The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.

Col. Jeff Cooper, firearms pioneer

I will not play the game of “if there had been someone with a gun” game with the current tragedy, but the truth remains that armed citizens do deter crime and stop violence. Guns are not magical talismans, but they are powerful tools. Like any tool, like a car or a lawn mower, they can be used to hurt people or to make people’s lives better. That can only be done by the person wielding the tool.