Writer Ryan Moore was a confirmed lifelong anti-gun liberal.  He even tweeted out a request to President Obama to repeal the Second Amendment in 2012.

But one day, Moore was confronted with a situation that changed his entire perspective on guns to the point where he is now a life member of the NRA.

Moore was literally mugged by reality.

Des Moines Register:

Then in 2013 I tweeted: "I was mugged, two guys with guns, right after getting off 19 at Polk and Francisco last night about 10.30. @mayoredlee @sfmta_muni"

In early 2016, I decided to leave San Francisco and to build a house in Washington.  Previously I lived most of my life in apartment buildings with security entrances that provided a tad more security, but as my house was being built I started wondering what I would do in the event of a home invasion.  I knew right away becoming a gun owner was going to be the best way to defend myself.  I gave it a lot of thought and decided I was going to purchase a gun and learn to shoot it and decided I was going to get a concealed carry permit.  After researching the gun restrictions in California, I decided to wait until I moved to Washington where they recognize the right to keep and bear arms.

I moved into my house in July 2016 and purchased my first gun in October 2016 and then immediately applied for my concealed carry permit.

I was a lifelong Democrat.  In the 2016 presidential debates I watched as Hillary Clinton said "I support the Second Amendment." I didn't believe her for a minute but at the time of the election I had been a gun owner for less than two weeks so I voted for her anyway.

I started going to the range and discovered that I really enjoyed target shooting.  I joined the NRA in late 2016.  At first I was a little turned off by how often the NRA spoke out against the left, but I gradually came around to see how extremely anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment the left was.  For a large portion of them, their ultimate goal is a full gun ban and to repeal the Second Amendment – I know I was one of them.

In February 2017, I upgraded my NRA membership to become a life member and it was around this time that I renounced the Democratic Party because they were so anti-gun and anti-Constitution.

The idea that they would ever need a gun for self-defense never occurs to many anti-gun advocates.  Or if it does, it's such an abstract concept that the full emotional impact of being in a situation where you are helpless and your life is in some crack addict's hands never hits home.

Moore is lucky.  He escaped a situation that could have easily resulted in him becoming another statistic of gun violence.  That it apparently happened in San Francisco – a city notorious for its fanatically strict gun control laws – only made his conversion easier.

The anti-gun hysteria ginned up after every mass shooting prevents most people from thinking rationally about guns.  But Moore is not the only convert in recent years.  Millions of women who would never have dreamed of owning and carrying a gun have decided to protect themselves by purchasing a firearm.  That fact alone should give politicians who want to repeal the Second Amendment pause.