I'm going to try and not come off too harsh here but there seems to be a great deal of something.. (ignorance?) in this post. People need to take personal accountability for their actions. That's the problem with our evolving democracy is that for some reason people are content to remove less and less responsibility from their lives. Responsibilities like parenting (let the schools do it!), self defense (let the police do it!), washing their clothes (let the washing machine do it!), et al.

There are alot of rebuttals I could do here because I vehemently disagree with much of the "leave it in the hands of the pros" defense. First, police are people like you and me. They make mistakes too.

Second, former police are on here stating their opinion it's best to arm the citizens. I would suspect that opinion likely comes from a very valuable experience from which they can draw said conclusion. In that respect, I trust that judgement in usage to supplement my own. I would hope others would do the same.

Third, the response time issue. I personally wouldn't want to wait huddled in a classroom for 20+ minutes desperately barricading a door while bullets are ripping through it. Ultimately as stated multiple times before YOU are responsible for you. No one else. That's the problem with our coddling nanny society anymore is that everyone expects to be babied and cuddled while someone else does the dirty work. Call it what you want, but that's the reality of it. Don't trust the guy down the street? Tough. That's the nature of this world. Who do you trust? What is trust? What is love, what is hate? What is this pseudo philosophical crap I'm spewing getting at? YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU. NO ONE ELSE IS. Therefore if you choose to go out unarmed that is YOUR CHOICE - you can rely on others to protect you. Perhaps they will. Perhaps they won't. Your problem, not mine. Unless I see the problem happening, then I will come to help. That's just my nature.

Me? I choose to protect myself. Because in the end, I'm the ONLY PERSON I CAN ABSOLUTELY BE SURE WILL DO IT. That's in caps for a reason folks. Because I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR MYSELF - end of story. If the cops show up, great. More help. Otherwise, I will most likely have things covered BY MYSELF - because again.. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR ME (see a pattern here?).

Also on the note of militias - not to degrade the topic here but I'm just going to make this flat and clear - our own government includes us as part of their military via militias. Want proof?

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/usc_sec_10_00000311----000-.html

TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART I > CHAPTER 13 > 311. Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Our government EXPECTS us to be able to defend the country. End of story. By the way, sorry for the tone of the post. I'm in a pissy mood.

Lastly, I'm glad someone posted the info about the sheep/sheepdog/wolf bit. That one never gets old and definitely gets the point across.