- Mar 11, 2015
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t's time to look at this thing seriously.
I’ve owned guns all my life. I’ve hunted nearly as long. The 19th-century Colt double-barrel shotgun that belonged to my grandfather (and probably his dad, too) is a treasured family heirloom. When it was time for my son to learn to hunt, we took a hunter safety course together, and I tried to teach him these important lessons just as my father had taught them to me.
I say all this because I cannot understand why anyone would think Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero.
He is no hero. He is a callow boy who didn't understand how to handle a gun — and worse, didn't understand the most important thing about owning a gun for protection: You do everything possible to make sure you never have to use it.
He should have stayed home.
The state may or may not prove its case against Rittenhouse, who was all of 17 years old on Aug. 25, 2020, when he shot three people, leaving two of them dead. Proving intentional, reckless and attempted homicide and reckless endangerment may prove too high a bar for this particular jury. His right to self-defense is a trump card. People have a right to defend themselves — even when they do stupid things.
Some people want to make Rittenhouse a hero; they argue he's a positive role model for other young people: He saw a problem. He took action. He stood up when the police stood down.
But all I see is recklessness. The images from the videos of Gaige Grosskreutz's exploding arm are seared in my mind. None of this should ever have happened.
We live in a society where guns have become a fetish for some people — where open carrying a weapon is a way to signal allegiance to your tribe. Where people with guns can cram into a statehouse in Michigan. Where gun-toting people who aren’t sworn officers can cram the streets in Kenosha.
And claim they are protecting the public.
It's an illusion. And it's dangerous.
Kyle Rittenhouse a hero? No, he was a callow, foolish boy who had no business being in Kenosha
I’ve owned guns all my life. I’ve hunted nearly as long. The 19th-century Colt double-barrel shotgun that belonged to my grandfather (and probably his dad, too) is a treasured family heirloom. When it was time for my son to learn to hunt, we took a hunter safety course together, and I tried to teach him these important lessons just as my father had taught them to me.
I say all this because I cannot understand why anyone would think Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero.
He is no hero. He is a callow boy who didn't understand how to handle a gun — and worse, didn't understand the most important thing about owning a gun for protection: You do everything possible to make sure you never have to use it.
He should have stayed home.
The state may or may not prove its case against Rittenhouse, who was all of 17 years old on Aug. 25, 2020, when he shot three people, leaving two of them dead. Proving intentional, reckless and attempted homicide and reckless endangerment may prove too high a bar for this particular jury. His right to self-defense is a trump card. People have a right to defend themselves — even when they do stupid things.
Some people want to make Rittenhouse a hero; they argue he's a positive role model for other young people: He saw a problem. He took action. He stood up when the police stood down.
But all I see is recklessness. The images from the videos of Gaige Grosskreutz's exploding arm are seared in my mind. None of this should ever have happened.
We live in a society where guns have become a fetish for some people — where open carrying a weapon is a way to signal allegiance to your tribe. Where people with guns can cram into a statehouse in Michigan. Where gun-toting people who aren’t sworn officers can cram the streets in Kenosha.
And claim they are protecting the public.
It's an illusion. And it's dangerous.
MSN
www.msn.com
