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Isn’t Every Shooter a Law-Abiding Citizen, Until the Day They Aren’t?
The 2nd amendment appears to be here to stay. Here are a few suggestions for how we can meet in the middle.
While I personally have zero purpose or desire for a gun, I have literally heard some Americans say they would give up their lives for the constitutional right to own them.
In conversations with pro-gun folks, I keep hearing the argument that gun legislation will only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to obtain a firearm.
Genuine question: isn’t every mass shooter a law-abiding citizen, up until that horrible act? Maybe they have a criminal history, but if they were breaking laws all over the place, they’d be somewhere in the prison system. Not shooting up a bar, a mall, or an elementary school.
Thus, if every “law-abiding” person is allowed to buy a gun, how does a gun seller decide which are the “good” law-abiding people and which are the “bad” law-abiding people?
I wonder if we’re asking the wrong question.
The technology hasn’t yet been developed to determine who is going to use a firearm for legitimate reasons (sport, hunting, self-defense), and who is going to use it to kill or maim or threaten another human.
