Mark Tapson takes issue:
As for owning an AR-15 making you “more of a man,” Durbin meant it as a taunt to suggest that male gun owners are insecure about their masculinity. But in fact – and this assertion will cause the heads of feminists and proud non-binary types to explode – owning a firearm actually does make one more of a man. One of the universal duties of manhood is to fulfill the role of protector. Having the capability (such as a firearm), the training, and the will to stand up and protect your life, your loved ones, your property, and your community is a clear marker of moral masculinity. Not in the swaggering way of someone looking to pick a fight, but in the quiet strength and confidence of a man who understands, respects, and is capable of wielding the power of righteous force. In that sense, owning a firearm and being trained and ready to use it when necessary does indeed make you more of a man than someone who willfully abdicates that responsibility.
Tapson mentions 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken (photo), who stopped a mass shooter at Indiana’s Greenwood Park Mall by taking him out with a handgun within seconds of the shooter launching his rampage. Dicken was roundly denounced by The Left.
The Left has loosed crime upon the land, and real men are forced to defend their families. According to almost every major study on the issue, Americans use their firearms defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times each year.
Just one example: A concealed-carry permit holder was socializing with guests at a home cookout when three armed men attempted to rob them all at gunpoint. The permit holder drew his own handgun and fatally shot one of the robbers. The other two fled.
The Left, Tapson writes, "fears and despises men’s inherent warrior spirit because it is the most elemental barrier to their totalitarian agenda. They fear and despise the fact that the constitutional right to own a firearm empowers you to fulfill your responsibility as a man, to maintain your freedom as an American, and to defend the lives and freedom of others."
"The only arena in which toxic masculinity is acceptable to the Left today," he says, "is in women’s sports."