I Gave at the Office (1971) – Simon & Schuster

Q: Excuse me, Mr Grahame, your words could be misinterpreted there. I know you don’t mean to imply approval for armed robbery or rape or–
A: Why not? I am hardly in a position to favor arms restrictions. Once we accept the idea that society is valuable, that our civilization was worth the building and continues to be worth the saving, we must take the next step and agree that the tool which built our civilization is also valuable and, to use a moral term, good. That tool is the gun, and no usage of the gun could be considered evil. Now, if some dolt takes a pistol and holds up a bank, I would disapprove, but only of his tactics, not his choice of equipment. His tactics will put him directly in opposition with a superior force of men armed with more guns; that is to say, he will be caught and perhaps shot. The gun is power, true; it is the central tool of human civilization, true; but as with any tool and any form of power, some intelligence must be employed by the operator.
Q: Well, then, what should he do instead of robbing a bank? He wants money, he wants a better life, and your prescription is that he go out and get a gun. What should he do with it?
A: He should first learn military science, which is, after all, the science of the use of the gun. And one of the first lessons in military science is, Never attack a superior force.
Q: Except in guerrilla warfare.
A: Hit and run, exactly. Rather than robbing banks, our dolt, if he is a determined loner, would be much better off mugging stray citizens in dark alleys. You notice how many of our fellow beings in the major cities have independently come to this same conclusion; bank robberies are down, muggings are up.
Q: And you don’t disapprove of mugging.
A: Certainly not, unless I am the one mugged. But if I strongly needed money, and I had a gun, and you had not, I would certainly mug you.
Q: Heh heh. Well, then, I guess it’s lucky for me you’re doing well in your business.
A: Yes, it is.