Many politicians continue to demonize lawful gun ownership as a substitute for actually fighting crime. This deflection allows them to conflate the number of guns in this country with violent crime, mostly committed by a small minority of criminals.
This situation is abetted by masking the benefit of defensive firearm use. Criminals are rarely afraid of the justice system or social stigma. They are only really fearful of an armed potential victim or a concealed carry bystander. Often the gun does not need to be discharged and the criminal just flees. Unfortunately, such incidents never make the headlines versus the destructive shootings that draw media attention and computer clicks.
Many pre-positioned defensive responses such as fire extinguishers, cardiac defibrillators, 911 emergency lines, alarm sirens, motion lighting and cameras and dead bolt locks save countless lives; the same is true of legally armed citizens.
