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Letter: Let’s arm the homeless

(Rachel Molenda | The Salt Lake Tribune) A memorial for Thomas Stanfield, 54, is displayed near 140 E. 300 South in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Stanfield was shot and killed by a security guard patrolling the plaza between two government office buildings early Wednesday morning, Salt Lake City police say.

Shot in the back by a trained security guard, homeless Thomas Stanfield has only himself and his community to blame. It’s true that he did nothing wrong. It’s true that no one deserves to lose their life while trying to improve it. It’s also true that Stanfield had no way to defend himself. As a member of a community that eschews guns, he was unarmed, as were his compatriots who may have otherwise been able to provide deterring force. As Randal Doyal points out in his well-considered position on school safety, the obvious answer is more guns and more threat of force. If Stanfield had followed the advice of countless gun advocates and been carrying his own firearm, he might still be alive today.

In fact, because the homeless spend their lives on the street, they are the ideal task force to fight crime across our city. Unlike our police force, they don’t ever leave their beat. Ever vigilant and armed to the teeth, armed homeless would make our city dramatically safer. We deserve a safe community. Knowing that an armed populace guaranteeing mutually assured destruction is the only path to a comfortable, healthy environment, we must arm the homeless.

Chris Sanger, Salt Lake City