A Man who cannot protect his wife and children, is no Man at all.

As men we are commissioned by Our Heavenly Father to Protect, Provide, and Lead our families. It is what we are designed for. It is why we have much higher muscle mass, why we have an inherent disregard for our own safety when the need arises, and why we have a desire to serve others. If we aren’t raised in a household where honor and valor are nurtured, it tends to go dormant until it either dies or a traumatic event forces it to come forward.

My childhood did not have the support I needed to foster these traits. I grew up in a broken home and lived with my mother until I was about 16. I then moved in with my Dad and stayed there until he kicked me out at 18 because I refused to get a job. My dad knew I needed a hard kick to the pants to get things going. Seven years later I joined the Marine Corps because I knew I needed to do something with my life that was bigger than I was.

The Marine Corps is what brought these traits out in me. I learned to lean on my fellow Marines, to protect those weaker than me, and how to push myself past the limits I thought I had. All things I lacked growing up, I had to learn from the Marine Corps. I am eternally grateful.

Multiple combat deployments helped me develop and refine these traits and skills. These traits and skills that are now being used as a Father and Husband. Every Father and Husband should own a firearm. You do not need an expensive firearm, but you do need training. If you have $1000 to spend, spend 500 on a firearm, 200 on ammo, and 300 on training. Then keep spending on ammo and training. Shooting is a perishable skill and needs constant honing.

You are the Protector of your family. That responsibility was laid on your shoulders the day you married your Wife. Her job is to raise and nurture your children, your job is to protect and provide for them. I know in todays society, both parents can be working, much like my wife and I both do. That doesn’t allow you to negate your responsibilities though. It is what we are made to do. Your sons will learn to protect and provide from you. Your daughters will learn to find men like you.

You will be told that you do not need a firearm. We live in a civilized society and firearms are an archaic tool of the past that we no longer need. Society tells us that anyone who needs to own a firearm isn’t a real man. The Second Amendment is an outdated law that we have progressed past.

A quote I read awhile ago stated it perfectly, “We are barbarians living in the ruins of a far superior civilization.” We live in a society that no longer values life. Women are taught that the 6 week old child in their womb is “just a clump of cells” and can be removed so they can continue their education or careers. This lack of value for life trickles down into all aspects of life. We are demonized for wanting to defend ourselves from burglars, and told to just let them steal it. We hear arguments that if a woman is being raped, its not okay for her to have a firearm to defend against the rapist, but its okay to abort the child.

When we no longer value life, we no longer have any desire to defend it. Then the escalation of violence by evil men continues unabashed. Antifa riots escalate from throwing milkshakes onto politicians they don’t agree with, to throwing bricks into a crowd of Brexiteers which consists of women and children. Mohammedans are able to establish Sharia Patrols in Dearborn MI and assault any woman who is not wearing a hijab, whether they’re Muslim or not.

The Atlanta radio host Erick Erickson wrote a book titled You Will Be Made to Care. In this book he lays out the argument that with encroaching anti christian attitude in the US, eventually one day we will all have to face persecution in one form or another. Catholics not only receive persecution from the militant atheist left, but we also receive persecution from Protestant sects in the US. In Europe, Africa, and The Middle East, Catholics are assaulted in their Churches and their Churches are vandalized and destroyed. As of this writing, 14 Japanese Catholic Children were stabbed with one fatality.

The need to protect your family will require you to carry a firearm at all times. This may even mean carrying into places you’re not “supposed” to carry. If a business has a sign that states you aren’t to carry in there, if they don’t have a paid police officer guarding the place, you may need to carry there anyway. The last thing you want is to need your firearm and not have it. Signs don’t stop criminals.

The average response time for Police in the United States is currently 9.5 minutes. As the adage go in a self defense situation, “When seconds count, the police are minutes away”. To compound the problem, as recently ruled from the Parkland School shooting, the police did not have a legal responsibility to protect the students in that school. The police’s job is being legislated to no longer being protectors of the citizens, but to merely investigate crimes after they happen. This means the responsibility falls on your shoulders as a husband and father to stand in the breach.

Do not shirk this responsibility. No one is going to do it for you, and I do not want you to shoulder the guilt if a time comes when you need to defend your family and you are unable or lack the will to do it.

The next installment of this article will focus on how to get started if you have never shot a firearm or want to know how to get in the mindset of being the Shield of your family.