And so, in these great states you must fight for your right — your responsibility — to protect yourself. Minnesota and Washington are both “shall issue” states. This means that the Sheriff “shall issue” handgun conceal/carry permits to all who apply, unless there is danger in doing so as defined by law. Typically the danger is described as a history of mental illness, violent criminal convictions (including domestic abuse), etc. This is to prevent the crazies and crooks from getting permits to carry guns. Of course, they will carry anyhow if they have one, but won’t be doing so legally.

What does it mean if you don’t live in a “shall issue” state? It means that the Sheriff may — and most often will — deny your request for a conceal/carry permit for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Before Minnesota passed its “shall issue” law in 2002 or 2003, Hennepin County Sheriffs would refuse anyone without a law enforcement background regardless of an absolute lack of criminal record, mental illness, or any reasonable reason to deny a permit. The logic is nonexistent.

I got home today and read the following on SLOG:

So last night, I was innocently minding my own business (and maybe a little bit of the business of my friendly companion) when I experienced the most terrifying interaction I have ever had with a street person.

I was walking on Broadway to the Harvard Exit to see Persepolis and I was walking in front of the old, closed down QFC. A man approached me and asked if he could have some money. He was about 6’3”, Asian or Native, and wearing the typical uniform of a street person—dirty baggy clothes of an indeterminate blue-green-grey-brown-tan.

I refused to give him any money. Walking down Broadway, I’d already been asked for money four times. I didn’t have any money to give. Just cards. And, in any case, I don’t give panhandlers money. Sometimes I will buy traveling kids some food, but that’s it.

In any case, he began to follow me, calling me names.

“Fuck you, bitch!”

I rolled my head back on my neck and groaned to my companion. I can deal with “Fuck you, bitch.”

“You fucking slut!”

Again, been there, done that.

“I’m gonna…”

This is where it started to get truly obnoxious.

“I’m gonna grease your asscrack up with Vaseline and fuck you like the bitch you are!”

This is the part of the conversation where, if I had been born the way God originally planned, I would have reared my big fucking tall head around, asked this motherfucker to repeat himself, and when he did, beat the living shit out of him.

But through some freak accident, I was born into the body of a tiny little girl. And we were late for the movie. And my friend is probably not into confrontation (I didn’t ask). So I did nothing. I just kept walking.

I regret it. Generally, I don’t like to let people get away with threatening to violently rape me.

But here’s where I start to run into problems: What could I have done? Told him off? Probably a bad idea. He was obviously fucked-up and a lot bigger than me and my friend. Called the cops? Then, I would have had to wait until they got there to give a statement, if they ever came. What if he just walked away while I sat in Pagliacci’s and waited?

They all seem like dead ends. The only thing I could come up with is taking a picture of him with my cameraphone next time I see him and putting it on Slog.

This is absolutely abhorrent, particularly with the recent shootings and stabbings in Capitol Hill and nearby. If the Seattle PD doesn’t take unprovoked threats of violence seriously, no one should expect them to take actual violence seriously. No one will protect you from this guy or others. You must take into your own hands the responsibility to protect your life (and/or anal virginity.) Buy a pistol. If you live in a “shall issue” state, get yourself a conceal/carry license. Learn how to use it. Visit a pistol range often to get comfortable with it. Learn how and when not to use it.

As stated by someone in the comments of that post, someone who has less to lose than you is a potential threat — especially when they are threatening to rape you. Do not settle for pissing them off by attempting to spray their eyes with pepper spray unless you don’t feel capable of carrying (legally) a gun. In either case, you must follow through with reporting the incident to the police. Failure to do so is a breach in your responsibility to maintaining the safety of your community. Standing by and doing nothing when someone is violently threatened is a breach in your responsibility as an onlooker. The streets will be ruled by Those People™ unless law-abiding citizens stand together united against them. But first, individuals must be willing to stand up, themselves, to the trash that threatens their safety.

Learn the law. Arm yourselves. Defend yourselves, then we may defend ourselves.

In related news, Friday morning I will be applying for my Washington conceal/carry permit.

..and that’s fine.

The relative pointlessness of our existence is a reality. We cannot alter reality. Instead, in order to live fulfilling lives — for the relative fraction of a nanosecond we do exist — we must learn what it is that makes us happy as individuals and strive towards that end. Barring physiological limitations, each person has something which makes them happy and for which they wake up in the morning.

An easy answer for many is family and friends. While that could be considered noble, to place your self-worth entirely in the hands of others is potentially dangerous. Not everything we aspire to must be easily accomplished, so don’t take a shortcut in an attempt to reach enlightenment (sotospeak) at the risk of being torn down (intentionally or not) by the others you rely so heavily upon.

Reality is important, but our perception of reality is upon which we base our existences. To turn the power of perception over to others (cough, religion, cough) we surrender our wills, and our lives to those others. That is not noble. It is stupid, lazy, (at best) misguided.