Kyle Rittenhouse shows the worst of America’s love for firearms at protests – AZCentral.com

Opinion: Kyle Rittenhouse may or may not spend the rest of his life behind bars. But he's still alive. Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber are not.

Kyle Rittenhouse closing arguments: Self-defense versus vigilante

Lawyers on both sides of the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial gave their version of events in closing arguments after days of testimony and video.

STAFF VIDEO, USA TODAY

Kyle Rittenhouse could spend the rest of his life behind bars, or he could walk free.

Either way, hes still alive.

But Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber never had a chance when they faced Rittenhouses semiautomatic rifle that night of Aug. 25, 2020.

Forget the Second Amendment for a moment, and lets stick to the undisputed factsat Rittenhouses murder trial that just ended and whose fate is now at the hands of the jury.

Rittenhouse, then 17, went to Kenosha, Wis., carrying a semiautomatic rifle to a volatile protest over a police shooting. Rittenhouse fired eight shots, killing 36-year-old Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Huber, and injuring a third man.

Whatever the jury decides, the fact is that Rosenbaum and Huber would still be alive had Rittenhouse not carried that semiautomatic rifle to the protest.

By now it should be obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense that walking into a riot with any kind of firearm andespecially a high-powered rifleis incredibly dangerous.

The judge presiding over Rittenhouses trial has already dismissed the lesser charge of an underage teen carrying a rifle with a long barrel, sothis isnt a legal or Second Amendment argument.

We have the right to carry arms, but that doesnt make it less dangerous to go to public protests armed to the teeth.

Rittenhouse and his family are finding that out the hard way.

But hes still alive. Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber are not. Their families are left to their painful loss.

Will this be a lesson that firearms and angry protests dont mix?

I doubt it. Why? Because displaying ones arsenalat public protests is Americas new deadly sport.

Elvia Daz is an editorial columnistfor The Republic and azcentral.Reach her at 602-444-8606 orelvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter,@elviadiaz1.

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Kyle Rittenhouse shows the worst of America's love for firearms at protests - AZCentral.com