Dear Rebecca:

I think from time to time about the assertion, by Second Amendment enthusiasts, that guns are necessary for self-defense. There’s no firearm so destructive that gun lovers won’t defend it on these grounds.

And the gun lovers might, in a twisted sense, be right.

You know why you need a military-style AR-15 that provides the ability to kill very many people very quickly?

To protect yourself against all the crazy assholes with guns.

That’s … convenient.

–Joel