EJ Dionne: Why the NRA pushes ‘Stand Your Ground’

[JDPriestly]

3. Don't carry a gun, and you won't kill, not even in supposed self-defense.

The problem with the NRA is that they have no proposals to save lives, to discourage the wrongful use of guns. They seem to just want to sell guns. They educate on the use of guns. But they don't do enough to educate to discourage the misuse of guns.

The NRA could act responsibly and start a campaign to curtail the use of guns on our streets altogether. They have the means and the power to launch a program to educate all Americans about the dangers and uses of guns. Why don't they focus on that rather than on selling more guns and undoing centuries of laws that already protect your right to self-defense and have served us well for a long, long time?

Pulling out your gun and shooting someone who is unarmed just because they hit you or argued or became angry with you is not acceptable. Just what happened in the Trayvon Martin case, we don't know, but as a rule, if you kill someone, whether with a knife, and automobile, a car you had better be prepared in most cases to defend that killing in a court of law.

If your child were shot while unarmed, you would want the killer to have to defend himself in court.