Too bad a responsibly armed citizen wasn't around

[Chris McKinley]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 3259.story

Every individual with a railroad tie, every person who battered the victim while he was down, and the cameraman himself should have been shot dead at the site.

[Steve James]

Agreed, for everyone with a railroad tie. I agree that the spectators are guilty, but I wouldn't go after the unarmed first --or after the armed were dealt with. It is very sad that so many watched and did nothing.

[Alexander]

Very sad news.

Even more sad is that this happens.. a lot. Dozens of people are repeatedly put on their knees execution style, with one shooter, and when he goes to reload not a single person tries to fight or run.

[Ian]

This stuff happens too often in certain countries for people to NOT be armed, physically but more importantly mentally, and willing and able to use force.

[BrianK]

Chicago has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country. You've got to be a criminal to arm yourself there. Makes me glad I live in Florida, where responsibly armed citizens CAN be around.

Brian

[Ian]

being 'armed' is as much a state of mind as it is a physical state, and there are weapons other than firearms.

[BrianK]

I'm not Spetznaz or anything, but I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, Ian. I frequently find myself out and about with nothing more deadly than my car keys on me.

[grzegorz]

Yes, more guns in the ghetto would solve everything...

[Steve James]

Doesn't have to be the ghetto. Just imagine the same situation with everyone being armed. The only issue in this case is how to save the victim. Maybe someone there with a firearm might have helped, given the numbers. A mob is a mob, unarmed or not.

[BrianK]

Maybe it's because I've just watched Ron Paul get interviewed by John Stewart, but I don't feel that the govt. telling us whether we can own jians, daos, bians, dadaos, katanas, OR 1911s does much to advance personal liberty. I've heard too many stories that came from the old Chen guys about practicing weapons forms with wooden weapons indoors in the dark of night to avoid PRC oppression to be cool with such tactics. I remember a time when the notion that only authority figures should be armed would not have been considered very liberal at all. When did the left become so trusting of authority? What would Chuck D say?

[grzegorz]

Doesn't have to be the ghetto. Just imagine the same situation with everyone being armed. The only issue in this case is how to save the victim. Maybe someone there with a firearm might have helped, given the numbers. A mob is a mob, unarmed or not.

In this part of LA everyone is armed and everyone gets shot.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6675.story

You could just easily have called this thread too bad a cop wasn't around.

The reality is if it was just a shooting this wouldn't even be in the news.

I'd hate to say it but as sad as this is this is just another day in most urban areas.

[Steve James]

Well, I don't think this is an everyday thing, at least where I live. However, I think this incident is about as convincing an argument for guns as a school shooting is for gun control. There's never a case of violence or violent crime where one can't argue that a gun couldn't have helped or made things worse. But, in any event, this incident was not caused by the gun laws or the loss of personal liberty, etc. It's cool to care about those things. And, it would have been cool if the victim had been armed. Unfortunately, he was a high-schooler; and I'm not sure that the incident is a strong argument for letting high-schoolers carry. I am pretty sure that it wouldn't stop these kind of incidents.

[Andy_S]

SNIP
Every individual with a railroad tie, every person who battered the victim while he was down, and the cameraman himself should have been shot dead at the site.
SNIP

The cameraman (ie cellphone carrier) gave his footage for use as evidence and assisted the victim after the perps had finished their assault. You can't blame average, unarmed citizens for not getting physically involved in an incident as violent as this one.

The story lacks context: What is all this about fights breaking out in his school over the incident and his memorial being burned down? Did he just wander into a mob ruck, or was he in some way involved with a competing gang/faction, or what?

[Chanchu]

Men with weapons are citizens disarmed men are serfs... a .45 in the hands of a resolute person would have saved the student but the citizen would have been put in jail by "big mommie" for sure.. Chi town has draconion weapons laws as does all of Ill.

I was thinking it would have been cool- if somebody jumped out with a unregistered kwan dao and started lopping off rail road tie weilding ankles..

In LA during the riots the only areas that did not burn were protected by armed citizens like the dudes in korea town- the cops took off.

The Black Panthers knew the story on the left about weapons...

[grzegorz]

Men with weapons are citizens disarmed men are serfs... a .45 in the hands of a resolute person would have saved the student but the citizen would have been put in jail by "big mommie" for sure.. Chi town has draconion weapons laws as does all of Ill.

I was thinking it would have been cool- if somebody jumped out with a unregistered kwan dao and started lopping off rail road tie weilding ankles..

In LA during the riots the only areas that did not burn were protected by armed citizens like the dudes in korea town- the cops took off.

The Black Panthers knew the story on the left about weapons...

What makes you think the thugs weren't armed?