I am not making that up.) Here; Jade was home alone (her husband was at work) when a junkie attempted to break into her home. Luckily, my sisters were taught how to fire a firearm same as me. And while not as good of a shot as me, what happened next did not require good aim. Without hesitation, Jade grabbed the 9MM my father gifted her (it was supposed to be mine) and walked to the door where the junkie was clumsily fumbling with the doorknob. She pointed it at him (through the glass) and made it clear his choices were to leave or die.

Now, why am I telling you this story as a follow up to the first? What’s the point? Why the glorification of your very personal and limited experiences to a broader audience via this pulpit of the internet. Because although both instances required justified use of force against unarmed individuals – both had very different outcomes.

Jade was not arrested. That is because my sister no longer lives in Vermont. She lives in a state with something known as the “Castle Doctrine.” While this is an oversimplification, basically that means that you are the king/queen of your castle and can defend it as such. Two points to note: they have yet to find the man that tried to break into my sisters home, and he got so scared he pissed his pants. The police dog is said to have used the urine to track the suspect back to some crack shack full of addicts…they claimed to have not seen him in some time….right.

Good guys with guns exist. But we as a culture have begun to shame a vibrant subculture within the American populous. Being the strong silent type like John Wayne or Gary Cooper (yes, I stole that from Tony Soprano) used to be something that young men sought. Now they dye their hair purple and wear skinny jeans.

And there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But neither is the latter option. But no, we attack common masculinity as contrary to acceptance. Here is what I say to that – go fuck yourself! (Which you can’t say anymore either.) I can accept that loner in the corner staring at his disproportionate feet acting like a weirdo, advocate that he be left alone and still not want to be friends with him. (You know, because he is fucking weird.)

If we want the good guys with the guns to step up in the event of an evildoer taking action against society than we need to stop tying their hands. It is not fair to ask an innocent man to choose between his freedom and saving innocent lives. And we (the good guys with guns) need to start showing our softer side. That kid I just called weird. Maybe I shouldn’t call him weird. People call me weird (among other things), but I can’t expect everyone to be as thick skinned as me. I can advocate that society as a whole become more resilient in regards to “emotional damage,” but finally submit that without a vocal part of that same group of defenders showing some type of compassion to the loner, there can be no progress either.

So, in conclusion, I also submit that our approach to defending our rights needs to soften (for now). The phrase “you attract more flies with honey rather than vinegar” comes to mind. Then again, Sheldon Cooper from the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” also said you will attract even more with manure, so who knows. But I do know that something is different, and they aren’t playing this time… unless we wish to experience the failure of people who have allowed the government to disarm them in the past.

Oh, and by the way, yesterday the state of Vermont FINALLY dropped the charges against Mr. Akers.

I will update this article once I have learned the status of the perpetrator. Until next week, live free.

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