When violent so-called gun crime spiked, people demanded the president do something about it. For President Joe Biden, that meant trying to crack down on licensed firearm dealers, who he seems to believe is behind the issue.

Obviously, Second Amendment supporters have fired back at this unfair characterization. After all, we know that licensed dealers aren’t the problem. The black market is flooded with guns stolen from law-abiding gun owners.

In fact, gun stores are actually pretty good about trying to prevent tragedy. Take this case involving former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.

Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman alarmed his family in late January with repeated threats to kill himself before the King County Sheriff’s Office intervened and secured an Extreme Risk Protection Order to secure his weapons, according to newly released documents.

That action, along with early intervention from his family and the cooperation of a gun dealer, kept Sherman from obtaining a weapon as concern swelled among those closest to him. His case shows how laws passed to keep guns away from someone in crisis can possibly avert a tragedy.

…

On Jan. 28 detectives visited Bear Arms and told the owner that “providing a firearm to Mr. Sherman could produce a dangerous situation,” according to a detective’s report. The owner cooperated and said he would refund Sherman’s money and “would not be providing the weapon to him under any circumstances.”

In other words, the gun dealer, once aware of the situation with Sherman, did what he could to help prevent the loss of human life.

See, the people who run or work in gun stores aren’t psychopaths. They’re trying to provide a product that can save lives. While you can always find a handful of bad apples in any profession, most in that line of work refuse to sell to anyone they think is trying to carry out a straw purchase or may harm themselves or others.

They’re selling a device meant for self-defense. They don’t want to put guns in the hands of murderers or those who are suicidal.

And why would they? They make the most money they can in a society where guns are something people can buy. Murders and suicides are constantly used to justify gun control laws, restrictions that would hurt their business. It’s better for them to keep guns out of the hands of these people so that those laws never really come to fruition.

But, the above quote claims some laws can be beneficial, and I’m not really going to get into the red flag law aspect. While you may find the odd person who benefits from such a law, the truth is that every point we’ve ever raised here remains. It still involves taking guns from someone who hasn’t done anything illegal.

Hell, Sherman probably would have been better served if he’d been taken to a mental health facility for treatment before his ill-advised actions led to a terrifying situation. It’s easy to say that the red flag law helped, but there were still laws on the books that could have been used.

As it was, though, the gun store still cooperated. Most will.

Too bad that won’t stop the anti-Second Amendment crowd from demonizing them.