I’m convinced: Other young men should pick up AR-15s, too, to patrol any neighborhood they believe has succumbed to chaos. You peace-loving defenders of Rittenhouse, that salt-of-the-earth baby-faced patriot, opened my eyes, which had been blinded by a race-obsession for far, far too long, as you pointed out in your emails. You’ve convinced me so thoroughly that I’m now reconsidering everything I’ve ever thought about young men with guns.

I’ve long advocated for laws and customs that would reduce the number of guns on the street. I’ve mentored young men to turn their guns in to police departments before tragedy struck. But after considering your wise counsel and watching your jubilation as Rittenhouse is freed despite the blood he shed, I now know I was wrong; More of those young men should be armed just in case they might be attacked by strangers.

What we need is more guns—for the young men who don’t want to be robbed of the drugs they are dealing to feed their families, like the shooting that sent one of my brothers and a nephew to prison, or the drive-by shooting that cost my niece her mom. We need more guns for the young athletes in rough neighborhoods just trying to make it to school without being harassed. For the young men and women trying to avoid being forced into gangs. The solution is simple: Give them guns, for surely the presence of those guns is more likely to decrease the chances of confrontation and bloodshed than increase the chances of an aggressive response.