Where Is Mumbai?

Get out your Gazetteer. It had better be of recent publication. Mumbai is India's largest city, and it's financial capital. Mumbai is to India as New York is to the United States. But until 1996 it was known as Bombay, a name from Imperial times. Mumbai is a fascinating city unlike any other on earth.

Recently Mumbai has been in the news. Islamic terrorists went on a killing spree through leading hotels, a railway station, a cultural center, a restaurant and more. Hundreds were killed or injured by only ten determined assailants. The horror continued for two days. Local news reports are calling the incident India's 9/11.

Intelligence anaysts report that the terrorists were well trained and equipped, and that the operational plan for the attack is scalable and reuseable. More terrorists could be preparing additional Mumbai style attacks for the future. Young men with AK-47s are easier to obtain and deploy than fully fueled passenger airliners.

It is notable that only ten men with relatively light arms were able to cause so much damage over such an extended period of time. But, Mumbai, like many modern progressive cities, requires that its citizens be disarmed. And like most other socialized deninzens of the modern urban world, people in Mumbai are no doubt taught to rely on the Authorities for emergency response, and to seek non-violent means for conflict resolution.

Terrorist planning for the Mumbai attack was founded on the secure knowledge that the people of Mumbai would be personally defenceless. They could be slaughtered like sheep in a pen.

Just like the children at Columbine. Or the students at Virginia Tech.

Thirty-nine American States honor the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights by providing that concealed carry permits shall be issued to qualified citizens. In Texas and Florida nobody can be sure who is or isn't armed. A Mumbai style attack on the best hotels or cultural centers in Dallas or Miami would be a deadly gamble - for the terrorists.

But the debate goes on. My God-given individual right to defend myself and those around me by use of appropriate firearms is regularly infringed or denied by government. The ruling elite here in California, all of whom may themselves go armed or guarded while in public, prefer to rely on the Authorities for the safety of the sheep.

Where is Mumbai? It is your city, your town, your school or church. It is anyplace where significant numbers of people gather in a confined space.

If your community is one in which people have retained the right of individual self-defence, be glad in your increased security. Join in the defence of your community. Consider becoming qualified to carry a firearm. If you are already qualified, consider going armed when you are in public. Just one armed citizen at Virginia Tech could have saved dozens of lives.

If your community denies your right to self-defence, be aware that it is a soft target for terrorism.

Mumbai is your hometown.