Armed Washington State Residents Stop Nail Gun Theives

Image from komonews.com

On the afternoon of 22 December, 2018, two young men decided to steal from a Coastal Farm & Ranch store in Marysville, Washington. Marysville is a town of about 60,000 population 35 miles north of Seattle. The two young men took nail guns worth about $3200 from the store, without paying. They did not expect opposition. Most stores teach their staff not to confront thieves. While it may prevent some lawsuits, it is an invitation to steal.

In this case, concerned citizens worked to stop the blatant theft.  An impromptu militia of six formed up and surrounded the suspects' car with drawn pistols. From heralnet.com:

They didn’t expect to be surrounded by about six customers with guns raised.

One customer was standing in front of the car, yelling at the alleged thieves to get out.

“He won’t shoot, run him over,” one of the suspects reportedly said.

The driver pulled forward, causing the man confronting him to land on the hood, court papers say.

Another customer shot at the driver’s side front tire, according to documents. A third fired twice at the rear tire.

Another responsible citizen followed the car until he thought they showed a gun. Then he backed off.

The car was found three blocks away with two flat tires. All the merchandise was inside. The police deployed a dog to track the suspects.  The two suspects, 22 and 23 years old, were taken into custody. 

The armed citizens did not fire until the driver of the getaway car committed assault on the armed citizen attempting to detain them. The armed citizen who was struck with the car is in good condition. He did not need to be hospitalized.

The two suspects have been charged with felonies.

Washington State has 578,299 active ccw permits.  The population of Washington State is 7.406 million total. Of those, 5.777 million are residents over the age of 18.  About 10% of the adult population has a concealed carry permit.

About 75% of concealed carry permit holders are men.  A store such as Coastal Farm and Ranch, on a Saturday afternoon, a few days before Christmas, is bound to have a significant percentage of customers who are armed.

The common wisdom, put forward in the Media for 50 years is:

Do not get involved.

Let the Police handle it.

That may be good advise for an individual. It is terrible advice for society. It is only when individuals are willing to take risks to defend society, to prevent and deter evil acts, that civil society is maintained and improves. An active partnership between the police and the citizenry results in low crime rates.

The founder of modern police, Sir Robert Peel, emphasized the importance of the police being accepted as members of the community, and the importance of cooperation between the community and police.

The Police in Marysville are looking to find the armed citizens who fired the shots that flattened the suspects tires.

The armed citizens are, with considerable justification, refusing to get involved further.  These citizens should be found. They should be applauded. They should be celebrated.

There has been an active denigration of the importance of private property in the United States, for 50 years and more. It is part of the leftist assault on the rule of law. People cannot live without property. Society cannot function without property. Disrespect for property rights destroys civil society.

Criminals read and hear about crimes, successful, and unsuccessful. Thieves are likely to avoid Coastal Farm & Ranch store in Marysville, at least for a while.

It is necessary and proper for citizens to defend society from thieves. It takes courage, conviction, and a strong sense of responsibility to stand up to thieves. The armed citizens in Marysville took risks to uphold the rule of law. Through skill and luck, no one was hurt.

The police should be looking for Maryville's impromptu militia, to give them accolades and awards.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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