
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In view of the headline, I should pause to allow a moment for the hardcore anti-gun folks to regain their composure … unbunch their undies … and put out the hair fire. The very idea of possessing and using one more gun results in an emotional meltdown on the left. But let us – for one moment – calm down and look at some facts about gun deaths in America.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">About 48,000 Americans die each year at the business end of a gun. ; Fifty-four percent of them are suicides. ; Some suicides make sense – especially those associated with nasty terminal illnesses. ; Others are obviously the result of mental issues triggered by depression, loss and feelings of inferiority. ; Taking away guns is not likely to reduce that number significantly. ; People determined to end their own lives have innumerable other means to accomplish their sad mission. ; That situation is not correctable by law enforcement or gun control. ; It is more of a mental health issue.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That leaves around 22,000 dying in other circumstances. ; Approximately 20,000 of those are victims of murder. ; Those are the cases we focus on myopically – as we should. ; But we should not ignore the other deaths.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite all the focus and angst over police shooting, they represent the lowest number of gun deaths. ; Surprised? ; Deadly shootings by police account for only 2.9 percent of gun related deaths. ; That is lower than justifiable homicide by citizens defending themselves, loved ones or even property. ; That runs around 7.3 percent – more than double the number killed by police. ; Ponder that. ; ; Citizens defending themselves or loved ones kill more criminals than police. ; Even accidental gun deaths – around 3.0 percent are slightly higher than the police number. ; That leaves a small number of gun deaths as “undetermined” – about 400 per year.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In analyzing gun-related deaths in America, one might conclude that the bad guys are winning. Allow me to explain.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Let us put aside suicides, accidents and unknown causes. ; That leaves around 20,000 gun deaths – 43 percent &#8212; the result of murders by the bad guys (and gals) and approximately 10 percent by the good guys (and gals) &#8212; police and defending citizens.  ;That means that the bad folks are out gunning the good folks by 4-to-1.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That raises the question as to why the good law-abiding folks – including the police – are not using all those guns we have in America more often? ; That is a good question in view of the unprecedented level of crimes we see being perpetrated across America. ; To put it bluntly, we are experiencing a surge in violent crime and a reduction in dead criminals.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Initially, we can blame the soft-on-crime philosophy that has overtaken the prosecutorial arm of law enforcement. ; Seeing repeat offenders spinning through the revolving door at the prosecutor’s office has demoralized police. ; Why risk life or limb to make arrests that have no meaning?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Add to that the radical left movement against policing. ; Police risk everything – including prison – any time they shoot a prospective criminal. ; Yes, there are bad shootings – and those need to be addressed through the criminal process. ; Those on the anti-police left want virtually every police killing to be treated as murder. ; They want to defund police … take away their guns in favor social workers with clipboards … even abolish policing, such as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) … and provide foreign criminals with sanctuary. ; Federal agents refuse to cooperate with local sheriffs and police departments.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Police departments have been ordered to stand down as rioters rampage – looting, burning, assaulting and vandalizing. ; They must stand down even as rioters and other bad guys attack them with knives, rocks, Molotov cocktails, urine, spit and even brandishing guns. ; Police cars have been set on fire with officers in them &#8212; and no one gets arrested, much less shot.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The legal justification for using lethal force is a belief that the officer or others are in imminent danger of bodily harm or death. That also generally applies to a citizen’s use of a gun.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As the theory goes … if the crook is not engaged in a capital (death penalty) crime, they should not be killed in the commission of it. ; ; As a result, we have the victims of crimes being arrested for simply defending themselves or their property. ; In some instances, criminals have actually sued the victims for “excessive use of force.” ; A rapist who was beaten by the victim’s boyfriend sued and won a settlement. ; That is just crazy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But that legal license to use deadly force has been undermined by laws and court decisions that say one can only use a gun if they are certain a person is going to kill them. ; You are not allowed to shoot and kill a person who simply breaks into your house and threatens with a knife or gun.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We are seeing mobs of violent criminals bursting into retail establishments to steal, destroy and injure, and yet clerks and owners are prevented from using guns for protection. ; They can only standby … allow the merchandise to be taken … knowing none of the perpetrators will ever be arrested, convicted and sent to prison.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">We can do two things at one time. ; We can reduce the restraints &#8212; official and psychological – on police use of guns and still come down hard on rogue police who, themselves, commit murder with guns. ; The same with private citizens. We can separate murder from justifiable homicide. ; With regard to the latter, we can consider the use of deadly force justifiable anytime a person breaks into a house … starts grabbing merchandise in a store … attacks on the street … resists arrest. ; We need to expand the definition of when deadly force is justified.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Crimes have to be considered on a case-by-case basis, but swinging the pendulum back in favor of greater use of the gun to protect and defend by police and law-abiding citizens is not an unreasonable notion. ; A better ratio between murders by bad guys and taking down bad guys by good guys would be a positive outcome for everyone.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

Do we need more use of guns by police and endangered citizens?
