A buddy of mine, who has a small ranch next to my place, just told me he had recently seen a group of illegal aliens on his place. They were, apparently, trying to hijack one of his goats for supper. He foiled their plan and escorted them off his place before calling the Border Patrol. The only protection he had at the time was a little .22 single-action revolver. It frightened him badly, he said.

This type of confrontation is not at all uncommon on ranches and at rural residences all along the border with Mexico. For as much as a hundred miles inland from the Rio Grande, people will see illegal aliens walking through the brush or begging for food or water at a ranch house. I once saw a group walking along a highway just south of Dumas, Texas, which is a heckuva long way from the border.

At one time the people you saw in such instances were good folks, ranch people mostly, from the rural areas of Mexico, heading north into Los Estados Unidos, looking for work. They did labor few U.S. citizens wanted to do, and did it for wages that no U.S. citizen would have thought of accepting. Would you have toiled building fences, working cattle and goats, and such for 10 dollars a day? I thought not.

Times have changed, however. Today the quality and morality of the average illegal alien is not what it once was. And you never know if they are looking for work, looking for transportation to steal, or backpacking illegal drugs. On top of that it is illegal to hire illegal aliens, so don’t do it.

My advice to you, wherever you live is, don’t take a chance. Do not assume they are good folks just looking to make their way in life. They may be; but they may also be gang members from Mexico D.F. looking for someone to assault and rob. That pickup you are driving around the ranch is just exactly what they need to drive to Dallas or Houston, or Minot N.D., and they may not care a bit if they have to kill you to get it.

If you live outside of town, like I do, and like many thousands of other Texans, my advice is to go armed, all the time. There is no law against your carrying a gun around your own property 24 hours a day. Call me paranoid, but there is a .45 auto hanging on my belt as I sit at my computer writing this. It is loaded, cocked, and locked.

I told my buddy that he should carry a gun every time he goes to his place. He said he was thinking about taking his AR-15. I told him that was fine, but that he needed a handgun hanging on his belt, because a fast draw is very difficult when your gun is in the truck and the truck is fifty yards away. Only a gun you have on your person is instantly available.

If you live anywhere near the Border and/or spend any time in the brush away from town, carry a handgun. Any kind of handgun will do as long as it is powerful enough to get the job done, but I recommend a powerful semi-auto or double-action revolver.

There is no feeling more sickening, I’m told, than needing a handgun and not having one. On the other hand I can live with carrying a handgun for the rest of my life and not needing it. It is your choice to make.