I feel like the right answer isn't black and white and somewhere in the middle... which infinitely complicates things unfortunately. At the end of the day it's all situationally subjective.

However, I do think that these laws shouldn't benifit you if you are the one commiting a crime, and you are in possession of a weapon illegally.

I think the act of commiting a crime while armed is enough to establish that you are aware of the dangers of your crime and are willing to use deadly force to deal with the confrontations those crimes entail.