If you were Mark McCloskey, what would you have done if a mob broke an iron gate off its hinges, then came onto your property threatening violence? You would have called 911 as he did. But then you would probably have stayed inside with your wife, guns ready if they came through the door. And if they threw a Molotov cocktail through the window, you might have been able to escape out the back. Or not.

And if you were Kyle Rittenhouse, you probably would have stayed home, watching TV and munching snacks. In either case you probably would have done nothing to assure the safety of yourself, your family, or your community. I probably would have done as little.

But whether we know it or not, we all depend on people like the McCloskeys and Rittenhouse, people who are not passive and apathetic. If would-be criminals did not fear armed homeowners or storekeepers, violent crime would be even more frequent than it already is. Opponents of the 2nd Amendment need to keep this in mind.