Self Defense – Page 73

Providence store clerk fires gun at robber; suspect stabs customer

PROVIDENCE Rhode Island— A convenience store clerk fired gunshots at a man who robbed the store and stabbed a customer Tuesday night, according to the Providence police.

The stabbing victim is in stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital; area hospitals haven’t reporting any shooting victims, according to Cmdr. Thomas Verdi.

At about 11 p.m. Tuesday, the police went to the Broadway Express Mart at 306 Broadway for a reported stabbing, according to a report provided by Verdi.

The store clerk told the police that he fired several shots at a man who went behind the counter, showed a knife and demanded money.

As the suspect went to leave the store, a customer tried stopping him and the suspect stabbed him in the back and shoulder, according to the report.

Investigating officers found a trail of blood leading to the 33-year-old stabbing victim. The police also found a SIG Sauer pistol on the counter with a detached, loaded magazine and two spent shell casings, one on the counter and one on the floor.

The police reviewed store surveillance video and saw that it was consistent with the clerk’s story, according to the report.

Resident fatally shoots home invader who had driven through restaurant, into house

A home invasion suspect in Chickasha who had crashed into a nearby restaurant was killed by the resident after allegedly assaulting the man’s wife, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation

The home invader had reportedly just crashed through several nearby yards after driving a vehicle “through a nearby KFC restaurant causing damage,” OSBI said in a news release later Tuesday.

“The homeowner had a gun and shot the suspect inside the house,” the news release states. “The homeowners are cooperating with OSBI agents.”

The home invader, whose identity is not yet confirmed, died at the scene, according to the release.

‘Just call the police’: The Insufferable White Privilege of Gun Control Advocates

The concept of privilege gets a bad rap in many circles, and understandably so. Many have taken it way too far, using it as a means of bullying their political opponents into submission. But while the excesses of this rhetoric are certainly problematic, I don’t think we should do away with the concept entirely. Behind all the moral grandstanding lies a kernel of truth, one that can provide some valuable insights if applied correctly.

The principle, essentially, is that certain people have unearned advantages, and those advantages can shape how they see the world. Affluence, for instance, can make someone blind to the needs of the poor. Likewise, those with an above average aptitude, intelligence, or physical appearance might find it difficult to relate to those who were not equally endowed with those gifts.

The problem with this blindness is that it can easily lead to hubris, that is, unwarranted self-confidence. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of privilege is thinking we know the best course of action for a given situation when we really don’t.

The classic example of this is the story of a famous French queen who, upon hearing that the peasants had no bread, simply replied, “then let them eat cake.” She was so unfamiliar with their circumstances that the solution she dismissively prescribed was positively laughable. Another example of privilege was when the lockdown elite told us to “just stay home,” seemingly oblivious to the fact that staying home is simply unfeasible for many working class people.

Now, progressives think they’re pretty good at pointing out places where privilege is leading to blindness and hubris (indeed, they often see privilege even where it doesn’t exist). But there’s one occurrence of privilege that always seems to get a pass, and that is the privilege associated with gun control.

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Home Healthcare Worker Shoots Man Who Pulled Gun On Him In North Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A home healthcare worker shot a man who pulled a gun on him in North Philadelphia on Monday night. Police say it happened along Folsom Street just before midnight.

Officers say the victim was getting ready to take care of a patient when a man walked up to his car, pulled out a gun, and pointed it at him.

Police say that’s when the victim pulled out his own gun and shot at the suspect.

“While investigating the scene, we were notified that a shooting victim showed up at Presbyterian Hospital by private auto,” Chief Inspector Scott Small said. “And that shooting victim was shot in the face and upper chest area. He is in stable condition.”

Detectives believe that the shooting victim is the suspect who approached the victim at his car.

Investigators are reviewing security camera footage from the area.

Cracking a Code: Gun Control ‘Brainchild of Privileged Liberals’

Writing for the Foundation for Economic Education, Patrick Carroll may have just cracked a code, and he leans on one of the founders of the modern Second Amendment movement—the late Don Kates—to conclude the gun control crusade began and is perpetuated by a privileged class disconnected from the realities of living in communities where crime is a real problem.

Carroll points to a couple of paragraphs from a 1977 Kates article appearing in the Cato Institute’s Inquiry magazine in which Kates observed, “Gun prohibition is the brainchild of white middle-class liberals who are oblivious to the situation of poor and minority people living in areas where the police have given up on crime control. Such liberals weren’t upset about marijuana laws, either, in the fifties when the busts were confined to the ghettos. Secure in well-policed suburbs or high-security apartments guarded by Pinkertons (whom no one proposes to disarm), the oblivious liberal derides gun ownership as ‘an anachronism from the Old West.’”

Yet a Gallup survey released in November showed that “88 percent of gun owners cite crime protection as a reason they own a gun.”

This appears especially true in minority communities, where crime is a far more pressing problem then it is in a gated community.

Fox News has been exploring the rise in gun sales in Beverly Hills in recent months. Early Monday, Fox News interviewed Russell Stuart, owner of Beverly Hills Guns, who explained, “Although that is a part of my living, I get no pleasure whatsoever by having a 60-, 70-year-old woman walk into my store … who looks terrified, and say, ‘I have never liked guns. In fact, I’ve even hated guns. I would have never considered buying one. But I’m so afraid for my life.”

Carroll, who is an Editorial Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Waterloo, observed this about gun control proponents, “(D)on’t assume you know what’s best for someone if you haven’t walked a mile in their shoes.”

Which brings us around to an Op-Ed in the Wisconsin State Journal by Jon Donohue, a law professor at Stanford University, who raises concerns about a potential ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that, he says, “may create a federal constitutional right to carry guns outside the home.”

Gun rights advocates and Second Amendment scholars might argue the high court wouldn’t “create” a right because it already exists and is protected by the amendment, which recognizes the right “to bear arms” as well as keep them.

Donohue is worried about a decision that would expand “the Second Amendment beyond its current scope of a right to possess a gun in the home…”

As Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and founder of the Second Amendment Foundation has frequently observed, a right limited to the confines of one’s home is no right at all. Rights go with you through the front door and into the public space.

A report from the Post Millennial about a recent Trafalgar Group survey shows 76.8 percent of Americans “regardless of political party affiliation, believe that ‘American society and culture is in a state of decay.’”

“When viewed by political party affiliation,” the Post Millennial reported, “all parties had a majority that said the country is in a state of decline. 61 percent of Democrats, 85.9 percent of Republicans, and 81.8 percent of those identifying as no party or ‘other’ said American society and culture are in decline.”

Perhaps part of that decline involves not knowing the difference between a right and a regulated privilege. Carroll’s article appears to address this dilemma.

BLUF:
……as violent crime soared in the 1990s, states expanded gun rights in the form of concealed carry, driving violent crime down.
I’m sorry, but unless you have an answer for that, I don’t really care what you have to say
And when it comes to the Rittenhouse case, the only takeaway is that when you’re faced with a violent mob, you need all the firepower you can manage.

There are no gun control lessons out of Rittenhouse trial

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of murder by a jury. Even before that, though, we know he was innocent of all charges because we watched the whole thing unfold on video. We knew he was innocent.

Now, though, Rittenhouse is a free man, but some are using his situation to try and advance gun control.

No, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yet this isn’t the first op-ed I’ve seen that tried to make that case.

As the country awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a New York state case that may create a federal constitutional right to carry guns outside the home, what lessons can the nation draw from the recent acquittal in Wisconsin of Kyle Rittenhouse and the convictions in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia?

The obvious first lesson is that no one would be dead, maimed or going to prison if the men in these cases had not possessed firearms or had just left their weapons at home. The man Rittenhouse maimed learned that his self-proclaimed constant gun carrying not only did not protect him or others, but simply added him to the victim count when he pointed his gun at Rittenhouse.

No, we didn’t learn any such lesson.

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Robber and clerk exchanged gunfire during River North store hold-up, police say

A store employee exchanged gunfire with another man during an armed robbery on Sunday afternoon in River North, police said. No injuries were reported, but a witness said the store’s glass, which faces busy Ontario Street, was shot out.

Police suspect the same robber held up two more stores in the Loop less than an hour later.

Cops responded to calls of shots fired and flying glass on the first block of West Ontario around 1:50 p.m. A CPD spokesperson said an armed robber pulled out a gun inside the store, but an employee also pulled out a gun.

“There was an exchange of gunfire between the victim and the offender,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The robber escaped with a cellphone.

Police did not identify the store, but officers entered Mystical Kicks and Mystical Smokes, which sells gym shoes, CBD products, and vaping supplies at 33 West Ontario. Investigators were verifying the employee’s concealed carry credentials.

Investigators determined that the man escaped on a southbound Red Line train at the Grand station.

Then, two armed robberies were reported in quick succession in the Loop. The 7-Eleven at 535 South State and Wingstop, 12 East Harrison, were both reportedly targeted around 2:25 p.m. by a man who displayed a handgun and closely resembled the River North suspect, according to officers at the scene.

In River North, the man was described as Black, about 6’2″ tall, 25- and 30-years-old. He wore a green glove, a dark balaclava, a dark shirt, dark ripped jeans, and black and white Jordan gym shoes.

Female gun ownership on the rise, femme fatales to anti-2A messaging

Gun ownership in the United States has been on the rise the last two years in a big way. The pages of Bearing Arms has explored this more than once. Left of center pundits might peg this rise as a one-off, or perhaps try to blame the uptick in violent crime on the newly minted gun owners, but the fact of the matter is that these numbers are troubling and damming to the “hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15” crowd. After all, why would someone with a brandy new firearm, just indoctrinated into the world of firearm ownership want to give up a newfound way of life? I’m not so quixotic to think that with the millions of new firearm owners we now have millions of new advocates running balls out, but this rise in legal and responsible gun ownership is a good thing. With that comes the rise in the number of females taking up arms.

Commie mommy groups must be cringing and shaking in corners as they learn they don’t actually have the market cornered on what all women want for the world and or their children. After sifting through the emotional arguments they make, right out of their playbook (don’t focus on the facts, exploit the emotions) many people, including women, including moms, have come to the realization that self-defense is their responsibility and have embraced that independent to the core rugged individualism that makes most of what America is today what it is. There are new momma bears out there and they’re committed to not being victims.

A recent study points to these numbers. From one report:

The number of women who own a gun is on the rise. A recent study from Harvard University shows that 42% of gun owners in the country are women. That’s a 14% rise over the last five years. The same study found nearly 3.5 million women became gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021.

“It’s a responsibility. It’s a huge responsibility,” said Amanda Suffecool.

Suffecool calls herself an “accidental activist.” A firearms instructor and radio host, Suffecool is also an advocate for gun rights in America.

“Unfortunately, the world is not the warm, fuzzy place it used to be,” said Candy Petticord.

Petticord is also a firearms instructor and a mom of 12. She started shooting five years ago.

Suffecool is more than an “accidental activist”. She’s taken the ball of civil liberties and self-reliance and has run with it, dedicated to go for a win. Beyond being an instructor, and the radio host of the nationally syndicated Eye on The Target Radio show, she also is the founder of REALIZE Firearms Awareness Coalition, a not-for-profit dedicated to educating citizens on the historical intent of the Second Amendment.

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Appleton Police say fatal shooting was in self-defense

APPLETON, Wis. (WBAY) – Police are not recommending criminal charges in connection to a fatal June 2021 shooting in Appleton.

The department has determined that the shooting of Jonathan Tolley, 38, was in self-defense.

On June 20, at about 4:30 a.m., police were called to a report of a suspicious person in the 2800 block of E. Newberry St. As they responded, officers were alerted to a second caller saying there was an unknown man in their house.

The caller said they had locked themselves in a bedroom and could hear a man yelling in the home. A short time later, police were notified that a gun had been fired.

Officers arrived to find Tolley with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Police say a person inside the home shot Tolley, an Appleton resident.

“Investigators from the Appleton Police Department conducted an extensive investigation into this incident. Evidence indicates Jonathan Tolley forcibly entered the locked residence, caused damage while inside of the home, and forcibly entered a locked bedroom where the residents of the home were sheltering while on the phone with 911 dispatchers. After entering the locked bedroom, the residents indicated Tolley continued to advance towards them. Tolley was subsequently shot one time by a resident of the home,” reads a statement from police.

Investigators determined the resident shot Tolley in self-defense. No charges will be recommended for the person who shot Tolley. Officers did not identify the person who fired the shot.

Investigators say they do not know Tolley’s motive. They do not believe the homeowners knew Tolley. Toxicology reports show Tolley’s blood alcohol level was .272 at the time of his death. For comparison, the legal limit to drive a car in Wisconsin is .08.

Yakima man says he was defending family during Walmart shooting

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima police declined to arrest a 37-year-old man accused of shooting another man in a Walmart parking lot Thursday after he told investigators he was defending himself and his family during an attempted robbery.

“At this point, we’re leaning towards this being a self-defense type of incident,” Sgt. Jake Lancaster said.

“At that point, he was demanding money and then he was demanding they get out of their vehicle,” Lancaster said.

Lancaster said the 37-year-old driver produced his own firearm during the altercation, shot the unknown man multiple times and left the scene. He reportedly took his family to the nearby Target parking lot, called 911 to report the incident and waited for police to arrive.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old man was being treated at the crime scene for gunshot wounds to the chest and neck. Police said the man may have died at the scene were it not for an AMR ambulance crew that was on break in the parking lot and responded seconds after the shooting.

The man was taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital for emergency surgery, then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he remains in critical condition Friday night.

Investigators said they noticed what appeared to be drugs in the man’s vehicle, but are having to wait on a search warrant to be able to take a closer look. They do not believe the incident was gang-related.

Lancaster said after arriving at the Target parking lot, detectives took the 37-year-old man and his family to the police station for questioning. He said they did not arrest the man, who told investigators the shooting was self-defense.

“We have discussed this with the prosecutors but we’re still too early in the investigation to have made a full decision on whether or not charges will be filed,” Lancaster said. “Sometimes these things take a while and with the self defense claims, we’re going to have to do a lot more investigating.”

Defending Armed Self-Defense
It’s easy for many people to see the harm that guns are involved in every day in America, but much harder for them to see the harm that gun prohibition causes.

Gun control laws are wrong because they violate the right to self-defense. Gun control laws are wrong because they were historically crafted with discriminatory intent and create racially disparate outcomes today.

These are two distinct arguments against laws that limit private gun ownership. Libertarians, typically among the staunchest of fans of self-defense and self-determination, have tended to focus on the first. But the second is also important, both on its own merits and because it helps people otherwise concerned about discrimination understand why it is inconsistent to support such laws.

One can make the rights argument a couple of different ways. The first is to start from the belief, shared by many, that human beings are endowed by their Creator (or nature, or their shared humanity, or the universe, or even cultural patrimony) with certain inalienable rights, the right to self-defense among them. Once that is established, protections for those who wish to buy, keep, and use the tools of self-defense, including guns, follow close behind.

The Founders, not ones to pussyfoot around, put keeping and bearing arms right there in the Bill of Rights (although there, as in so many other places in the founding documents, one last pass by an especially pedantic copy editor could have saved the nation in general and the Supreme Court in particular quite a bit of trouble). The Founders were, at best, imperfect scribes of whatever rights people might in fact possess. But they did an astonishingly good job of capturing a laundry list of rights that the state ought not abridge, and they got them written down rather clearly and in short order, all things considered.

One need not be convinced of the existence of God-given rights to conclude that the harsher forms of gun control are unacceptable and unjust rights violations. “I contend that individuals have a prima facie right to own firearms, that this right is weighty and protects important interests,” the philosopher Michael Huemer wrote in one of the more famous modern arguments against such restrictions. While “the right to own a gun is both fundamental and derivative,” he suggests, “it is in its derivative aspect—as derived from the right of self-defense—that it is most important.”

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Facts and Fantasies about Guns and Gun-Control

The gun-control lobby started it. Then, the legacy media joined in and told us that guns and gun owners were dangerous. Their solution is to register and regulate guns and gun owners. They claim their gun-control will somehow, someday, take the guns out of the hands of criminals. If you only read their words then you might be persuaded. Let’s fill in the facts that the gun-prohibitionists left out. Gun-control laws do more harm than good.

Honest gun owners use a firearm to stop a violent crime about 1.7 million times a year. That is a little over 45-hundred defensive-guns-uses a day. That massive benefit overshadows all the other problems we have with the criminal use of firearms. Legally justified armed defense is dozens of times more frequent than the suicides and accidents we see with firearms. It is hard to overestimate the importance of armed defense. Disarming honest gun owners in the hope of disarming criminals is a disaster since armed citizens do so much good.

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Lesson to be learned:
Situational Awareness™ is as important as what you’re carrying.

St. Paul, MN Concealed Carrier Killed While Trying to Intervene In a Liquor Store Shoplifting

When it comes to carrying for self-defense, good training, tactics, practice and the use of common sense go a long way to make a person harder to victimize and/or kill. Then there’s the case of the St. Paul, Minnesota good Samaritan with a carry permit who was shot and killed with his own gun after intervening in a liquor store shoplifting attempt.

It happened on December 27th when Kenneth Davis Jr. interceded to try to help the store stop a man trying to shoplift a bottle of vodka.

Davis brandished his gun after the shoplifter claimed to have a gun in his backpack. The shoplifter, Trinis Edwards, then left the store.

But minutes later, however, when Davis left the store, Edwards confronted him in the parking lot. The shoplifter sprayed Davis with pepper spray and then the two men scuffled. Davis tried to produce his handgun from his jacket and failed.

Davis lost control of his handgun and it fell to the ground. Edwards came up with it and shot Davis to death.

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Truck driver shoots and kills robber in self-defense

SEFFNER, Fla. — A truck driver shot and killed a robber overnight in an apparent case of self-defense, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies were dispatched shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday to the intersection of US-92 and County Road 579 in Seffner.

Based on preliminary information, investigators say they believe the driver was trying to repair his broken-down truck when he was approached by a man who demanded various valuable items.

“The driver handed him several items, and the man walked away,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a press release.

But, authorities say the alleged thief came back.

“Minutes later, the man walked back toward the driver and demanded his cell phone,” the agency wrote. “The driver, who was in fear for his life, armed himself with a gun and shot the man.”

The truck driver called 911. When first responders showed up, they found the apparent robber dead.

An investigation is now underway.

“This is believed to be a case of self-defense at this time,” the sheriff’s office said.

Cause of death pending autopsy?
Wanna bet the cause is acute lead projectile perforation?

Man killed during robbery attempt at area restaurant

Update 4 p.m.: The coroner has identified the man who was killed as Rickey Cox Jr., 33, of Manchester.

Reported earlier:

An unidentified man died Tuesday evening as a result of a shooting at the Asian Best Chinese and Thai Cuisine Restaurant at 15 N. Penn St. in York, according to the York County Coroner’s Office.

A news release from the York City Police Department said the 34-year-old man was shot by the restaurant’s owner while attempting to rob a store clerk. It is the first homicide of 2022 in the city and county.

The man immediately died at the scene at about 6:50 p.m. The coroner’s office has not released the name of the man killed, pending notification of next of kin.

The cause and manner of death are pending autopsy.

Just me, but if in that situation, I wouldn’t waste precious time to see if the bear spray worked. The bear would start getting shot. When our church mission group went up to Fort Yukon, Alaska back on 2004, I carried a .45 Colt Ruger Redhawk loaded with 300gr Freedom Arms jsp made for the .454 Casull, to a little over 1100 fps.

BLUF:
These incidents reveal bear spray to be far from the cure-all initially claimed in numerous early articles. Those articles were based on inappropriate comparisons of studies involving firearm effectiveness and bear spray effectiveness in wildly different conditions.

Fatal Bear Attack, Full Can of Bear Spray was Deployed by Carl Mock

On April 15, 2021, Carl Mock was attacked by a grizzly bear, just outside of Yellowstone park. Mock was an accomplished woodsman and guide. He did not have a firearm with him. He had bear spray. He used the bear spray, but was fatally injured.

This correspondent, with questions directed to Montana Fish and Wildlife Morgan Jacobsen, was able to determine bear spray had been used in the incident. Initially, the use of bear spray was reported as unknown by ktla.com:

Mock when attacked had bear spray — a Mace-like deterrent meant to protect against attacks — but officials said they did not know if he managed to use it. Bear spray canisters have safety tabs to prevent them from going off accidentally and the safety tab on Mock’s bear spray was off, Jacobsen said.

Eight months later, the investigation of the incident is over.

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Lyft Driver Shoots 2 Men During Carjacking In West Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A 38-year-old Lyft driver shot two men during a carjacking in West Philadelphia, police say. The Lyft driver was reportedly on the 1100 block of North 40th Street just after 2:30 p.m. Monday when he was rear-ended by a vehicle twice.

When the driver exited his vehicle, he was approached by a man who exited the striking vehicle with a shotgun and took the Lyft driver’s vehicle.

The Lyft driver has a valid permit to carry and shot the man with his personal weapon.

The driver of the striking vehicle then attempted to hit the victim when he fired his weapon at the second defendant. Both men fled the scene, one in the Lyft driver’s vehicle and the other in the striking vehicle.

Police located one of the men inside a 2011 Infiniti on the 4200 block of Parkside Avenue. He was suffering a gunshot wound to the chest & transported to an area hospital where he was placed in critical condition.

The driver of the striking vehicle was located on the 4300 block of Lancaster Avenue in a Honda Accord. He was suffering from a gunshot wound to the right side of the rib cage area and was transported to a local hospital.

He is also in critical condition.

Both of the defendants were arrested and weapons were recovered along with the vehicles.

The Lyft driver did not sustain any injuries during this incident.

According to the NSSF, approximately 11 million Americans purchased their first firearm in the past 2 years, and it is estimated that half of them were women. A Girl & A Gun Women’s Shooting League (AG & AG) polled new members who were new gun owners to learn more about them. This article provides trending data among this demographic.

AG & AG offered the same survey to new members over the past two years. If a woman indicated she was a new shooter (acquiring a firearm within the past year), she was asked additional follow-up questions. The responses for the new-shooter specific questions totaled 1,176 women responses in 2020 and 1,706 in 2021, providing a good glimpse into general trends of this specific demographic.

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Salem home intruder shot to death by resident
Marion County Sheriff’s Office said suspect died at the scene

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A suspected home intruder was shot to death by a resident in a Salem home Sunday night, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Just before 7 p.m., a 911 caller said someone was trying to break into the home on 45th Avenue NE near Iberis Street NE before a person inside the home shot the intruder.

Deputies arrived and found the suspect was already dead. No one else was hurt.

Detectives have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident. No other information is available at this time.

When Rich People Are Under Threat, What Do They Reach For?

We’ll grant the point that voting in Beverly Hills was a red spot in the middle of blue, but 44% of the folks would still forcibly take guns away from ordinary people.

So what does it look like when rich people come under threat?

In Beverly Hills, even the purchase of a firearm comes with certain…expectations. The city’s only gun store, Beverly Hills Guns, is a “concierge service” by appointment only, for a largely affluent clientele. And business is booming.

Since opening in July 2020, the store has seen upscale residents from Santa Monica to the Hollywood Hills increasingly in a panic following several high-profile smash-and-grab and violent home invasion robberies. The apparent siege has brought in a daily stream of anxious business owners and prominent actors, real estate moguls and film execs, says owner Russell Stuart. Most are arming themselves for the first time.

“This morning I sold six shotguns in about an hour to people that say, ‘I want a home defense shotgun,’” says Stuart, whose store is discreetly located in a Beverly Hills office building, with no sign on the doors, down the hall from a diamond dealer. “Everyone has a general sense of constant fear, which is very sad. We’re used to this being like Mayberry.”

That fear has the wealthiest of local gentry contemplating every more elaborate security measures: armored luxury cars, safe rooms and bullet-proof glass in their homes. One client asked about creating the “Tony Stark-level” security of a half-dozen automated drones to hover over his house, says Stuart, whose gun store is part of his larger security company, Force Protective Agency. “If you want the Gucci package, it’s going to cost money.”

The security business is experiencing a rebound after a couple of diminished years because of the pandemic. Some firms had their on-site security guards sent home for health and social distancing reasons. Not anymore.

In Beverly Hills, the craving for additional security dates to the riot that followed an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in May 2020, with unprecedented looting along Rodeo Drive that left broken boutique windows beneath beloved luxury brands: Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Michael Kors, MCM, Ermenegildo Zegna. Last March, a $500,000 Richard Mille watch was stolen at gunpoint from a diner at the Il Pastaio restaurant. The Dec. 1 home-invasion robbery and shooting death of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, 81, in her Trousdale Estates home, only accelerated the arms race among the affluent.

I’m shocked. You mean they want BLM to destroy your city but not their own? In other news, they are demanding the police do something about it.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore announced in November he would be setting up a task force to combat home-invasion robberies, which have targeted celebrities and upscale restaurants, according to the Los Angeles Times. Moore indicated the department had not seen violent holdups “like this in decades,” The Times reported.

I wonder where this task force will concentrate their efforts? Anyway, the rich folks know the police can’t be there all of the time. They want shotguns. They want Gucci protection. They want up-armored cars. They want drones.

If you demand the same thing, 44% of them will tell you to pound sand.