Let me tell you a true story which is family related. This may be both a bad and a good example all at once. I'll put that caveat right up front. Let me explain why -
My brother Russell is a good guy these days. Solid, dependable. Works construction on his own business. He does roofing and interiors. Builds cabinets. Makes sure fittings work. Can install and do maintenance on appliances. Basically he's a jack of all trades and a good one. And word of mouth gives him decent to good business even in this economy.
He wasn't always that way though. From his teens through his twenties he had a drug problem. It really only got bad after I had left Texas to live in California for about 3 years. So I wasn't there for the tail end of it. I'll just say that from the age of 15 to about 25, Russ was NOT the brother I had grown up with. I disliked him intensely at that time. Still loved him as my brother. But couldn't stand to be around him for very long.
Long story short - he got on the bad side of a drug dealer. Dealer thought he owed him a lot of money. Dealer and his friends decided to get a pound of flesh, or worse. Russell heard about their plans beforehand through a third party. He went out driving in his truck with his shotgun one evening. Had at least one drink in him. Maybe more. Dealer and his friends are in 2 cars, and they spot and then follow Russ until they're in a semi-secluded area, then they blocked him. One car got ahead and angled a block, and the other car rear-ended him so he's stuck and can't move off the curb. Dealer and one of his buddies gets out of the front car. Whether they had weapons or not, Russell couldn't tell for certain, since it was very dark. But he knew the drug dealer had a gun because he'd seen it before. He didn't take a chance. He took his shotgun off the rack, aimed out the drivers side, and blew the dealer's chest out. Bastard died on the scene, while his "friends" all ran. (He thought one of them may have grabbed the dealer's gun off the ground as they left, which is why no weapon of theirs was found at the scene.)
Russell turned himself in. Claimed self-defense. Turned out the jury didn't see it that way, thanks to a slick lawyer and a family and friends (who Russell said were also in the 'business') claiming up and down that their son was a good boy who would never deal drugs. Played up the racist angle too, since we're caucasion and the dealer and family was hispanic.
So my brother gets a 25 yr sentence for 1st degree Murder. Regardless of whether or not he got the right sentence, it may have turned out for the best. You could argue this is one case where the "rehabilitation" side of the prison system worked. I'm not sure I'd give the prison system that much credit. Russell wanted to straighten up. He'd had enough of his previous lifestyle. He was a model prisoner, and they parolled him after 6 years. He strictly obeyed all instructions by his parole officer for several years after that. He's now free and clear.
Despite his other problems, Russell was no thief. He owned that shotgun legally in his own name. It was legal to carry it (at the time) in the fashion that he did. And I am DAMN glad he did.
There is a saying - "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6". I firmly believe Russell defended himself properly at that particular moment. Could he have taken some other action beforehand that would have led to him not killing a man and going to jail? Almost certainly, and Russ would be the first to admit it. He's said more than once that if he'd been thinking clearly, he should have gone to the cops and given them information on the drug dealer. Told them everything. He says it was stupid to be out that night driving around. This is my brother TODAY. The responsible man with a son and a daughter. The man who won't touch alcohol or take any drug stronger than Tylenol.
That he was railroaded somewhat by the system (in our families opinion the most he should have gotten was manslaughter) and spent time in prison in no way diminishes the fact that if he had not been carrying a gun that night. I would not have a brother now.
And right the instant those assholes cornered him was no time to worry about whether the cops could be on the scene or not. He was either going to die or go to prison. Given that choice, both my brother and I are happy that he even had the 2nd option open.
So no - you'll never, ever convince me that banning firearms from citizens is a good thing. Because all you'll do is make criminals out of law-abiding people, while the criminals will still have guns. Because they're criminals. I have a rather personal perspective on it.
My brother Russell is a good guy these days. Solid, dependable. Works construction on his own business. He does roofing and interiors. Builds cabinets. Makes sure fittings work. Can install and do maintenance on appliances. Basically he's a jack of all trades and a good one. And word of mouth gives him decent to good business even in this economy.
He wasn't always that way though. From his teens through his twenties he had a drug problem. It really only got bad after I had left Texas to live in California for about 3 years. So I wasn't there for the tail end of it. I'll just say that from the age of 15 to about 25, Russ was NOT the brother I had grown up with. I disliked him intensely at that time. Still loved him as my brother. But couldn't stand to be around him for very long.
Long story short - he got on the bad side of a drug dealer. Dealer thought he owed him a lot of money. Dealer and his friends decided to get a pound of flesh, or worse. Russell heard about their plans beforehand through a third party. He went out driving in his truck with his shotgun one evening. Had at least one drink in him. Maybe more. Dealer and his friends are in 2 cars, and they spot and then follow Russ until they're in a semi-secluded area, then they blocked him. One car got ahead and angled a block, and the other car rear-ended him so he's stuck and can't move off the curb. Dealer and one of his buddies gets out of the front car. Whether they had weapons or not, Russell couldn't tell for certain, since it was very dark. But he knew the drug dealer had a gun because he'd seen it before. He didn't take a chance. He took his shotgun off the rack, aimed out the drivers side, and blew the dealer's chest out. Bastard died on the scene, while his "friends" all ran. (He thought one of them may have grabbed the dealer's gun off the ground as they left, which is why no weapon of theirs was found at the scene.)
Russell turned himself in. Claimed self-defense. Turned out the jury didn't see it that way, thanks to a slick lawyer and a family and friends (who Russell said were also in the 'business') claiming up and down that their son was a good boy who would never deal drugs. Played up the racist angle too, since we're caucasion and the dealer and family was hispanic.
So my brother gets a 25 yr sentence for 1st degree Murder. Regardless of whether or not he got the right sentence, it may have turned out for the best. You could argue this is one case where the "rehabilitation" side of the prison system worked. I'm not sure I'd give the prison system that much credit. Russell wanted to straighten up. He'd had enough of his previous lifestyle. He was a model prisoner, and they parolled him after 6 years. He strictly obeyed all instructions by his parole officer for several years after that. He's now free and clear.
Despite his other problems, Russell was no thief. He owned that shotgun legally in his own name. It was legal to carry it (at the time) in the fashion that he did. And I am DAMN glad he did.
There is a saying - "Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6". I firmly believe Russell defended himself properly at that particular moment. Could he have taken some other action beforehand that would have led to him not killing a man and going to jail? Almost certainly, and Russ would be the first to admit it. He's said more than once that if he'd been thinking clearly, he should have gone to the cops and given them information on the drug dealer. Told them everything. He says it was stupid to be out that night driving around. This is my brother TODAY. The responsible man with a son and a daughter. The man who won't touch alcohol or take any drug stronger than Tylenol.
That he was railroaded somewhat by the system (in our families opinion the most he should have gotten was manslaughter) and spent time in prison in no way diminishes the fact that if he had not been carrying a gun that night. I would not have a brother now.
And right the instant those assholes cornered him was no time to worry about whether the cops could be on the scene or not. He was either going to die or go to prison. Given that choice, both my brother and I are happy that he even had the 2nd option open.
So no - you'll never, ever convince me that banning firearms from citizens is a good thing. Because all you'll do is make criminals out of law-abiding people, while the criminals will still have guns. Because they're criminals. I have a rather personal perspective on it.