Luckily such occurances are as rare as hens teeth.

First of, our overall violent crime rates, including our gun violence rates, have been steadily going down, to the point that we are at half of what we had 20 years ago.

Second, we have a culture of violence in large part to the drug war (which can be tied to a large number of the gun crimes), but also because we, as a society, send a dangerous mixed message. Our media glorifies violence, but our social institutions (schools, social services, etc.) abhor it and treat even the smallest hint of it as something that must be quashed immediately (re: Kids getting in trouble at school for defending themselves, or for drawing a picture of a gun, etc.).

Oddly enough, we do something very similar with sex.

Maybe if we ended the war on drugs, & stopped giving gangs a reason to fight over drug turf, or merchandise. Maybe if we changed the way we treat violence, tone it down in media, and help children deal with the violence in their nature constructively, we can change the culture. It won’t be perfect, & people like the aggressor in Mr. Wagners tale will still be around, empowered by the fact that law enforcement will grant them the benefit of the doubt. We will still have street gangs killing each other over crap.

But it will be probably better.

SK do you want laws to indemnify you if you use your gun and you shoot an innocent individual?

I agree. Stop focusing on the distraction, and instead focus on the culture that says it’s OK to vent your rage through violence against another human.

As for your perpetrator, it’s easy to avoid those pesky charges that would pop up in a background check when you are friends with the local LEOs. Which is less and indictment on guns, & more on how easy it is to subvert rural law enforcement.

The antagonist was an NRA model gun owner – a farmer who owned guns for protecting his livestock from “vermin,” for hunting, and for “self-defense”. He had no criminal record, no history of psychological problems, and no violent past.

His victims were his partner, who had just confronted him about a clandestine romantic relationship he was having with a 17 year old girl, and me, whom his partner had asked for assistance and support during the confrontation.

When told that his relationship was not acceptable, the perpetrator calmly said, “There is one way to handle this.” He got up from the kitchen table, walked to the barn, got his rifle, and then pursued us on foot and subsequently (when we hastily drove away) in his vehicle.

Although this incident happened over a decade ago, I cannot forget the terror of fleeing this calm, deliberate hunter. I cannot forget driving wildly into a hedgerow with pounding pulse to hide, and watching my pursuer speed past with the rifle barrel protruding from the window of his pickup. I cannot forget the determined, remorseless, and relentless expression on his face as he executed his attack.

Let anyone who opposes gun violence reduction measures experience this, and see how his survey response is altered.

Epilogue: After a cell phone call to 911, the perpetrator was apprehended by his friend, the local sheriff’s deputy. He explained that he was on the way to the local gun shop to sell his rifle so that he could afford to pay the legal fees he anticipated, and was accompanied with sympathy and sorrow, but without legal charges, to the shop – where the rifle was purchased and subsequently resold.