Concealed carry is a hot topic right now, what with the Supreme Court arguments still fresh in people’s minds. It’s a big topic and it will be a bigger topic when the Court issues its ruling sometime next year.

Most of us figure it’ll expand concealed carry, at least to some degree. That includes those who aren’t fond of that likelihood.

As such, it looks like CNN is ready to start fearmongering about how awful things will be.

The police killing of a Colorado man praised as a hero for preventing a mass shooting earlier this year illustrates how laws that allow the concealed or open carry of guns in public complicate police response to shootings.

Police say that John Hurley, 40, confronted Ronald Troyke after he shot and killed Officer Gordon Beesley in the west Denver suburb of Arvada. Investigators recovered a document written by Troyke with statements revealing his intent to kill police officers, including, “Today I will kill as many Arvada officers as I possibly can.”

The local prosecutor announced last week that responding Arvada Police Officer Kraig Brownlow will not face criminal charges for fatally shooting Hurley, who was holding a handgun and Troyke’s AR-15 when Brownlow shot and killed him.

In a letter laying out their decision, prosecutors said that while Brownlow’s acts “were nothing short of heroic,” the facts from Hurley’s point of view show that he did not know or could not have known of officer’s death or of Hurley’s “role in eliminating the threat” posed by Troyke.

The incident underscores how laws allowing people who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public or carry it in a concealed manner, pose an increased risk to public safety.

“If there is a weapon of any sort, not just guns, in somebody’s hands when we respond in a situation like an active shooter or an assault in progress … officers have additional pressures placed upon (them) to evaluate an awful lot of info in a short period of time and hopefully arrive at the correct answer to mitigate danger to everyone involved,” said Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officer Association.

Now, I certainly understand that, and I sympathize.

However, one of a handful of things had to happen for Hurley to be shot by police. He was either holding the weapon in a manner deemed to be threatening to the officer, failed to respond when told to drop the weapon, or the officer failed to issue a challenge. In one of those cases, the officer is at fault and should face criminal charges.

Since that’s not happening, we have to assume it’s one of the other two.

Yet CNN is using this case to illustrate a severe problem that simply isn’t.

Yes, what happened to Hurley is awful. He was the good guy with a gun and he shouldn’t have been shot. He’s also not the only good guy with a gun who has been shot by police.

However, it’s also far from an everyday occurrence, either.

Millions upon millions of people carry a firearm lawfully each and every day without incident. They’re not shot by police after using their firearm to defend human life. For the most part, it’s a non-issue.

Oh, it does happen, as I’ve said, but it’s rare, and because it’s rare, pretending it’s this massive problem is nothing more than CNN beating an alarmist drum ahead of what they likely know will be a significant expansion in concealed carry.

Sorry, I’m not interested in playing that game.

Instead of alarmism, CNN would do better by talking with instructors and other knowledgeable people about how to be a responsible concealed carrier and about what to do if police roll up during a confrontation.

Figure the odds of that happening, though.