“I feel so strongly about gun rights.”
Sonya Johnson was just a young girl when World War II broke out. But she vividly remembers the deep unease she felt following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Although a resident of Nevada, rumors of a possible invasion of the West Coast kept the local population on edge. Her young and vivid imagination made the angst even more difficult to bear.
Later, she heard something that also left a lasting impression. Japanese war planners dismissed the possibility of invading the United States, it was said, because American civilians were known to be well-armed and trained in marksmanship.
Admiral Yamamoto supposedly wrote in a letter that “to invade the United States would prove most difficult because behind every blade of grass is an American with a rifle.”
Historians have had trouble verifying that quote. But to a young Sonya Johnson, it rang with a certain truth – that an armed population is a potent deterrent to foreign aggressors as well as domestic threats. America’s founders certainly saw it that way. And the Second Amendment, as Sonya knew, was their way of safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms.
“When a five- or six-year-old hears something like that, it sticks with you,” Sonya told me. “That’s why I feel so strongly about gun rights.”
As a native Nevadan, who would spend much of her adult life in ranching or farming, Sonya has long known about Mountain States Legal Foundation’s work defending grazing rights, water rights, and mineral rights – all of which are property rights, as any Westerner knows!
She therefore was no stranger to the Foundation’s work. But it was our creation of a new litigation center devoted exclusively to Second Amendment cases—MSLF’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms—that really fired up this feisty, patriotic, pistol-packing octogenarian.
Progressives won’t stop until they have eliminated private gun ownership in America.
Sonya didn’t have large personal sums to give the Center, but she did the next best thing by writing an impassioned email to dozens of friends and associates, urging them to join her in supporting the Center’s work.
And her efforts bore fruit. It’s through this mail chain that Sonya’s support for the Center came to our attention.
On gun rights, Sonya doesn’t just talk the talk; she’s walking the walk by preparing to get her concealed carry permit early next year. To that end, she recently purchased a .380 semi-automatic, which is a slight step down from her first two choices – hand canons not exactly suited to be discreetly tucked away.
“I bought a .380 because my other pistols are a little big for me,” laughs Sonya. “One friend called one of the guns I wanted to use a ‘John Wayne gun.’ My other choice was called a ‘Dirty Harry gun,’ so I went with the .380 instead.”
Why does an 83-year-old want or need a concealed carry permit? For self-protection and peace of mind.
Years as a farmer and rancher gave Sonya a love of the wide-open spaces, of which Nevada has plenty.
She still likes getting out there, when she can, to watch wildlife, hunt for ancient rock art, and collect pine nuts. Sometimes she goes alone; sometimes she takes a friend.
But you never know who or what you might come across out in the wilderness.
In Sonya’s opinion, it never hurts to be armed when you’re a long way from help.
“I bought a .380 because my other pistols are a little big for me,” laughs Sonya. “One friend called one of the guns I wanted to use a ‘John Wayne gun.’ My other choice was called a ‘Dirty Harry gun,’ so I went with the .380 instead.”
– Sonya Johnson
Fallon, Nevada, isn’t a high crime city, and Sonya rates local law enforcers as very good and generally responsive.
But she’s a typically self-reliant Westerner who wants to take personal responsibility for her own safety and knows that police response times can be many minutes even when there isn’t a second to spare.
At a more fundamental level, Sonya wants a concealed carry permit because she has a right to have one, thanks to the Constitution. And no
American needs to apologize for or explain their reasons for exercising a right, as Sonya knows. “I need to practice a little more before I can get my concealed carry permit, but it’s on the bucket list,” she told me. She plans to have that item checked off soon.
The progressives won’t stop until they have eliminated private gun ownership in America. Sonya encourages others who support the Second Amendment to do as she did—to reach out to their friends, family, and social networks, urging others to learn more about Mountain States Legal Foundation and support the work of defending our rights and liberties.
Pulling together as a community to solve problems— it’s just the Western way of doing things, as this lifelong, dyed-in-the-wool Westerner knows.
