One of the biggest cultural misunderstandings about the Second Amendment and gun ownership is the misconception that gun owners are prone to violence and killing while non-gun owners promote peace and understanding. This is the foundation for the argument against gun ownership and is echoed in a recent statement to FOX News by San Francisco City Supervisor, Chris Daly. "I don't feel like I need to own a gun to protect myself. Certainly, I am a high-profile elected official and now a lot of gun owners don't like me individually, but if I'm in a situation where I feel threatened, I'll call the police."

"I don't feel like a need to own a gun to protect myself."

A firearm is used over 2.5 million times per year in self-defense. Most of the time the firearm is merely brandished resulting in zero injuries to all involved. Many people think of their firearms in the same way that they think of their smoke detectors. They don't worry night and day that the house might catch on fire. But it's better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it.

"I am a high-profile elected official and now a lot of gun owners don't like me individually..."

This is an inflammatory statement designed to incite fear of law-abiding firearm owners. In reality, it is the lack of firearm ownership that contributes to the high violent-crime rate in San Francisco. One needs only to take a look at their surroundings to know that drug and gang infested neighborhoods have the highest levels of violent crime. Clearly these are not the "gun owners" to whom Daly is referring. In fact, career criminals are probably quite fond of Daly.

The fact that Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Josef Stalin and other political mass murderers mandated a total ban on personal firearm ownership before exterminating their own people, has everything to do with the distrust of political anti-gunners in this country. When confronted with this question, gun-banners typically scoff and say, "As if that could ever happen here." Somehow this statement fails to ease my concern.

"... if I'm in a situation where I feel threatened, I'll call the police."

• How many 9-1-1 calls go unanswered in the City of San Francisco and other major cities? Of the calls that are answered, how many crimes are actually prevented as a result of this call? How many fatalities occur despite calling the police?
• What if you can't get to a telephone? What if the line has been cut and you don't have a cell phone? What if you have a cell phone and the battery is dead or you can't get reception?
• What if you are car-jacked?
• What would Supervisor Daly have done during the Los Angeles riots where thousands of crimes were committed simultaneously and the police were so grossly outnumbered as to render them inept?
• How many lives could have been saved at Columbine if just one faculty member had had a firearm? Oh sure, someone called the police, but the killing spree continued while the police waited outside for hours until they determined that it was safe for them to go in.
• Suzanna Gratia-Hupp has repeatedly stated that she could have saved her parents lives during the mass murder at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas if she only she hadn't left her handgun in the glove box of her vehicle. She obviously had no idea what was to take place that afternoon and therefore did not feel the "need" to break the law and illegally carry a concealed firearm. Twenty-four people were murdered that day despite the fact that someone did call the police. There is no telling how many lives could have been saved if someone inside had a firearm.

It is important to note that police officers are an integral part of our society and are credited for deterring crime in areas where their presence is known. It is impossible, however, for the police to prevent crime everywhere all the time. This should be obvious, especially in San Francisco where the murder rate is so high.

It falls upon the individual to make a choice about whether or not to save a life if given the opportunity. This choice is guaranteed in the United States Constitution, the foundation of our country and liberty. San Franciscans are free to choose for themselves at the individual level, but they do not have the right to supercede my choice by banning the Second Amendment.

Jennifer Freeman is Executive Director and co-founder of Liberty Belles, a grass-roots organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the Second Amendment.
http://www.libertybelles.org
jennifer@libertybelles.org