Not an advocate, nor an opponent. Thank you for your thoughtful response. I am most struck by your takeaway that I may be advocating for gun possession. If you think that, I think you are alone. Most of the comments I received seemed to take the view that I was anti-gun as their jumping off point.

I am in favor of smarter gun laws and thorough, vetted background checks for all gun purchases. The types of guns and gun owners that would be prevented from owning guns if/when we do get serious about gun laws probably aren’t the same shitheads that robbed my son. This incident was all-too-common, garden-variety, low-level thuggery. Stupidly American, but not solely American. There are violent thieves in every culture.