Disturbing Trend: Robbers More Likely to Shoot Victims

By Dean Rieck

The FBI has released data showing that violent crime is on the rise. There’s also a growing trend of teenagers shooting their victims. From a recent article in USA Today:

Violent crime continued to increase in the first six months of this year, highlighted by a growing trend of teenagers shooting robbery victims even if they surrender their valuables.

...“Crime is coming back, and it has a new and troubling element," said Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton. That is "a youthful population that is largely disassociated from the mainstream of America.”

...Robbers, especially juveniles, are more likely than ever to shoot victims, even when they do not resist. "There's almost a different code on the street, that it's not a robbery unless you shoot somebody," said Thomas Streicher, police chief in Cincinnati.

The article points out that a lot of the crime and shootings involve members of minorities attacking other members of their minority, in other words, gang-on-gang violence.

However, what this report shows is what many people have known all along: the sort of people who commit robbery and assault are not simply poor people trying to make ends meet. And you’re not safe just because you offer up your wallet and act passively. This sort of criminal is a violent sociopath with no sympathy or common sense. He will rob you, then beat you, stab you, or even shoot you just for the fun of it.

Click on 'Read More' for the entire commentary.

This is further proof that we desperately need to stop playing politics in Ohio and pass HB347, which would overhaul Ohio’s firearm laws, and HB541, which would modernize Ohio’s laws on self-defense.

It is simply foolish to maintain current laws that protect violent criminals and deter peaceable citizens from defending themselves especially when it is so painfully obvious that a mugging can turn into a murder in a second—and that your life depends on the mood of a young punk whose head isn’t wired correctly.

To find out more about these bills and for information about what you can do to encourage legislators to stop stalling and start doing their job to help citizens protect themselves, go to the top of the main page at www.BuckeyeFirearms.org. Educate yourself. Write your representatives and senators. Express your impatience and outrage.

We will only be able to exercise our rights when we demand our rights.