ar-15s let's pretend. sorry. let's do a thought experiment. suppose everyone in bost had an ar-15. and carried them all the time. loaded of course. now let's replay the boston marathon finish. the bombs still go off. cause nobody knows they're under attack until that moment. the brothers disappear for a day and a bit. they still murder the security officer at mit. they still carjack the dude's car. but this is where things get a little different. they know the driver has an ar-15. so they shoot him before he has a chance to use it. okay so that's different. they're still a lockdown. but everyone feels a lot more safe and comfortable cause they have their ar-15, right? hrm. maybe. i wouldn't. my wife or i would be up all night keeping watch. or if we did sleep, it'd be light and stressful. anywho, they still have the shoot out with police. brother the younger might not get away though. cause the cops have ar-15s. he really wasn't in any condition to do much damage anyway. it'd just ended a bit sooner. or not. only the gods know what might've happened. and they aren't telling. anywho. suppose he got to the boat. and the boat owner checked it out with his ar-15. he'd have still called the cops. they'd have still brought in the helicopter. and taken him into custody. so real net difference: car jack victim is dead. this is assuming folks there are no mistaken identifications. and no one gets trigger happy. and no one decides that now is a good time to settle a grudge. and the police resources aren't tied up dealing with well meaning and well armed vigilantes. course if every city had ar-15s like in other parts of the world, a bombing where only 3 people were killed might not even make the news. conclusion: it'd be a very different world. i'm just not seeing the up side.  ¶ 8:00 AM