Il: Bakery Shootout: no Restraints

I teach students to make a decision about being put under restraint before they get into a deadly force situation.   By restraint, I mean that the aggressor/attacker is attempting something, or commanding you to do something, that significantly reduces your options for resistance.  One of the simplest of these is for someone to aim a gun at you from a vehicle, and order you to get into the car.  It is almost always better to run for cover at that point.  Criminals do not want to move you somewhere for your benefit.

Other examples are: they are going to tie you up, move you to another location, put a hood over your head.   It could be as simple as commanding you to lie face down on the floor or go into a cooler at a retail outlet.

It is worth repeating: criminals do not want to put you under restraint for your own good.   It often ends badly for the person put under restraint.  I  recall reading a source that claimed that once you were under restraint, the chances of your survival dropped below 50%.  Academic studies and common sense indicate that resistance with a weapon are far more likely to be successful.

Make the decision now.  At what point will you resist?  I have made my decision.  If the criminal tries to put me under restraint, I will fight.  Pick your moment for optimum resistance.  The recent case in Atlanta is a good example.  Another is this case in Illinois, just south of Chicago.   From nbcchicago.com:

He said a pair of men came into the shop at about 3:30 p.m., took a couple of hundred dollars out of the safe, and then tried to force him and another employee to the back of the bakery. That's when the shop owner fired the weapon, striking one of the robbers.

"They had the money already, why would they ask us to go to the back," the owner said. "It just didn't feel right, everything happened so fast."

The baker acted quickly and decisively.  He shot one  robber seven times.  We do not know if the other robber was hit, because he escaped.  Let this be a lesson for disarmists in New York, such as Governor Cuomo, who claim that no one would ever need more than seven shots to defend themselves.

Another important point is the benefit to society that accrued from the Baker's resistance.  A criminal was put out of action for a considerable period.   It is likely that another will be caught and prosecuted.  Many crimes will be prevented as a result.   The police chief, Edward L. Gilmore,  supported the bakery owner. 

Calumet City Police Chief Edward L. Gilmore said the shop owner is a legal gun owner and was acting well within in his rights. Gilmore said it should serve as a warning to other would-be criminals.

"I think a message should be sent to all would-be criminals out there that business owners have a right to protect themselves," Gilmore said.

Police Chief Gilmore joins the ranks of chiefs who recognize the rights of citizens to self defense.  Perhaps he will join Sheriff Clarke of Milwaukee and Police Chief Craig of Detroit in actively supporting armed citizens.

 Definition of  disarmist 

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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