I woke up this morning to hear the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial: not guilty. I’m dismayed by this news. The broad facts of the incident that killed Trayvon Martin are these:

1. Martin was unarmed, walking back to a house where he was a guest
2. Zimmerman, an armed resident paroling the neighborhood in no official capacity, suspected Martin for being a burglar and started following him.
3. Police dispatch told Zimmerman to not follow Martin, but he did anyway
4. A struggle ensued between the two
5. Zimmerman used his gun to kill Martin.

What’s most disturbing is that Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law permits this to happen. It allows people to use deadly force if they feel their life is in danger.

Zimmerman’s life may have been in danger, but he put himself into that danger. The gun on his hip led him to overestimate his own abilities.

And this is why America loves guns. They immediately change the power calculus in any confrontation. For millions of years, the stronger, larger animal usually won. Guns change that math in favor of the person with their finger on the trigger.

If Zimmerman didn’t have a gun, would he have still gone after Martin? Of course not. The gun was the central prop in his policeman fantasy. It’s what gave him his power. It’s what made up for his lack of ability and experience.

There was a dangerous man in the neighborhood that night, but it wasn’t Trayvon Martin. It was George Zimmerman. Florida’s gun laws—and America’s gun obsession—made Zimmerman a dangerous man and condone his recklessly lethal behavior. It is a shame and an embarrassment that the jury found him innocent of second-degree murder.