This is a good article. I recently saw a video where a black teen tried to rob a Dollar General store and got shot by the clerk. The thing is, the teen was brandishing a gun and had threatened the clerk, according to other witnesses in the store. Then the video cut to the sister and brother of the teen, they were outraged that the clerk had shot him. They never admit that the teen had some responsibility for what happened — if he had not chosen to rob a store, he would not have been shot.

I get they are grieving. And I get that every black teen that decides to commit a felony is someone’s son or brother. But the person being robbed or beaten or potentially murdered is also someone’s child!

I also get that killing someone for robbery is not really fair. Gun owners really should only shoot if they feel their lives are in danger. But the problem is that in those types of situations, adrenaline takes over and people make snap judgments. They don’t think calmly.

I’m a pacifist, I don’t own a gun, but if I did, would I be able to control myself if a large man tried to rob me? Perhaps fear of something potentially more might make me pull the trigger…

BTW, I write about black people and guns in this article. I point out that during the Civil Rights movement, armed black militias protected people of ALL RACES as the marched for justice. Armed black men also have protected their families and other innocent people from white supremacists.

I don’t believe the problem is guns, I think the problem is that somehow many young black men (and others) are getting the message that it’s OK to be a predator instead of being a hero. But they can become heroes instead. There are so many role models, both historically and in our lifetimes, of black men who, despite horrible poverty and discrimination, became heroes.

I think you articulate many issues beautifully and I hope that solutions can be found because right now, many lives are lost and much potential is destroyed.