WOMAN DIED FROM MISUSE OF A FIREARM

In the maelstrom that has surrounded the fatal shooting of 88-year-old
Kathryn Johnston by Atlanta Police Department, I can't help but sit
back and shake my head.

The APD conducted a legal plain-clothes raid with a judge-issued
warrant following an informant who bought drugs at the residence.

Once inside the residence, the victim shot three police officers
before being gunned down. Police later found a small amount of
marijuana in the victim's home.

According to CNN, Rev. Markel Hutchins described the event as having
"all of the signs of an egregious violation of Ms. Johnston's civil
and human rights at worst, and police officers using poor judgment and
unnecessary force at best..." and he continued on to appeal for a
federal investigation of the affair.

Others can debate plain-clothes raids, faulty informants, the war on
drugs and how much of an illegal substance is enough to count as criminal.

What struck me first and foremost about this case was the
irresponsible use of a firearm by Ms. Johnston.

Col. Jeff Cooper of the United States Marine Corps, the father of
modern shooting theory and technique, outlined four basic rules of
shooting:

1. All firearms are loaded, even when they are not.

2. Never point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to
destroy.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire at
your target.

4. Always identify your target, and what is behind
it.

It was neither the war on drugs, nor unjustified or unwarranted police
raids that killed Kathryn Johnston.

It was her failure to heed the four most basic rules of
shooting.

We have heard the tired argument -- it was late, she was old, she had
just woken up and was disoriented, it was dark and her vision is
roughly that of a 88-year old.

She made the conscious decision to either fail to properly educate
herself on firearm usage or fail to follow it, and as is often the
case with irresponsible use of guns, her life is forfeit.

I feel sorry for the police officers involved, and that they take the
blame for this incident. At the point where shots were fired and
officers were down, I cannot imagine any other reaction than to return
fire.

Police officers are trained only to draw their weapons with the intent
to use lethal force. Firearms are not threats -- if a police officer
is pointing his sidearm at you, he is ready to use it. While I hope
for every officer out there that he may be able to shoot to
incapacitate, the most effective way to do this is to shoot the chest.

Various media and so-called civil rights outlets would confuse the
core of this incident to pertain to race, drugs, or police brutality.
Ultimately, it boils down to irresponsible firearm usage by the victim.

Had she properly identified her target before opening fire, three
police officers would have gone home to their families that night, and
she would have lived to defend her own civil rights.