Self-Defense Archives - The Virginia Star

Commentary: Gun Owners End 2023 Proving Gun Control Advocates Wrong

January 15, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

As 2023 drew to a close, millions of peaceable Americans geared up for a new year that will bring with it many new limitations on their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

In California, for example, Jan. 1 was the date to ring in the state’s plethora of new restrictions on carrying concealed firearms in public, courtesy of SB 2, a law passed in the wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to punish concealed carry permit holders for having their rights vindicated by the Supreme Court.

Commentary: 11 More Examples of Defensive Gun Use to Fend Off Criminals

December 27, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

As cities across the country reel from explosive crime rates, many politicians at the local, state, and federal levels are too preoccupied with disarming peaceable American gun owners to identify, arrest, and prosecute actual criminals adequately.

Two masked attackers met their match last month when they attacked Los Angeles resident Vince Ricci as he walked toward the front door of his house. The pair brandished a firearm at Ricci, who pulled out his own gun and shot at the thugs, who ran away.

Commentary: 12 Defensive Gun Uses Show That Armed Citizens Make Communities Safer

September 9, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

As the nation continues to reel from historic violent crime spikes, many gun control activists turn reflexively to the same “bumper sticker slogan” policy “solutions” that fail to address real problems while often undermining the Second Amendment rights of peaceable citizens.

Last week, some Hartford, Connecticut, residents made headlines for taking a different approach. Instead of demanding that their fellow citizens abandon their rights to armed self-defense, they announced that they would henceforth start exercising those rights in a public manner to enhance community safety.

Commentary: Defensive Gun Uses in Month of July Show Protective Benefits of Second Amendment

August 22, 2022August 21, 2022 Admin

I testified before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee last month in a hearing focused on “the economic toll of gun violence.”

Of course, there’s no doubt that gun violence imposes a tremendous cost on society, both financially and in far less readily calculable ways. How does one measure, for example, the mental and emotional toll of being shot?

Commentary: Rittenhouse Case Highlights a House Divided on Self-Defense

November 26, 2021November 25, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The conclusion of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, in which the 18-year-old was found not guilty of murder or assault in the shootings of three rioters in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, reflects a widening gap in how Americans conceive of justice and self-defense.

For those cheering Rittenhouse’s exoneration, the case was a prototypical demonstration of rights and obligations of republican citizenship. A lawfully armed Rittenhouse joined with neighbors, in the absence of effective governance, to protect lives and property by putting out fires, cleaning up damage, and offering medical assistance to the injured. When he was directly assaulted for engaging in this activity, Rittenhouse defended himself, harming no one who had not directly placed him under reasonable fear for his life.

Two Black Men Made Self-Defense Claims Against Police This Year and Won

November 24, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber (both white men) because of white supremacy, according to left-wing politicians and journalists.

Rittenhouse shot three people (all white), killing two, in a claimed self-defense incident after he was charged by left-wing rioters during unrest in Kenosha last year. A jury cleared him of all charges on Friday.

According to people like Rep. Cori Bush, Rittenhouse’s acquittal was “white supremacy in action.”

“This system isn’t built to hold white supremacists accountable. It’s why Black and brown folks are brutalized and put in cages while white supremacist murderers walk free,” she said on Twitter.

Judge Dismisses Weapons Charge Against Rittenhouse, Closing Arguments Delivered

November 16, 2021November 15, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

In the high-profile trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of intentional homicide after killing two and wounding one during an August 25, 2020 riot in Kenosha, Judge Bruce Schroeder began Monday by dismissing a weapons charge against the 18-year-old defendant.

Count six of the complaint, possession of a dangerous weapon by a minor, was dropped before closing arguments began. That was a lesser charge in the complaint – a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in prison.

Analysis: These 11 Examples of Defensive Gun Use Undermine Push for More Gun Control

March 14, 2021March 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

March is Women’s History Month, yet Congress appears ready to celebrate in the worst way possible by creating more barriers for women who seek to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

While COVID-19-related bills have taken up much of the national spotlight, several gun control bills are primed for passage this week in the House. This is hardly surprising, given that just last month, President Joe Biden called on Congress to enact a plethora of new federal gun legislation.

Eleven Cases of Defensive Gun Use That Show How Biden’s Key Picks Miss the Mark

December 27, 2020December 26, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Joe Biden has begun naming his picks for top political positions in a Biden administration, and it is already evident that many of them are not fans of Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

For example, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra—Biden’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services—has spent the past three years defending that state’s absurdly restrictive gun control laws in federal court.

McCloskeys Indicted on Gun Charges From Standoff at St. Louis Mansion

October 8, 2020October 7, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple charged in July with brandishing weapons at rioters who broke into their gated community, have been indicted by a grand jury.

The McCloskey’s were indicted Tuesday on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering, according to their attorney Al Watkins, Fox News reports.

11 Incidents in Which Lawful Gun Owners Made a Difference

July 19, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

As the Supreme Court continued its decadelong silence in protecting the Second Amendment, Americans last month nevertheless proved that they understand the importance of the right to keep and bear arms.

The FBI conducted a record-high 3.9 million background checks for firearms sales and transfers in June. The previous record of 3.7 million was set just this past March.

Analysis: In These 11 Incidents, Gun Owners Defended Life and Property

June 14, 2020June 13, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

The last week of May proved just how quickly the seemingly stable peace of our world can devolve into chaos and near-anarchy. Many of us, already concerned that police departments were stretched thin by COVID-19, watched in horror as law enforcement seemed to lose control of protests in major cities.

For several nights, police officers scarcely could keep their own precincts from being overrun, much less respond to calls for help from terrified civilians.