THE IMPLICATIONS OF WI V. RITTENHOUSE
A Right to Self Defense
What Have We Learned?
To me, the first lesson I learned from the Rittenhouse case is that a threat of violence in response to a verdict doesn’t guarantee the outcome. Unsequestered, the jury knew that freeing Kyle Rittenhouse might lead to another “protest,” endangering their town, its businesses and its people. Despite the utter insanity of the charges and the incompetence of the prosecution, I could see rational people opt to vote with fear rather than facts. This didn’t happen, which is a great sign for the essential integrity of the empaneled group.
The Right to Self-Defense
We also learned that there is a right to self-defense. Most people probably don’t know the law of their state and I count myself in that group, before I took training for my CCW. Interspersed with firing practice, we had loads of lectures on the law. In some states, the concept of self-defense is much broader, but if you live in a blue state, as I do, you’ll find that you will be treated as a criminal by the police if you have to fire your weapon. Yes, in many cases, the criminal case can be won, but California is big on civil suits. Too often, a jury just feels sorry for the creep who invaded your home and awards damages. It’s costly and dangerous to defend your right to self-defense. Wisconsin isn’t quite as “blue” as California.
The 2nd Amendment does allow the use of deadly force even in a violent riot. Our lives are protected by the Constitution and while crooks don’t obey laws, we can use the law to protect ourselves. It’s possible that this result may deter people from violence in these “mostly peaceful protests,” but it will take time, and more lives lost.
The Right to a Fair Trial
Did anyone expect a fair trial here? I didn’t, but we got one. I began to have more faith in my fellow citizen to do the right thing, even when it was hard. Unfortunately, this was a more clear-cut case than often happens. Video evidence supported Rittenhouse’s story and the sole, living victim told the truth on the stand. Still, juries are made up of humans and in many cases, can see themselves in the defendant. Would you actually let a person or persons break into your house and do whatever they want to you or your property? Even the most reluctant might resort to violence in the face of a threat.
The News & The Government Aren’t All Powerful
Politicians and the news decried the verdict and looked for ways to overturn it, trying to appease their usual mixed bag of supporters: Antifa, BLM and other malcontents. This reminds us of Biden trying to get the FBI to label parents who oppose CRT as terrorists. More and more, people are waking up to the insanity of both the news and the Democrats and saying “no more.”
In fact, politicians should never comment on trials and newscasters should go back to reporting the news, not their opinions. There are plenty of opinion-based shows available; we hunger for real news, untainted by personal or corporate viewpoints.
Your Words Have Consequences
We have libel and slander laws for a reason; these kinds of words CAN really damage someone’s life. I remember several cases of people falsely accused of hurting children in daycares; they “won” their cases, because there was no evidence of them actually hurting anyone, but their lives were ruined. While people talk about hearing slurs as hurting them (get over it), libel and slander does actual, measurable damage.
Kyle Rittenhouse is following the lead and guidance of Nick Sandmann, the teen whose life the politicians and media tried to destroy after the confrontation with angry protestors. Interestingly, Biden is not protected, as his initial libels and slanders occurred before he was in office. The media and other individuals with their powerful platforms will be in court soon enough. In addition, I hope a good university will welcome him as ASU and the idiot protestors there will not. I took California Libel and Slander Law at Cal many years ago; more people should study up on their state protections. Hopefully, the chilling effect of lawsuits should temper conversations in the future.
Gun Rights
For me, the best outcome is that people have seen that someone could successfully protect their life and not go to prison. In this last year, we saw over 1.8MM new gunowners, people who had previously never considered this option. The reason is clear—they’re afraid for their lives and want to be able to protect themselves and their families.
The 2nd Amendment famously protects all other rights. In every totalitarian country, the first act of the government is to disarm the public, because only then, can they ensure absolute control. The core meaning of this right is to say that we have the right to overturn a government with force and violence if the need should happen again, as it did in the Revolution.
If you dig into gun laws, you’ll discover a few surprising facts. First, the laws to go after criminals don’t really matter to those criminals. After all, they are criminals because they don’t respect laws. And only a few laws really need to be there to appropriately convict crooks. The vast majority are laws against you and me, laws that control our right to protect ourselves. As we go forward, more people will become aware of this and stand up to fight it. We don’t need more “common sense gun laws,” because these only keep us from protecting ourselves. We have a right to life; especially at this point in time when you can’t be sure of safety anywhere. The 2nd Amendment is the only way to ensure our freedoms.
