True story. Names have been changed and gender pronouns have been androgenized because they really don’t matter. Recently, someone I know called the police let’s call this person Pat. Pat was calling the cops to report that s/he was concerned for hir safety. S/he believed that s/he might be in danger from a person who was known to own firearms.

The officer who answered the phone asked whether the threatening person was currently present. Pat said no. The officer then said that, it being a Friday night and all, their officers had higher priorities than this situation. “Are you kidding me,” Pat asked. “This person has been threatening me and harassing me, and now s/he said that s/he is coming over to my house. I know that s/he has a gun. That’s not a high enough priority for you?”

The officer replied, “Do you own a gun?”

“Yes.”

“Are you prepared to use it if you have to?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to have to. That’s why I’m calling you!”

“If s/he comes over to your house, then you call us. Until then, we’ve got other things to do.”

Sometimes, people argue that private firearm ownership is not necessary, because the police are there to protect you. This is just plain wrong, as even the police themselves will tell you when you call them on a Friday night when you’re afraid that someone is coming to your house to try to kill you. The police are there to capture suspected criminals after a crime has occurred and gather evidence that can be used to convict them. The police also prevent crime in some circumstances, but the police are not obligated to prevent any particular instance of crime, which is relevant if you are the potential victim in that particular instance.