But guns and gun culture come with so much downside. And civilized people don't settle questions of civil rights with guns, the thought of it is horrifying. Wht's the point of having a society or country if basic questions of rights come down to firefights?

We should have reached the point where we can settle our differences with ballots, not bullets.

Can you imagine an armed Black Lives Matter march? Somebody would get nervous or angry, the cops would open fire, and it would be a bloodbath. And no matter who started it or did most of the shooting, blame would fall on the protesters. Violence validates the belief that something is wrong with "those people".

The fact that guns are sometimes necessary is proof that we are still a failed species. Nothing can be truly solved with violence, and every time a gun is fired in anger our common humanity dies a little.