Disturbing logic

The not-guilty verdict for Kyle Rittenhouse will encourage deadly political violence. I don't fault the jury for this outcome, it is the extremist vision of the right to bear arms creating a deadly loophole in our laws. Rittenhouse's defense argued that Rittenhouse was within his right to carry a deadly weapon to the protests and within his right to use that weapon to protect himself.

Rittenhouse did not attack people indiscriminately. He used deadly force after being confronted. The people who confronted him did not deserve a death sentence for what they did.

Rittenhouse's defense presented a disturbing but practical logic - anyone who attacked Rittenhouse could have wrestled his weapon away from him and used it on him. This logic paints the picture that anyone who confronts someone else with a deadly weapon basically has the same potential to kill someone as the person with the deadly weapon.

So someone armed with a skateboard, as was Anthony Huber, now becomes just as dangerous as the person armed with an assault weapon, as was Kyle Rittenhouse.

This disturbing logic will allow more heavily armed vigilantes to become involved in mass political demonstrations and the only solution to close the loophole is to outlaw carrying of such deadly weapons.

With the increase in political polarization in the United States we need to do whatever we can to discourage violence if we want to survive and seek peaceful resolutions.

David Arfa

Highland Park