Gun owners need to wise up about police violence

It's hard to support the Second Amendment when terrified police are gunning down unarmed citizens

A gun and aerial footage of the Stephon Clark shooting.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Courtesy Sacramento Police Department/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo, AudiDelaCruz/iStock, Tatomm/iStock)

Spring has hardly arrived, and already the season has seen the deaths of two black men, both shot by law enforcement when they were unarmed and posing no serious threat. Sacramento's Stephon Clark was shot six times in the back, and lay bleeding in his grandparents' backyard for several minutes while the officers who shot him looked on from a safe distance. It turned out that his "gun" was only a cell phone. Saheed Vassell was shot 10 times by New York City officers, as he held out the metal pipe that they mistakenly took for a gun. Vassell suffered from bipolar disorder, and neighbors described him as friendly and harmless.

California is now considering legislation that would make it easier to prosecute police officers following a lethal shooting. Conservatives will instinctively wish to oppose this, but they should reconsider. Police accountability is an uncomfortable subject on the political right, but that's going to have to change as debate rages over the Second Amendment. Conservatives should be anxious to persuade their fellow citizens that private gun ownership is consistent with high standards of citizen safety. It's very hard to make that case when terrified police are gunning down unarmed citizens.

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Rachel Lu

Rachel Lu is a writer based in Roseville, Minnesota. Her work has appeared in many publications, including National Review, The American Conservative, America Magazine, and The Federalist. She previously worked as an academic philosopher, and is a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.