22 Years ago in the heat of the riots following the Rodney King Verdict in L.A., an unlikely group of people were facing an existential threat and answered it by bearing arms.

The insidious agenda of the so-called liberal gun-grabbers in the U.S. has reached a fevered pitch. The latest gambit to outlaw hunting ammunition only underscores the brazenness with which they are pursuing their agenda. The main assertion of the anti-gun lobby is that guns have no use in our society and that they only cause harm when people misuse them. Aside from the fact that the majority of gun deaths in the United States can be directly attributed to the Malthusian Drug War, there are thousands of instances annually where guns are used to protect the innocents and their property.

One of the most startlingly direct examples of guns being used to defend against the lawless happened 22 years ago in Los Angles. The Korean community in the Los Angeles area has a typical “Korea Town” where the majority of immigrants cluster and create a new hybrid society with Korean ideals and the pursuit of dreams enabled by the capitalist environment. Here they have thrived, building businesses, directly supporting their communities in education and social cohesion.

In April of 1992 the tinderbox that was Los Angeles was ignited by the news of the Rodney King verdict. The black community was outraged at the acquittal of police officers from pretty obvious police brutally charges. This collective anger exploded into violent demonstrations that then became full fledged riots. The mass of angry rioters began to lash out at cars and businesses indiscriminately. They started fires, smashed windows and assaulted people at random. The thrall of absolute anarchy and lawlessness had seized their fevered minds. The mob mentality became infectious spread like wildfire as rampant looting began to reach a fevered pitch…. Where were the police? Where was law-enforcement to serve and protect? They fell back to positions outside of the communities and allowed the vicious destruction to continue unabated.

Trapped inside this circle of chaos was the majority of Korea town. They had spent decades patently building their businesses and homes. Being a hearty community they were not going to stand down in the face of losing it all. Along with the principles of self reliance and bare capitalism, the Koreans had taken full advantage of another American right, the right to bear arms. So there they were, stationed on the roofs of their buildings like archers on the parapets of the castle keep. They had their businesses barricaded and were ready for the zombified assault of the teeming rioters.

For six days the Koreans slept in shifts and delivered warning shots to those who might test their will.

Due to their low social status and language barrier, Korean Americans received very little if any aid or protection from police authorities. David Joo, a manager of a korean gun store, said, “I want to make it clear that we didn’t open fire first. At that time, four police cars were there. Somebody started to shoot at us. The LAPD ran away in half a second. I never saw such a fast escape. I was pretty disappointed.”

Carl Rhyu, a participant in the Korean immigrants’ armed response to the rioting, said, “If it was your own business and your own property, would you be willing to trust it to someone else? We are glad the National Guard is here. They’re good backup. But when our shops were burning we called the police every five minutes; no response.” -wikipedia

The irony of all of this is that the very weapons that gun control advocates have erroneously branded “assault weapons” were instrumental in the defense of the Korean community. This circumstance is a shining example of the absolute necessity of an armed populace. The anti-gun crowd will continue to attack with their baseless rhetoric, building straw-man arguments out of whole cloth attempting to vilify and destroy the very principles that made our self-reliant nation great. We must remember the courage and strength of those quickly assembled militias and find in ourselves the will to oppose the anti-gun movement at every turn. For next time the world erupts into flames, we’ll want the security of our right to bear arms fully realized as we take to the parapets and defend our honor and freedom.

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