A MAN DEFENDS HIMSELF from gun-firing drug dealers. The police say he hasn’t committed any crime — but they confiscate his guns anyway. Publicola and Rachel Lucas are unhappy.

Police are rather free about confiscating guns — and, as any lawyer who deals with such matters can attest, often refuse to return them even when they have no legal basis for keeping them. (What’s more, those confiscated guns often “disappear” and wind up in the hands of . . . . police officers!)

The police chief here, Reuben Greenberg, is well-regarded, which makes it likely that either there’s more to this story than has been reported, or that swift corrective action will be taken. Stay tuned.