In all likelihood, Arbery would not be dead – and his murderers not facing life behind the bars – if it were not for the presence of a shotgun in the confrontation. That is one of the main lessons that Stanford law professor John Donohue draws from the Arbery murder and subsequent trial.

Donohue also notes that during the trial, Travis McMichael testified that before the deadly confrontation with Arbery, there had been a number of burglaries in the area, and a Smith & Wesson pistol he owned was stolen from a truck in front of his house. “That gun and other guns stolen outside the home abundantly arm American criminals – to the tune of roughly 100,000 guns per year. Even before McMichael murdered Arbery, he was already contributing to violent crime indirectly,” Donohue notes.