Carletta Whiting is a breast cancer survivor, but like many who’ve fought that terrible disease and won, her victory over cancer came with a cost. The treatment she received may have destroyed the cancer cells in her body, but it also weakened her immune system, leaving her more vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.

Whiting knows that she can isolate herself and hopefully minimize exposure to the disease, but she’s worried that anti-gun politicians will make it impossible for people like her to protect themselves from criminals who may try to prey on the most vulnerable during the current state of emergency.

On Saturday, NRA shared Whiting’s message to politicians, and it’s a must watch.

Americans are flocking to gun stores because they know the only reliable self-defense during a crisis is the #2A. Carletta Whiting, who’s disabled & vulnerable to #coronavirus, asks Dems trying to exploit the pandemic: Why do you want to leave people like me defenseless? pic.twitter.com/wDeEYHqzOU — NRA (@NRA) March 21, 2020

In the video clip, Whiting gives voice to the concerns of millions of Americans when she says, “I know from history how quickly society breaks down during a crisis, and we’ve never faced anything like this before. And never is the Second Amendment more important than during public unrest. It’s no surprise why sales of guns and ammunition have skyrocketed. Even liberals in California are lining up because they know that the government the government will not be able to protect them.”

Whiting warns Americans who are lining up at grocery stores to stockpile food that if they’re not prepared to protect themselves and their property, that they’re just “stockpiling for someone else.”

The NRA member also says that anti-gun politicians will try to use this current emergency to pass gun control legislation in the name of safety, and I suspect she’s right. We’re already seeing governors like Gavin Newsom and Tom Wolf declare that gun stores are “non-essential” businesses that must close, despite lines out the doors of gun stores in both states over the past week.

“Unlike the elites who look down on gun owners,” Whiting argues, “I don’t have the luxury of living in an affluent neighborhood with private security. In my neighborhood, crime and violence is a part of every day life. Without my firearm, I’m defenseless.”

Whiting then poses a simple question for anti-gun politicians:

“Do you really wish to leave someone like me, a disabled woman, completely unable to defend myself during one of the most uncertain times of our lives?”

The answer, sadly, is “yes.” Politicians like Gavin Newsom believe that Carletta Whiting and other gun owners would be better off disarmed and defenseless at the moment, and they’re doing everything they can to limit the exercise of the Second Amendment. So far we’ve seen efforts to deny people the ability to acquire firearms and ammunition, but it’s not unreasonable to question whether anti-gun governors and mayors will try to use their emergency powers to restrict and infringe on our right to keep and bear arms even further.

Of course the usual suspects have come out attacking Whiting’s message. Actually, I take that back. The usual suspects have come out attacking the NRA, and ignoring Whiting completely.

Mainstream gun owners have left the NRA, so now they’re reduced to telling people to stockpile assault weapons, instead of food, to get ready for the coming Coronavirus civil war. So sickening. https://t.co/tOwUBHCDSu — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 21, 2020

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Murphy distorts Whiting’s message for his own agenda, but he should be called out for it. Whiting didn’t talk about a “civil war.” She spoke of civil unrest, and that is not an unreasonable concern, especially when we have jails across the country letting inmates out early to try to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in jails and prisons and police departments quarantining dozens of officers who may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

Whiting and the NRA aren’t rooting for unrest, but they’re aware that it is a possibility. Second Amendment supporters like Carletta Whiting aren’t trying to please gun control advocates like Chris Murphy. They’re trying to protect the right to keep and bear arms during these troubled times.