Rapist and Robber in NYC Cops Plea

September 12, 2006 -- A bank robber who raped a woman and pistol-whipped a nun during a two-week crime spree pleaded guilty yesterday in Queens Supreme Court and will do 25 years in prison.

Roy Williams, 33, was facing more than 50 years behind bars. But on the eve of jury selection, the ex-con took a plea deal.

This criminal, Roy Williams, robbed three banks, rapped and robbed a 34 year old woman and pistol whipped a 69 year old nun. What is the best New York can do to him? 25 years in prison, much less with parole. Roy Williams will be on the streets of New York City again. Roy Williams will be set free to prey upon innocents and wreck havoc as he sees fit. There are thousands of hardened criminals like Roy Williams on the streets of New York City today, criminals who give no thought to the pain and agony they cause others.

What can you do to protect yourself in NYC from criminals like Roy Williams? Not a whole lot. You see, NYC has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation (note that Roy, even though he used a firearm in his robberies and the pistol whipping did not face any gun charges). You have to be permitted by the city just to have a firearm in your home. Any firearm requires a permit to purchase, and a permit to have in your home or business. If you want to carry a firearm for protection, there are four different permits to choose from. The fees to own a shotgun for home defense in NYC start at $154.00. You have to have a permit and registration. Once you are approved and pay the fees, you can purchase the shotgun. So you purchase the shotgun and get some defensive training at the local indoor range. The range fees in NYC start around $260.00 for the first year and training classes are extra. So you are putting out at least $750.00 over and above the cost of the shotgun just to be a responsible gun owner in NYC. Now that you have jumped through all the hoops, and 6 or 8 months have passed since you decided to defend your home, guess what? You have to keep the shot gun locked up unless it is in your immediate possession or control. I will not even get into the consequences of protecting your family and home with a firearm in NYC, just not enough time tonight. Let us just say that the laws in NYC make it very hard for a law abiding, tax paying, citizen to defend themselves from the criminal element.

Roy and his ilk have pretty easy pickings in NYC. The law abiding citizens are disarmed, and if they do have arms, they are locked up. And hey, if Roy gets caught, he can count on a lite sentence and the opportunity to terrorise the people again soon.