Milwaukee County Sherriff David Clarke is known nationally for his strong support of the Second Amendment and responses to protests by Black Lives Matter. In an interview with Neil Cavuto of Fox News on September 24, Clarke commented on the tension caused by incidents such as the Charlotte, North Carolina protests, St. Cloud Mall Stabbings, and other recent incidents.

“Being scared is not enough. I say, you can hide under the bed, you can do all this other stuff, but you can fight back. And the more these individuals, these perpetrators realize that somebody is going to quickly be able to counter their nonsense, I think you’ll see less [of these attacks],”Clarke said.

Clarke believes that Americans need to “wake up and get out of this naïve view that the police will be able to protect everybody all the time.” He says that through the exercise of Second Amendment Rights, “you’ll be able to play a role in saving your own life.”

With current situations as they are, Clarke said attackers know that prior to outside forces stopping their attacks, shedding a lot of blood will be doable when they are presented with soft, easy targets.

In Milwaukee, however, some differing views exist between Police Chief Edward Flynn and Clarke. Chief Flynn is openly opposed to the right to bear arms, calling Second Amendment defenders “sleeping beasts,” while Clarke strongly supports gun ownership as a matter of protection.

Unfortunately, under the leadership of Flynn, police response times have lengthened dramatically. With the average response time for armed robbery sitting at 17 minutes and 55 seconds (not including travel time) for a police car to be dispatched, it is no wonder that Sheriff Clarke believes residents need to be at the forefront of their own securities.

Sherriff Clarke urged Milwaukee County citizens to take gun safety courses and learn how to defend their lives until police arrive.

“You could beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under your bed, or you can fight back,” Clarke added.

It seems that Chief Flynn’s method of leaving yourself defenseless in the hopes of disarming violent criminals has proven dangerous yet again. Response times have increased in Milwaukee and the police cannot always be counted on to save the day in time. It is time for more Americans to play a role in their own safeties and utilize the freedoms guaranteed by the Second Amendment.