Tuesday, June 19, 2007

La. Boy, 17, Grabs Gun, Foils Carjacking

Some news articles just trip my trigger.

The following is an article about a 17 year old who took action when a goblin attempted to car jack his Mom at a fast food drive through. This young man did a great job and should be held up as an example of what can be done to protect yourself and your family.

The AP does not see it that way.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:


A 17-year-old boy foiled an attempted carjacking, wrestling a gun from a would-be robber and shooting him after the man grabbed his mother, authorities said.

Carl Chestnut, wounded in the head and torso, will face armed robbery charges once he is released from East Jefferson General Hospital, Col. John Fortunato, a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman, said Monday.

The 53-year-old woman, whose name wasn't released, and her son were in the drive-through line at an Arby's Roast Beef Restaurant early Monday when Chestnut, 44, walked up and pointed a gun at her, demanding their money and the car, Fortunato said.

When he leaned inside, trying to yank the mother out of the car, the 17-year-old grabbed the gun, Fortunato said. He said it went off once as they struggled, but did not hit anyone. Once the youth got the gun, he shot Chestnut several times, Fortunato said.
Good job.
Sylena Rhodes, a corporate officer for Arby's, said, "He saved his mother's life. He's a hero. He's an absolute hero."
Not everyone sees it that way:

While acknowledging the gamble succeeded, authorities stressed that it's safer to cooperate in such a case.

"Give them the money and give them the keys," Sheriff Harry Lee said. "You make an insurance payment on your car, and nobody gets shot."
I disagree. These are the same folks who would recommend that a woman "cooperate" with her rapist to prevent further injury.

First: All to often we read about, or watch the news story about, the victim who was shot, stabbed or beaten even though they attempted to cooperate.

Second: It is the duty of a free citizen to resist violent crime in any way possible. To cooperate with a goblin is to embolden that goblin. Cooperation empowers the goblin and makes it easier for him to strike again, each time becoming even more violent. Resist, even at the risk of personal injury. Resist, fight back, cut the goblins crime spree short.

That advice goes counter to some state laws that require a citizen to retreat, cower, capitulate and cooperate with an attacker before finally taking action. States such as this consider their citizens to be subjects, not free citizens with individual liberty.

Finn Aagaard wrote a great article on this subject:

4 comments:

Fits said...

"The sheriff of [Jefferson Parish] is the closest thing there is to being a king in the U.S. I have no unions, I don't have civil service, I hire and fire at will. I don't have to go to council and propose a budget. I approve the budget. I'm the head of the law-enforcement district, and the law-enforcement district only has one vote, which is me," Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee told NPR in a November 28 story."

Harry dislikes anyone doing anything that Harry has no control over. It's an old LE lament that refers back to job security. When it comes to civvies, Harry advises they surrender at all cost because thwarting an armed aggressor requires years of training and should be tried by those at home.

Kurt '45superman' Hofmann said...

Check out the guidelines posted by the Illinois State Police to thwart sexual assaults. They actually tell women to vomit as a defense mechanism. The part about the rat tail comb, or the teasing brush ("get away from me, or I'll give you really big hair") is grimly amusing. Even more incredibly, that's the improved version--we made enough noise about the old version that they took out the following part:

Use of a firearm to protect yourself or property is not recommended.
. . .

* Half of all the women that fire a gun trying to protect themselves shoot someone they do not want to, i.e. friend, neighbors, relatives, etc.


We've never received a reply to requests for the source of their "statistic" about women firing guns in self-defense.

Unknown said...

I await the inevitable lawsuit filed against the young man by the would be car jacker for emotional distress.

John R said...

Fits; Thanks for coming up with that quote, it explains a lot.

45superman; That "advice" is pretty prevalent these days. Check out this youtube vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7sYjJePgsY

After posting this commentary about a couple of goblins on a "sexual binge" here in North Texas [url]http://akeyboardanda45.blogspot.com/2006/12/goblins-go-on-sexual-assault-binge.html[/url] I was contacted by a friend of one of the victims who was of the opinion that her friend would have been even worse off if she had a firearm. I replied, but doubt she got it.

Jenn; Thanks for stopping by. I am all for finding a way to prevent goblins from filing civil suites for injuries received during the commission of a crime.