Rittenhouse Decision

The decision in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse has opened doors for “open carry” situations for people who are underage. While I have many emotions about Rittenhouse’s trial, I’m mostly filled with questions about matters of law going forward.

My questions include:

• Will certain states change gun laws when it comes to the ownership and use of semi-automatic weapons and hand guns?
• Will a higher level of training be required for the ownership and use of semi-automatic weapons and handguns?
• Will laws change regarding the type of handguns that are used, whether the person who fires the weapon is licensed or unlicensed?
• Will a gun user’s age be a factor?

The question that breaks my heart the most at this moment: Will punishment for a crime where a gun is used boil down to the skin color of the person holding that weapon?

That last was an issue more than two decades ago regarding the disparity in sentencing for people caught with powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine. Crack was more associated with People of Color and carried much tougher sentences.

I was taught never to pick a fight with someone who feels they can put the law into their own hands. Were you? Are you a person who believes they can do what Rittenhouse did and take the law into his own hands and then kill those who confront you, and you can do it without punishment? Did our justice system just tell White men, again, that the law does not apply to them the same way it would have if a Black man had done the same thing?

As a person who has dedicated his life to keeping people safe by making sure everyone operates within the boundaries of the law, I did not see Rittenhouse’s case as a complex one. This was a case of privilege that one has whether they were right or wrong.

When will our justice system be truly based on justice and not one decided by who you know and the color of your skin?

As an African American man I, like other People of Color in America, want to feel safe when I leave my home and exercise any of the rights the U.S. Constitution says that I have. Is that asking too much?

I can’t help but think what would have happened to me if I had done what Rittenhouse did, and I am a security professional who would have been much better prepared to be in that situation. Would I have even lived long enough to go to trial? Would I have been acquitted? I doubt it, and that’s the main problem.

When justice is truly served equally to all Americans we will have some peace.

Until then, sadly, “No Justice, no peace.”