Running from Former Friends, the Former Convict Might Need a Gun

   Consider the poor criminal, if you will, and the need (and the right) he has for a gun when he is released from prison.

   Go on, think about it. Think about him getting out, repentant, thinking he has put it all behind him, thinking he wants to live within the law . . . and along come his former friends, wanting him to take up where he left off. Now, they are going to feel a little jilted when he tries to cut ties with them.
   These old buddies of his, as you might imagine, are people with guns. Not only are they people with guns, they are people who use them. And, they have a motive, in case you think that has to be present. Tell me, then, is the former convict in danger?
   His is a target like never before.
   I'm going to remind you, he wants to repent, doesn't want to live a life of crime anymore. And, I'm going to suggest this person's life is as valuable as yours or mine. His is precious, for he is willing to repent.
   And, we tell him, there will be no protection for you, my child?
   I know a lot of people who go out and buy guns whose lives are not even in jeopardy. This person's life is in jeopardy. But, he cannot own a gun, for felons are not allowed to. So, what will he do? He will be very tempted to get a gun illegally, and some would allow that he should, for otherwise he cannot protect himself. If he buys it illegally, he runs the risk of being arrested for illegal possession of a firearm. So, we block him off, to some degree, in his attempt to reform and live within the law.
   Well, I'm not settled on this opinion, the idea former convicts should be allowed to have guns, for I know it means putting guns back into the hands of those who have been using them for harm. If the Constitution is changed, to allow some infringement upon the right to keep and bear arms (as that would allow us to infringe upon the criminal's rights), then perhaps society's need of protection from the former convict is greater than the former convict's right to protect himself with a gun.