In Lexington, Kentucky, the police department has given an award to Zara Adil, a young woman who disarmed one of two armed robbers, shot him, sent the other robber fleeing, and then fought the wounded robber for the cash register. It was all recorded on video. The police caught the suspects, and believe that they were responsible for more than a dozen robberies. It doesn't take many violent criminals to create a lot of crime. Armed citizens are often the ones who stop these crime sprees. From lex18.com:
"Getting an award for bravery... I wasn't expecting it because I don't feel like I did anything out of the ordinary," said Adil.
However, Lexington Police said there was nothing ordinary about Adil's actions. Back in February her family store, the Tobacco Zone, was robbed.
"Robbery went down, we had a fight over the gun and I took the register and the gun from him," said Adil.
It sounds simple, however surveillance video shows Adil defeat two men who were armed with a gun. After they threatened her and another employee, she didn't hesitate when she saw a chance to take their weapon.
Link to the video:
Most people realize that it is a bad strategy to count on a stupid criminal to set down his gun where the victim can grab it. It is much better for citizens to have their own weapons that they are familiar with, and know that they work.
It doesn't take much math to realize that a few armed citizens can have a large impact in reducing crime. I have been expecting rewards for citizen crime stoppers for a good while. The Internet makes fund-raising easy. Many have suggested such rewards as a supply of ammunition, a better gun, or free range time. That makes perfect sense when you consider that armed citizens and police are natural allies and compliment each other.
Police cannot be everywhere. They are terrible at stopping crime when it is happening. Armed citizens are where the crime is happening. But they have to make a living, and cannot devote the hours necessary to solve crimes, track down criminals that flee, and put them through the rigorous process of a criminal justice system that is designed to protect the innocent. A good police force can do that much better, and serve as a quick reaction force, so that an armed citizen can call 911 and know that time is on her side. All she has to do is hold out until the reinforcements arrive.
The violent crime rate has been dropping while firearm sales are soaring, concealed carry permits are at an all-time high, and castle doctrine laws are swinging the pendulum back in favor of the law abiding citizen.
Maybe cities and states will start rewarding citizens who fight back on a regular basis. Detroit and Milwaukee would be good places to start. Chief Craig and Sheriff Clarke would be perfect authorities to hand out "armed citizen" awards. The Bill of Rights day, 15 December, would be a good day to celebrate armed citizens with a parade of them down main street. There would be many who would participate.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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