As the election heats up and there are only slightly more than 30 days left until election day, one of the items I’ll be listening for during the presidential debates is the topic of gun control.

Robert Heinlein once said, “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”

Such was the case with a 65-year old resident of Wichita, Kansas, recently.

Monday at 10 a.m., the 65-year-old owner of Club Billiards at 925 W. Douglas had just arrived at work and was getting out of his truck when he was approached by a man with his hands in his pocket.

The suspect said that he had a gun and ordered the man to hand over his wallet.

“I said really? So, I reached over and got my gun, and I pointed it and said, you know, one of us is going to get hurt real bad here,” Steve Yager chuckles as he tells the story. ‘I said one of us is going to get hurt real bad here, if you have a gun, it’s adios.”

Yager has a conceal carry license. He says the robber told him he was just kidding and took off running.

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. It’s important that we Americans protect and EXERCISE our rights to keep and bear arms. We also have to ensure that the legislators we elect understand that right and will not chip away at them.

In July, President Obama made a remark that is quite telling about his views of the second amendment. At a rally in July before the Urban League in New Orleans, the president made the following remarks.

Obama: “But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers and not in the hands of crooks. They belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”

So, Obama here is calling everyone with an AK (of which, I have two) either a Soldier or a crook. Which are you? I’ve never used my AKs for criminal activity. I have fun with them for target practice and shooting hogs. Yes, shooting hogs. Why do I have to be pigeon-holed into a “hunting rifle” if I don’t like the caliber or style of those rifles. I hunt with my AR and my AK. While the AK isn’t as reliable, with practice it works just fine.

There are those that will argue for gun control and use the myth that legally armed citizens rarely stop crimes. I get several NRA magazines each month as a life member and in EVERY SINGLE ISSUE there are stories of armed citizens defending themselves or stopping crimes in progress. While the police are a great and valuable resource, they only respond AFTER a crime has been committed.

I refuse to be a victim.