As Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin sat across the conference table from me — doing his best to explain why he sent a letter to the vice president of the United States — I thought it a perfect time to get to the bottom line. “If all guns were outlawed in Douglas County tomorrow, would crime go up, or down?” I asked. The county’s uniformed and crew-cutted top law enforcement official didn’t blink. “Up,” he said. “I believe the fact that we have an armed citizenry acts as a deterrent to criminals.” And how armed is our local citizenry? For …