If we don't have this right, the rest of them do no good.
But Derby seems to be blaming Lens death on an inanimate object, rather than the human beings who took Lens life.
Or the choices made by this young man to, first, become a gangbanger and, second, to become a "professional assasin".
It would have been ironic if Derby had ended up shooting that gang-banger to protect himself somewhere down the line.
This sentence struck me too, for a couple of different reasons.
First, it tacitly acknowledges that there indeed is a right to bear arms.
Second, it is a very peculiar argument. It suggests that if a right is not the most important right, it's not worth fighting for. By this logic, you could strip the bill of rights down to one amendment.
An English teacher should put more thought into his writing.