Things are not going well, if not as bad as too many people are saying.

However, too many people are still panicking about owning or having their neighbors owning guns for self-defense. Here are thirteen reasons to be armed (that is, keep AND bear arms) during this crisis:

1. Hundreds, even thousands of convicts and accused criminals awaiting trial are being released from jails and prisons around the Fifty States. They often have but one way of making a living: preying on the week. Often violently.
2. Police forces have either publicly or actually reduced policing efforts, including making arrests, out of fear of exposure and because the accused will just be released. Fear of getting caught or shot by police for committing a crime is reduced.
3. As police forces are threatened by the virus, their manning levels will drop. Even while demand for protection of medical centers, emergency supply distribution points, and those businesses that remain open increases. Response times will grow longer and longer.
4. Store shelves have emptied and may remain empty. Desperate for food and other supplies, even “honest” but despairing people may resort to crime.
5. As fewer and fewer stores are open, the potential for flash mobs and robbery of stores increases. Both from the permanent criminal element and from panicked “law-abiding” people. It may be far easier to get caught in a bad situation as a bystander.
6. Many criminals will see opportunities to rob people in store parking lots and other areas when people are trying to buy supplies – not of their money but of the supplies. Other bystanders will be reluctant to help for fear of contamination.
7. Businesses are closing, people are getting laid off and have no income. Again, many are and will be desperate and resort to criminal acts. You may become a target.
8. In some communities, official or self-appointed “inspectors” and “emergency response” personnel may attempt home invasions to seize your food, supplies, weapons, and more. Anyone who seems to be better off may be a target.
9. Panicked people respond and act irrationally. An armed society is a polite society. In a time of crisis, people are more likely to erupt into emotional and often violent behavior.
10. Efforts by authorities to crack down and lock down some areas, together with areas with high flu rates, will cause a migration, often of very undesirable people, into other areas. As we saw with Houston during and after Katrina, this creates major problems and raises the potential need for armed defense.
11. As hoarding and supply chain interruptions continue, and with the government printing money more and more for “economic support” prices will inevitably rise, and your home, your business, and your car becomes a more lucrative source of wealth to steal for fencing and trade.
12. With growing chaos in society, extremist groups will see and take advantage of opportunities to further their own agendas. This may include violence and “fundraising.” In turn, this brings the potential backlash.
13. In many urban areas, homeless shelters and breadlines are being closed, and homeless people seek shelter and food in more places as their usual locations are denied. This can result in invasions of businesses and homes.

Some of these thirteen reasons may seem far-fetched and even paranoid, but history shows how serious conditions can quickly become. And these are not the only problems. Consider that if food deliveries become more problematic, people will abandon pets, which will quickly become feral and willing to attack other animals, and even children, in hunger and fear.

All of these are reasons to make sure that we can defend ourselves, our families, our homes, and out businesses. There is virtually no substitute for a person trained and ready with a firearm on your person.

And if the balloon really goes up, all bets are off. Not just during the pandemic, but for a long time after.