NO SURRENDER!
Delivered by Lenda Jackson at the RKBA Rally in Denver, April 18, 1993

It is a fact of modern life that urban residents, particularly women, feel
threatened. A certain number of them actually are threatened. There are
immediate threats, the things that women will tell you they're afraid
of. The noise downstairs at night. The lonely walk to the car. The
stranger at the door. The abusive husband, finally kicked out of the
house as he threatens to hurt her and their children. The burglar... The
mugger...the rapist. 

And what are we told is the solution? Move. Get a dog. Keep the door
locked. Call the police. as a next-to-last resort, learn martial arts. and
always, there's the implied question "what's a pretty little thing like
you doing without a husband around to protect you?

But what if you don't like dogs? Like living alone? Don't have 10
years to devote learning judo?

What if, after examining the facts, a woman learns that "rape victims
using armed resistance were less likely to have the rape completed -
and were less likely to be injured(Kleck,124) than those using any
other form of resistance (Kleck,126) (also true for
robbery/assault)(Kleck,123) 

What if, to our horror and despair, we find that citizens cannot depend
on the police for effective protection - they usually respond after a
crime has been committed. In truth, the Supreme Court has held that
the police are not responsible for protecting any individual, only the
whole community.

As a society, are we going to ask women, once again, to sacrifice
themselves? Are we going to continue to deny women the ability to
help themselves?

Here's a thought. Neil Smith, in his book The Probability Broach, says
"no 220 pound thug can threaten the well being or dignity of a 110-
pound woman who has two pounds of iron to even things out." But if
a woman decides to protect herself, with the easiest, most efficient
means possible, people - especially other women - are horrified.
"Eughh, how could you? I'd be terrified!" they ask. How could you
hurt someone? They'll repeat the lie: it'll just get taken away from
you. In truth, 1% of "defensive gun uses" result in the offender taking
the gun away from the victim.(122,Kleck)

Well, despite the lies, and the social pressure, some of us have already
made that hard choice. We've decided that we are not going to be
victimized by the muggers, burglars or rapists. We're buying more
guns than every before. We're learning how to use them - and teaching
others, women and men, how to use them. Most importantly, we are
preparing ourselves mentally to use our firearms for our own defense.
We're taking our own security, literally, into our own hands. We're
going to stop begging and pleading and marching and WHAT WE
INTEND IS TO REALLY TAKE BACK THE NIGHT.

But there's another threat, more insatiable than any mugger, more
secretive than any burglar, more soul-destroying than any rapist.

That menace is government, and it threatens us all. We know that
governments, throughout time, have suppressed rights and oppressed
people. It's the way they survive.

In our names and with our money, it interferes with innocent people
both at home and abroad. It lies to us, cheats us, steals from us and
threatens us with violence. No one knows exactly what it'll do next -
what freedom we will lose because some government goon decides
"it's for your own safety" or "we know best". Any person who acted
like government does would be psychoanalyzed within an inch of his
life and locked up as a habitual offender.

But this monster called government persists, and grows. And we, who
should be its masters, have become its unwilling slaves. Do you doubt
me? Then why did you file your income tax? 

Like any reasonable person, I believe that being afraid of something
that can hurt you is smart, and that paranoia isn't crazy if someone's
really after you. And make no mistake, they're after you and they're
after me. Their names are familiar: Brady and Reynolds, Groff,
Metzenbahm, Moynihan, and Clinton. If we're lucky, they'll settle for
our assault rifles, our shotguns, our handguns and our ammunition. 

As citizens, we have only two choices. They are the same two choices
given to women: to surrender or to fight. 

Surrender leads to the gulag, to the genocide of Pol Pot, to the
disappearances, to Dachau. I do not intend to surrender. 

A battle can be philosophical or political: in the main, the people keep
the government honest by threatening to vote it out of office. But if
they have to, they will keep in mind the words of Thomas Jefferson:
"the tree of liberty must be well watered with the blood of patriots."

As a patriot, I will point out the error in the government's ways. I will
do my best to vote the villains out of office. I will protest, and write,
and speak, and teach our children justice, honor and truth. And always
remember that Rebellion can lead to Bunker Hill and Saratoga......or it
can lead to Tiananmen Square. 

When the time comes to stand up, if I have to give my life to keep
them from going too far, if there is a Tiananmen Square in our future,
I intend to be there. And no matter what lies they tell and no matter
what laws they pass, I intend to meet them with something more
substantial in my hand than a brick. 