It’s the scenario the gun control harpies like to claim never happens. A concealed carry permit holder shot and killed an armed robber in, of all places, Chicago on Saturday.
A masked man walked into the store and currency exchange about 7 p.m. Saturday on the city’s southwest side, displayed a handgun and announced a robbery to an employee, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The gunman then pointed his weapon at another employee and forced her to the back of the store.
The armed customer then fatally shot the man, identified Sunday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as 55-year-old Reginald Gildersleeve. Other details about Gildersleeve weren’t released.
We don’t know yet if the customer — or as I like to call him HERO — will face charges. (For WHAT?!?!) Police were finishing their investigation up on Sunday and said it was unlikely he would be charged.
“We’re looking at it as a self-defense issue at this point,” he said.
The dead criminal Gildersleeve was shot in the chest and pronounced dead on the scene. The criminal’s stepson complained to the media. “Something doesn’t seem right,” said Igbinosa Oronsaye, whose mother was married to Gildersleeve. “Reggie doesn’t even own a gun. He couldn’t own a gun if he wanted to.”
Apparently, Reggie did own some kind of gun. “According to several law enforcement sources, the gun was a toy gun. Another law enforcement source said it was paintball gun. Guglielmi could not confirm that.”
If you are going to pull out anything that resembles a gun and inform those present they are being threatened with compliance then you risk getting shot and killed. It’s that simple.
And what do you know, “Gildersleeve had a ‘lengthy’ arrest history, including at least one for robbery, and was out on bond from an unrelated incident from Oct. 23, Guglielmi said.”
The hero was described as a 44-year-old man with a valid conceal license and a valid firearm owner’s identification card.
Said the stepson,”Some people don’t actually know how to use guns. They go to firing ranges, but it’s not the same as a bullet going into someone’s body, it’s not the same as a bullet going into flesh. They should be able to wound first, kill next. He didn’t deserve to get shot multiple times.”
He didn’t?
There is a risk associated with committing a crime and threatening the lives of people around you. This is the beauty of having concealed firearm owners in our midst. In places that do not have unconstitutional restrictions against concealed firearm carry, criminals know that someone may meet their threats with a deadly response. In self-defense situations, there is no time to check if the gun is a “toy” or evaluate if the threat is not really a deadly one. The burden is on the criminal not the victim. If you break into a house, if you wave a gun and threaten force, a properly trained individual will shoot to neutralize the threat — not spend five minutes deciding what the “true intention” is. Once the threat of violence is made, it’s either you or me and it’s going to be you.
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