A multi-block neighborhood in north Milwaukee erupted into rioting, looting, and arson last night after minority residents affiliated with Black Lives Matter used the death of an armed violent criminal to justify a crime spree. The rioting, looting, and arson followed the officer-involved shooting death of 23-year-old  gang-affiliated felon named Sylville K Smith. Smith turned towards a black police officer with a stolen gun in his hand and was fatally shot.

The criminals who rioted last night in Milwaukee last won’t get another chance to to wage war against civil society without a fight.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has activated the National Guard to help police should further rioting erupt in a predominantly black Milwaukee neighbourhood where police killed an armed suspect.

The Sherman Park neighbourhood, which has a reputation for poverty and crime, appeared calm hours after businesses were burned, cars set ablaze and gunshots fired overnight by demonstrators angered by the police killing.

Seventeen people were arrested in the disturbances, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said.

Four police officers were treated for injuries and released from hospitals.

Chief Walker said the Guard would be “in a position to aid local law enforcement upon request.”

Unfortunately, the response comes almost 24 hours too late.

One of the terrifying realities of an interconnected digital age is that radicals can easily and quickly organize flash riots. They can descend on an area with little or no warning in large numbers, commit significant felony acts in a short amount of time, and then disappear before law enforcement can mount a significant response.

This new reality leaves citizens in a position where virtually any urban or suburban neighborhood community can find itself turned into a flashpoint for a riot within hours, before local authorities have the opportunity to recognize an escalating threat, much less mobilize, equip, and deploy their forces in effective numbers.

Now more than ever, you may find yourself and your neighbors forced to band together and defend your homes, businesses, and lives, just as Korean shopkeepers famously did in the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and residents, storekeepers, and Oathkeepers did in Ferguson in 2014.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that the firearms best suited for keeping these violent mobs at bay are the very firearms that anti-gun Democrats are so fervently attempting to ban.

An AR-15 such as the one above is among the most effective possible firearms against murderous, arson-minded rioters in suburban and urban situations.

Equipped with a low variable-power scope to help discern threats, a bright tactical light to clearly identify threats, and 30-round magazines, a law-abiding citizen is well-equipped to take on mobs primarily armed with handguns, impact weapons, and molotov cocktails.

The same general rules of engagement apply during riot as they would at any other time. You may not use deadly force upon another human being unless they pose an imminent deadly force threat to you or a third-party.

That noted, the willingness of these rioters to use deadly force is unquestioned. They have fired shots at police and citizens, and they have shown that they are willing to torch buildings with little or no thought to the lives inside those structures.

This creates a plausible scenario where a citizen sees rioters about to put lives at risk up to several block away, justifying a much-longer-than-normal third-party self defense shot of dozens to hundreds of yards.

If you do not yet own a quality AR-15 (or similar rifle) with good low-powered scopes or a red dot optic, a decent weapon-mounted light, other required accouterments and the training to use these carbines for the defense of your family and community, you may want to consider if you’re making a mistake.

Increasingly, it may be the responsibility of armed citizens to save their communities from violent mobs when law enforcement cannot mobilize fast enough to prevent attacks that are nothing more or less than domestic terrorism.

Be prepared.