 Now everybody wants to be a cool kid and have all this gadgets and a gun. Okay, you carry a gun, especially if you're in the private sector. You're not a soldier, you're not, you know, in law enforcement. If you carry a gun with a light on it, when's the last time you needed that? And most people, if they're honest with you, well, not really. I had a guy tell me, yeah, but if I have to change the tire, I got you an idiot. But you know that's happened. Oh, I listen, I've seen, I remember seeing a picture in a newspaper of it was an accident scene. Individual was being treated by the the medics and here's a police officer with his pistol light on doing this so they can see what they're doing. And I looked at, I remember I cut out the paper. I don't know where it's at, but I thought, okay, this is what you're not supposed to do. Yeah. I mean, pull it off, make it a handheld, put the whole, and yeah, well, the bottom line is, I think lights in today's world are extremely overrated. Hey, everyone, Dylan Chumacher, Citadel Defense, and that is a short little excerpt pulled from a little chat between Ken Hackathorn and Paul Howe. Ken Hackathorn, if you don't know, is the guy with the mustache, Paul Howe is the other guy. I'm a big fan of Paul Howe. You should follow him on YouTube if you're not already. I've also read several of his books, Paul Howe's books that are viewed on this channel. I'm a big, big fan of Paul Howe. Ken Hackathorn, to be honest, I don't know as much about. He I know is a founding member of the IDPA and he's created some other drills and he's been around in the world for a very long time, very prominent figure. So I pulled this little excerpt and like I said, I have not seen the whole interview so there could be more context or something else that I'm missing from this. However, this little video I ran into on Twitter and Ken Hackathorn was just getting wrecked in the comments, somewhat appropriately so, and I want to talk about it. So the first thing and the obvious practical thing that everybody has pointed out is if someone breaks into your house at 3 a.m., it's pitch dark. You can't see. You need a light in order to positive ID that target before you start to send rounds, you know, in your house. So obviously, me every day as a normal person, I need a flashlight for that very practical, very real purpose and that's a very good and valid point. But what I thought about this clip and what I want to talk about was something just a level deeper than the actual practical use, which when it comes to the actual practical use, all those people are correct. Ken Hackathorn is 1,000% incorrect. You should have a light on your gun, particularly if it's your defensive gun or rifle. So again, at night, you can see. But the level deeper here, and in my opinion, the real, the real issue is what I perceive and I could be wrong, what I perceive Ken's presuppositions to be. Ken talks about, okay, you're an everyday civilian, you're not a soldier, you're not a police officer, therefore, you don't need the same capability that they need. And I would categorically disagree with that statement. I'm just an everyday guy, but I absolutely want the same capability as a police officer, as a soldier, absolutely I want that capability. There's a reason I own night vision and have suppressors and chest rigs and gear and study tactics and stuff like that. There's a very good reason for that. Side note, I did design a chest rig and it's coming out in April, so you should go over to my website and check those out. The reason I want the same capability or greater than a police officer or a soldier is because we have the Second Amendment in this country and the Second Amendment was designed around the idea that everyday civilians, you, me, everybody else, should be able, should be capable, like have the gear, skills, equipment, mindset, etc., to fight and win wars. That's the whole point of the Second Amendment. So of course I need the same capability as them or greater because I, as an everyday American who embraces my martial American heritage, should of course be equipped and compelled to, if necessary, fight and win wars. That's why we have the Second Amendment. That's why this whole gun culture thing exists. That's why we have gun companies that do millions and millions of dollars in this country because we have a very robust gun culture and it's founded on that bedrock of Americans being equipped, ready, able to fight and win wars. And I'm not talking about the American military, the American government and how we've outsourced that to these other departments of the government that we pay ridiculous taxes to and they overspend anyway. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you, me, and everyday other people, right? That's how this country was founded. That's how this country was expanded and that's how this country should continue to exist. It's based on this concept that everyday people have the skills, gear, equipment, etc. to be able to fight and win wars. So when you say a statement like, well, you're not a police officer or you're not a soldier, you therefore don't need that capability, that always just kind of puzzles me a bit because I'm like, well, I don't think we're starting from the same presupposition here on what the Second Amendment means or what the heritage of being a martial American means or any of that. I don't think we're understanding what that is. Now, practically my police officer, my wrestling felons on a day-to-day basis and having to make house entries and go into domestic disputes and am I doing night patrols? No, I'm not doing any of that on a day-to-day basis. Yes, on that very practical need, I guess I don't need it for that. However, like I noted before, I still have a practical need for it because nighttime still exists for everybody around the world. I think this argument and the argument that it uses along the lines of, well, you know, it's not practical, therefore, you know, it's just overrated. I think you could use that exact same argument over the gun. How often have I ever had to pull up my gun to defend my life? Zero, zero times. There's been a lot of times I've been happy that I've had it, but I've had to pull it out zero times. Does that mean, therefore, that I should not carry a gun? Does that mean that we should just forget this whole thing and close up shop? Well, no, of course not, right? If you're only going to argue on a practical need, well, you don't practically need that, that's one of the arguments they use to ban assault rifles, right? Assault rifles. That's one of the arguments they can use, right? Well, you don't practically need that. Nobody, you know, deer aren't wearing Kevlar vests, as our president likes to say. Deer aren't wearing Kevlar vests out there. What the hell you need a assault? No, I'm serious. So this argument based on practicality, I just don't think it's a very good argument when it comes to equipment, deer, guns, tactic stuff because this is far deeper than a practical argument. This isn't about what you need or don't need. This is about what are the founding principles of this nation? What are the founding principles that the gun culture are built on, right? And when you get down to that founding principle level and you're going to agree with me, and maybe you won't, but you're going to agree that Americans should be equipped, ready, and able to fight and win wars as everyday people. Because we have, we are the militia, right? If you're going to agree to that principle, then this idea of what you practically do and don't need, it honestly becomes kind of obsolete and kind of silly. So I don't, of course, mean any disrespect to Mr. Ken or Paul Howe or anybody else who participated in this thing. But I do think we need to look at the founding principle here. And we need to say, well, wait a second, what is it that we actually believe about the right to own guns in America? Why do we have that? And therefore then, practically we can talk about how that works out. But if you want to say gun lights are stupid and you don't want to carry one, you don't think other people should carry one, hey, it's America. You can say that because people fought with guns, everyday people fought with guns to defend that. Then that's totally fine. But I'm just saying, I think this is a statement that isn't grounded in any principle. It's just grounded in pragmatism. Well, you don't need it on a practical basis, so why bother having it? And I understand that people can overload their guns with things. But I'll tell you right now, my everyday carry pistol, right? I have a optic on there and I have a light on there. Why? Because it makes it easier to use and it allows me to positively identify what I may or may not have to shoot. So boys, carry a light on your gun. Remember that when you carry that light on your gun, you're carrying it on there because you have a bedrock foundation of embracing your martial American heritage. And you are ready, equipped, and able to fight and win wars should the need arise. Do brave deeds and endure.