GUNS: Way too many bad guys

Reply to Mr. Dennis Edelbrock: Yes, Mr. Edelbrock, you are correct in assuming I did not do extensive research before writing my letter about Bad Guys shooting first. My opinion about guns on campus reflected my experience as a counselor for 25 years, and director for 14 years, of the student counseling center at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. While we had a contingency plan with the campus police in the event a student brandished a gun, or carried it concealed, we had perhaps three incidents during that time, with no gun being fired. Our counselors were far more worried about student suicide than homicide.

So I was startled by your research that indicated "every 13 seconds an American gun owner uses a firearm in defense against a criminal." And that statistic does not take into account the many times a Bad Guy assumes the Good Guy has a weapon, even if he does not. Wow, who knew? I did not. This means that during the minute it takes to read this letter, five Bad Guys have attempted to use a weapon to commit a crime, only to have been thwarted in that attempt by a Good Guy drawing his or her weapon.

If my math is correct, this means that in a year's time, 102 million Bad Guys refrain from aggressive behavior with a gun only because they are confronted by a Good Guy with a gun. Thank goodness most of those confrontations did not require the Good Guy to actually fire the weapon. Apparently, there are many more Bad Guys out there who would use their weapons with impunity except for the Good Guys being armed.

So, I am headed to Cabela's. I'll mail this letter on the way.

KENNETH GREEN

Coeur d'Alene