Finding guilt in Kenosha

If he was innocent, who was guilty? Until the gun laws in this country are properly addressed, cases like the tragedy in Kenosha will continue. AR-15 assault rifles should be outlawed, once and for all. I believe the not guilty verdict on all counts was strictly because it was legal for 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse to carry this weapon openly, wherever he chose.

It no longer mattered why he appeared with it blatantly hanging from his shoulder at a Black Lives Matter protest rally that was not connected to him in any way. It didn’t matter whether he agreed with the protesters. The rifle represented power and possible fear to all those who saw him, and it was legal. With that in mind, anyone who might have felt a sense of anxiety seeing him or even acted on their fears was in danger of losing their life. Kyle ended up killing two unarmed people and injuring one armed person. I’m sure he thought he was protecting his own life when he saw them coming toward him, but we all know that had he not had that rifle, none of this would have happened.

Those who praise this young man whose life will never be the same, by offering him all kinds of gifts and monetary rewards in the name of the Second Amendment, are the truly guilty. Their sick behavior is opening the door to a new level of killing in the name of self-defense reasons under any bizarre circumstances because carrying a gun — an AR-15, no less — is legal. Anyone can say they feared for their life and just shoot another.

Linda Gefen, Boca Raton