A recent incident in Vicksburg, MS refutes The Dispatch’s position that “gun ownership only gives an illusion of safety.” Rafael McCloud, an escapee from the Warren County jail, who was accused of one of Vicksburg’s most gruesome murders, met his end Thursday when he was shot and killed by homeowners whose home he had invaded. McCloud had broken into the Armstrong’s home and tied up the husband and wife. Their 4-year-old child was also in the house. Fortunately, the couple freed themselves and shot McCloud with their legally-owned firearm. A neighbor commented, “It makes you make sure you know where the guns and knives are.”
This successful outcome of a law abiding citizen using his second amendment right to protect himself is evidence of your false reasoning of your “Our View”, March 9, that “owning a gun only gives an illusion of safety.” Interestingly, this case, and not an isolated one, of a good guy with a gun stopping a bad guy with a gun, comes just a day after your, yet another, anti-gun ownership editorial.
Your statistics of gun homicides confuse shootings by gangs and criminals who obtain and use guns illegally, with law abiding citizens having the right to protect themselves.
So, the Armstrongs having guns didn’t give them the “illusion” of safety; it saved their lives.
William Ford M.D.
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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