While there are myriad lessons that can be drawn from the heinous attack in Christchurch, the one at the forefront of my mind is that being armed is part of being prepared.

Real life is not Utopia, it is an experience where decent people are constantly under threat by people with bad intentions. And evil can strike wherever you are, whether that is in a school or university, a church, mosque, or synagogue, or a night club in Paris or a music concert in Las Vegas. Evil can strike at the gas station or the grocery store, at the restaurant or coffee shop, even at your home.

You cannot choose where evil will strike, you can only choose to be prepared when it does. And being armed is part of being prepared.

Did you know the man who attacked and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary had over nine minutes of unarmed resistance in which to carry out his heinous deeds?

Did you know the attacker who killed 49 people in New Zealand had nearly 40 minutes before police caught up with him? The Wall Street Journal puts the exact figure at 36 minutes.

Each minute would certainly feel like an eternity for unarmed innocents in a shelter-in-place scenario.

Despite the inhumanity of trapping innocents without a means to shoot back, when the left swoops in after a high profile shooting they always bring the same message–more gun control. But it should be evident by now that gun control actually contributes to the chaos and carnage. It does this by rendering innocents defenseless, thereby providing a target-rich environment for attackers.

And more gun control also increases our dependency upon police, although police are rarely present to prevent crime. Rather, they arrive after the report of a crime has been called in.

Attorney and best-selling author Mark W. Smith told Breitbart News: “The lesson of mass shootings is that we need less gun control and not more. More gun control makes us more dependent on the police and government to protect our lives from determined terrorists and criminals. The evidence shows that entrusting your life to police in an active shooter situation is not generally a good plan.”

Perhaps you ask, ‘What are we to do in places where we are not allowed to carry guns for self-defense?’ My personal decision is that I do not go to such places unless I have a thorough understanding of the sufficiency of the security that will be provided. If I have no confidence in the security that is provided,then I do not go to the gun-free event and/or institution.

But during our day-to-day routines of the gas station, the department store, the grocery store, and the restaurant, odds are legally carrying a concealed handgun would not be a problem. Just take time to know the polices of the businesses you patronize and navigate in a way that you are doing business with those who honor your right to be armed for self-defense.

Being armed is part of being prepared, as our security is ultimately in our own hands.

Remember, the Christchurch attacks involved more than one mosque. And when shots were fired at the mosque in Linwood, a man with a gun reportedly chased the shooters and returned fire, according to the New Zealand Herald.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.