The headlines of late, when not dominated by Libya, Yemen and Syria, or not dominated by Trump, have been of the tabloid/Jerry Springer variety. A rash of violent attacks at fast food restaurants have captured our attention and made us wonder what is going on in the world. Recently, two black women beat up a white woman at a McDonald’s in Maryland. As was reported on my radio show, and as the Baltimore Sun has reported today, the woman who was beaten was actually a man in drag. It doesn’t change the severity of the crime, it just makes the story that much more sensational.
Unfortunately, these attacks have skipped the pond, where a father of four was killed after an altercation at a McDonald’s in Brixton, South London. The man, Raymond Mitchell, had stopped into the restaurant for a hot chocolate. Inside, a fight was happening between two men, and Mitchell tried to break it up. The men took offense to this, with one of the men calling another man to get his gun. When Mitchell tried to leave, the men chased him into an alley. When the gun arrived, they pistol-whipped Mitchell. The two men supposedly laughed when Mitchell begged for his life. They then shot him, and continued laughing.
An interesting side note to the savageness and lack of humanity. The United Kingdom has a ban on handguns. Police do not carry them in their routine business. The ban, as re-clarified in the 1997 Firearms Act (2) only allowed for antique guns, or historic guns whose ammunition is no longer available. Yet, as we plainly see, criminals still have access to guns.
Just a reminder that gun laws don’t necessarily make people safer from sick, homicidal bastards. Gun laws, however, definitively prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves against sick, homicidal bastards. My thoughts are with the family of Raymond Mitchell.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member