Twenty-seven is too young to die. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to stay alive at that age as long as you avoid stupid people in stupid places doing stupid things.
Which brings us to Jeffrey Maurice Burnette, a 27-year-old who decided to act stupidly by opening fire in a small gaming shop in Roanoke, Virginia at 3:15am.
According to police spokeswoman Caitlyn Cline, “Burnette entered the business with a gun and fired several rounds,” after which he was shot by an armed employee. There were several people inside at the time of the shooting, and authorities haven’t yet said whether any of them were wounded. Burnette, however, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Even following a justified defensive shooting, we don’t celebrate death. Too often, it’s young men who haven’t lived to see their 30th birthday who commit these kinds of actions, frequently with fatal consequences.
And despite the bleating of 2A opponents, it’s not the gun’s fault. Burnette decided to pull the trigger, and it’s a good thing the employee behind the counter had the means to defend himself and his customers. Yet another case of a good guy with a gun saving lives.
The “good guy with a gun” narrative is a myth meant to scare people into buying guns for self-defense.
The truth? People rarely use guns for self-defense. Read more: https://t.co/JiRK3zkvkl
— Giffords (@GiffordsCourage) July 6, 2018