"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." Captain John Parker, April 19, 1775

If certain Democrats in Albany have their way, men would have to run instead of fight, surrender instead of throw a blow, hide like a girlie-man instead of standing our ground when confronted by a criminal.

New York State Senator George Maziarz has shone a spotlight on their craven cowardice.

He sponsored a Stand Your Ground bill in 2008 that “Authorizes a person to use physical force, including deadly physical force in defense of a person, in defense of premises or in defense of a dwelling, residence or vehicle.”

His bill seeks to repeal the cowardly “duty to retreat” clause in New York State law and provide “protection from criminal prosecution for those who defend themselves from criminal attack.”

Sen. Maziarz stood his ground too, even after the Trayvon Martin controversy made a trio of Albany Democrats try to embarrass him into retreat.

Trayvon Martin, the 17 year old black child/gansgta (depending on your race) was shot and killed by 28 year old white/brown (depending on your Liberal bias) George Zimmerman, who invoked Florida’s Stand Your Ground law when he said young Martin was pummeling his head into the ground. He said he killed in self defense.

Mr. Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder.

The three Democrat Senators, Eric Adams (Brooklyn) Kevin Parker (Brooklyn) and Daniel Squadron (Manhattan ) tried to bully Sen. Maziarz into withdrawing his bill after the Martin –Zimmerman case became international news last April.

“It was truly political,” Sen. Maziarz told the Reporter. “These three New York City Democrats, whose Senate offices are right down the hall from mine, instead of talking to me first, wrote a letter ‘to me’ saying my Stand Your Ground bill was ‘dangerous.” I got a call from the New York Times asking about a letter I hadn’t received. They were just trying to take political advantage of a tragic situation. And I wasn’t going to back down.”

Like Captain Parker, New York State Senator Geroge Maziarz stood his ground when a trio of Senate Democrats from (where else?) New York City tried to get Maziarz to back down on his support of a bill that prohibits the state to punish a person defending themselves. Above Mr. Maziarz with Julia Lilkendey.

Sen. Maziarz said he supports the U.S. 2nd Amendment which reads, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Or, as George Washington once explained, “Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth.”

"I believe very strongly people have a right to defend themselves when they legitimately feel threatened,” said the Senator to a gaggle of the liberal press bent on making the opportunistic Democrats’ letter news.

“The Martin case made the dangers of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law clear” one reporter editorialized as she prefaced her report on Sen. Maziarz’s refusal to back down.

“The law allows any one the right to ‘shoot first, and ask questions later,’” another sensationalized.

There is an old law, older than America, older than the hills: The ancient right of a man to protect himself and his family. Stand Your Ground laws echo natural law.

As the Bible says (Psalm 149:6) “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”

Or in Luke 11:21, “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.”

More than half the states in the USA have adopted the “Castle doctrine” which states a person has no duty to retreat when his home is attacked. Some states go further, as Sen. Maziarz’s bill does, by removing the duty of retreat from other locations.

U.S. case law supports it. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said in Brown v. United States, "detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife."

Research suggests states adopting “Stand Your Ground" laws average 9 percent lower murder rates and 11 percent lower violent crime rates than “Duty to Retreat” states.

“Justifiable homicides” in fact have tripled in Florida since Governor Jeb Bush signed the law in 2005. Justifiable homicide used by critics to decry the Stand Your Ground law actually implies that otherwise the opposite homicide would have occurred --to the innocent party.

The deeper issue is what kind of manhood do we want to foster in this country?

What kind of a country would make a law that says a man has a duty to retreat when he can stand and fight? That is the law of the Hollywood Metrosexual.

Nemo me impune lacessit. No one attacks me with impunity.

Wha daur meddle wi' me?

No one can harm me unpunished.

In Kennesaw, Georgia, every able bodied head of household is required by a 1982 ordinance to possess a firearm. By 2005, the crime rate had decreased by 50%. The city's website claims the city has the lowest crime rate in the county. Kennesaw crime rates are less than half of US averages. The need for police protection all but eliminated.

“I think the pendulum, especially in New York State, has swung so much over to criminals and away from crime victims,” said Sen. Maziarz explaining why he sponsored the bill. “I could give you example after example where the criminal justice system just favors the criminal.”

I pressed the Senator: If you are walking down the street with your wife and some thugs came up and caused trouble, your law gives a man the right to stand and fight. What would those Democrats want you to do? Leave your wife with no defense?

Sen. Maziarz answered, “They would say you have a duty to retreat, use non-lethal force. They want you to be on your knees and beg for your life. A lot of good that would do. That is not how we built this country. I strongly support people defending themselves. I think we have 2nd Amendment rights and I am strongly in support of that.”

There is something inextricably tied to a man’s being, his nature, his self-confidence in knowing that he can defend himself; that he can walk bravely anywhere. Don’t you think these ‘force to retreat’ laws strike at the backbone of America?

“You have a right to defend yourself and your family,” Sen. Maziarz answered. “If we take that right away from Americans, you become a nation of cowards where criminals rule civilization.”

Do you think Democrats will thwart the bill?

“The Democrats will thwart it forever.”

Would it be their expectation, if they were confronted by a bully or a criminal and they could dispatch the guy with the muscle in their arms, they would instead run and hide?

“I suspect that is what they would try to do,” said the Senator. “I think they would run.”

Does it hold true of a nation? Should a nation not stand its ground and run if confronted by its enemies?

“I think they would think that.”

If America could retreat and run would that be better than standing its ground?

“I think we would be worse off as a country,’ said Sen. Maziarz. “You know we just celebrated Memorial Day. There are a lot of people who didn’t retreat and these are the ones we honored on Monday.”