The senseless death of Hostra student Andrea Rebello further underscores the calculated stupidity the NRA promotes with its insistence that the best answer to gun violence is “good guys with guns.”
Hofstra University student Andrea Rebello was killed by a police officer’s bullet after a masked intruder held a loaded gun to her head in a Long Island home and then took aim at the officer, Nassau County police said.
Rebello and the intruder were both killed after a split-second decision by the Nassau County police officer, authorities said. Police said Rebello was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder when the officer fired eight times, one shot hitting Rebello in the head.
Things can go horribly wrong even when a highly trained officer is involved. No civilian is as qualified to handle this type of situation, as that rather arrogantly implies that someone can accomplish in their spare time what a police officer dedicates his life to doing professionally.
The NRA would tell me that civilians have no choice but to arm themselves in response to armed criminals. However, the best response would be doing everything possible to limit the ridiculously easy access criminals have to guns in this country.
serhasacomplaint 
Mary Miraglia
May 20, 2013 at 7:04 pm
I think a lot of these “good guys with guns” are not really good at all. Consider this: every weapon used in a crime was legal at one time; surely we have to realize criminals are not just randomly coming across these weapons — someone who has them legally is selling / giving / trafficking these guns to the crooks. This is a big, big deficiency in prosecution in even the most strict of gun control states, including New Jersey. Enforcement of people funneling weapons to criminals is almost unheard of, and way overdue.
Stephen Robinson
May 21, 2013 at 8:02 am
Very good point, Mary. There was discussion of requiring “gun insurance,” given the increased risks involved with private gun ownership. I often thought that gun safety advocates should propose “death of a thousand cuts” type restrictions similar to what anti-abortionists do.
Mary Miraglia
May 21, 2013 at 9:01 am
And that;s another subject entirely. To drive a car you must pass a driver’s test, register the vehicle, and insure it. Why gun owners don’t have to have a background check, a proficiency exam, liability insurance, and demonstrate where their locked gun storage device is located and how they use it, is beyond reason. It’s a huge disconnect in practicality and logic. Then you have people walking round, like the young man in our town who was shot by a friend as a young teen, still walking around these many years later with a bullet in his brain that has the potential to kill him. An “accident” that was entirely preventable.