Responding to trepidation caused by the Burlington, WA, mass shooting; the violent protests in Charlotte, NC; the Minnesota mall stabbings; and other high-profile attacks, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said, “Being scared is not enough.” Rather, Americans need to have guns with which they are ready to defend themselves.

Speaking live to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on September 24, Clarke stated:

This is the world we live in now, [and Americans] are scared, but being scared is not enough. I say, you can hide under the bed, you can do all this other stuff, but you can fight back. And the more these individuals, these perpetrators, realize that somebody is going to quickly be able to counter their nonsense, I think you’ll see less [of these attacks]. If nothing else, you’ll be able to play a role in saving your own life.

Clarke said that as things now stand, attackers pick soft targets and “know that they’ll be able to shed a lot of blood before the situation is stopped.” He said Americans need to “wake up and get out of this naive view that the police will be able to protect everybody all the time.” He talked about Public Safety Announcements (PSAs) he runs in Milwaukee County, reminding residents that “they are the front line in their own security.”

Clarke began running the self-defense PSAs in January 2013, while Democrat leaders in Washington, D.C., were using the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack to push more gun control on law-abiding citizens.

On January 25, 2013, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the PSA featured Clarke emphasizing that waiting on police was no longer a valid option, that citizens needed to get “in the game.” He added, “With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option. You could beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under the bed, or you can fight back.” He urged residents to take a firearm safety course and familiarize themselves with their guns so they could defend their lives until police arrived.

Clarke added, “You have a duty to protect yourself and your family. We’re partners now.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.