“I ain’t going out like that.” Those are the words of American poet, Cypress Hill front man and proselyte of self-defense Mr. B-Real. After Mr. B-Real’s parents immigrated from Mexico and Cuba, he was thrust into the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles. There, he lived a hard life as an associate of the gang the Los Angeles Bloods and wrote the above profundity in response to being shot in the lung with a .22-caliber pistol.

Stanley Luong is another advocate of self-defense. Like the famous rapper, Luong’s family didn’t immigrate from the suburbs, but from a third-world country. Unlike the rapper, Luong didn’t turn to selling drugs or gangbanging. He chose to pursue an education at one of the United States’ finest universities and became a Husky.

Still, that didn’t insulate Luong from the mean and increasingly violent streets of the U-District at night. He has been robbed four times by aggressors with deadly weapons. On one occasion, he was pistol-whipped across the face, and he will forever bear the scar to remind him of this humiliation.

Now he wants to carry a legal firearm for protection. He even started a student group, “University District Defenders,” which is little more than a Facebook group aimed at making certain that students understand how to properly use their perfectly legal concealed weapons.

As you would guess, the legions of students who have never suffered the indignity of having their bodily integrity violated by deadly force are complaining about his choice. In a recent column in The Daily, one of my fellow columnists wrote, “It’s one thing to walk around with a gun where it is allowed. The Second Amendment grants us that right. But a bunch of untrained individuals armed with weapons walking around the U-District?”

However, the University District Defenders’ only intent is to carry weapons where it is already legal. More importantly, the Second Amendment doesn’t grant Luong the right to carry a firearm. His right already exists; the Second Amendment simply protects it.

So what’s the kerfuffle about? To begin with, the original name of Luong’s group was “University District Vigilantes.” That probably wasn’t the best choice for a student who wants to encourage popular support, but having your head torn open by a pistol is likely to elicit such sentiment. Secondly, Facebook shut the group down for “violating” its nebulous terms of use, encouraging students to look upon Luong’s group as extreme.

Not every student is complaining, however. Frequent pedestrian and UW law student Thomas Hackett said, “I would trust those boys to protect me when I’m walking through rough patches at night. What’s their number?”

Stanley Luong can now defend his physical integrity with the kind of force that assailants have employed to breach it. The next criminal who mistakes his positive demeanor or diminutive form for weakness will find that he just ain’t going out like that. Now, Luong gets to decide for himself whether someone will break the bones in his face, violate his body, or exact violence on his possessions. He doesn’t have to use his firearm if he doesn’t think it is safe, but at least he can finally express the sentiment of another luminary in the music industry: Metallica. As their song says, “Don’t tread on me.”

Reach contributing columnist Greg Albert at opinion@dailyuw.com.