Cops cannot be everywhere, no r be there in time. With the heroin epidemic in the Midwest, we are seeing muggings on small town streets, shootings in Dayton, even robberies of old ladies in WalMart lots. I am always in possession of some or several defense weapons. I will not give up what i have worked for to some thug. I have pepper spray, bug spray, knives, guns and as last resort, a nail files that would get the throat or nose. These guys around here do not just steal, they beat up their victims after. NO, we have to be ready to stand up for ourselves. Parents can cry after the fact, but get your kids under control, they should know threatening and robbing are not right. The government fives you money to feed your babies, don't trade it for drugs. No excuses, as my dad used to say. If he could not support his child legally, why should he have custody, at all. Any Gram who tells her grandchild, your daddy stole and hurt people to feed you, is already sending the wrong message., This is just idiculous.

When someone flashes a gun in anything but self defense, who knows what their intent is? If they don't get their way are they prepared to kill for it? Or perhaps they just like shooting people. If confronted by a gun and if I have the opportunity to get off the first shot, I most certainly will take it. It would be stupidly irrational to allow myself to be in the power of a gunman if I had another option.

And always watch your back.

I'm a bit rusty and will be hitting the range next week. As the Boy Scouts say, "Be prepared!"

...as does a transplanted Hoosier in Sin City.

I'm afraid that number 2 is the most telling.

Reminder: When seconds count, law enforcement is only minutes away.

An Alabama allosaur approves of this message.

Strikes old dino that the shooter was thinking of all the instances of work place violence that's been in the news for way back when.
The fear factor at play was that the robber would start vengefully gunning former coworkers down once he had his hands on all the money.
A point blank head shot is the surest way to make sure your armed target does not turn around and shoot you.
By the way, if you got a gun on someone for a good or bad reason, don't ever look away. You just might get shot in the back if not the back of the head. Duh!
Kinda know what I'm talking about.
Me dino is trained to shoot and has NRA qualified 20 X 3 times if you just want to talk about three different weapons. More so with a sidearm.

I can understand in their grief where they are coming from. Their position is invalid and I hope that when their grief eases a bit they will realize that he got what he deserved.

Why? TO protect himself from a scumbag robber, who played the odds the cops wouldn't show up, and he could do his crime. Played the odds... and lost. THAT'S why the hell this guy had a gun - because of scumbag robbers like, apparently, your spawn.

I wish you were right about the stupidity of people, however, two facts show otherwise:

1. A similar scenario was played out, earlier this year. A robber was shot by a customer and the family said the customer should have just driven away as it was not his problem.

2. Hillary was still able to attract over 200 Electoral votes.

The comment about not going out of their assigned roles reminded me of one of Heinlein's Lazarus Long quotes: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!"

Too bad they don't have any money either. We could rob them, and expect them to just hand over their cash.

Responsibility is going right out the window.

"Why ... did this guy have a gun?" For the same reason I have one and would use it to defend either my living space or my workspace.
Only too happy to dispatch a thug-robber or thug-"protester" who threatened my life or property (at least when I'm present at that property and personally threatened by the intrusion).
Fortunately, in Montana, we have the Castle Doctrine-- and, quite often, a gun or guns to back it up with. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_...

A good friend of mine wrote a book years ago entitled "Dial 9-1-1 and Died" about how the police show up after the crime and are not there to protect you from the children of parents who see little wrong with armed robbery. As one who has had a 9mm pressed against his head during a robbery, I am glad the robber is dead.

"their statements illustrate an overwhelming denial"
Yes, overwhelming denial.

"do you see the connection to a victim based collectivism"
Not really, besides their both being wrong. When someone decides to point a gun at someone for robbery, it's all on HIM. His parents and public policy may or may not have been supportive, but I think it comes down to what he did. Collectivism has gone up a little in recent decades while crimes has gone down a little. I think violent crime and collectivism are human problems that are only indirectly related.

Although it does seem so in line with the complaints about Trump....

I am inclined to agree, but I just cannot take the energy to go prove it one way or another, because it is such a repeat item. They just took ignorance and lack of responsibility to another level....

That is a point, however, their statements illustrate an overwhelming denial, and blame game. I can guarrantee this was not a one time deal. This is part of the problem, the Ferguson dude was a prior criminal, who had just committed yet another crime and was a thug to boot. Yet they did the whole "poor little me" thing, and daddy went on the "burn this town" rant. It happens over and over, with no responsibility for the root cause, just this "it's all about poverty, no jobs no work". Then why do they live there? Go somewhere else! They never do. I cannot deal with people telling me how much life sucks, yet do nothing to fix it. Sorry CG, I am not as nice as you in this regard.

CG. We both agree it is a devastating loss these parents. My question is simple do you see the connection to a victim based collectivism eating away the inner cities youth like a malignant tumor?
When it is victim based there is no responsibility for behavior too often seen today. Hence the blame shifted to the defender from the robber.

I don't understand what you're saying at all. Maybe if you say it a different way I'll suddenly get what's now going over my head.

"Don't we see a lot of that today?"
We see a lot of denial, but that's the norm for humanity. I don't think there was a time when most of humanity could recognize they were getting emotional and use critical thinking to avoid falling into the trap of selectively looking at evidence the rationalizing acting on feelings.

" allowing your kid to go do stupid things"
I agree, but we don't know these people allowed it. At some point kids go up and can make horribly wrong decisions, and they're parents can do nothing to stop it.

If I knew the people in this story personally, I would not argue unless they asked if I agreed with their reasoning.

Ok CG, we agree the parents are grieving and distraught. Are you sad that the liberal fix causes the stagnation of development and a third world in our inner cities? Or That playing a victims game results in excuses and a lack of responsibility for their life?