Originally Posted by Snowolf

Absolutely it's the DA's job to do that and all he or she has to do is convince a jury of 12 that a crowbar is not a match for a shotgun to get a conviction. In most cases invoking the use of a firearm, if the perp is not also armed with a gun, juries tend to convict. May not be right but its reality and it happens right here in gun loving America all of the time.

Don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of law abiding citizens possessing reasonable arms for self defense (nobody needs an AR15 and a box of 50 round clips) and I myself own several handguns and have a CCW permit. My only point here is that the story itself is being used as fear propaganda against rational, reasonable and sane gun regulation. Also, many gun owners have no clue what the laws in their states actually say about use of deadly force.