{"id":62597,"date":"2020-12-08T03:33:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T09:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?page_id=62597"},"modified":"2020-12-08T04:17:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T10:17:11","slug":"armed-citizens-a-deterrent-to-suburban-violence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?page_id=62597","title":{"rendered":"Armed Citizens A Deterrent To Suburban Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEMONSTRATING THE PURPOSE<\/a>
\nARMED CITIZENS A DETERRENT TO SUBURBAN VIOLENCE<\/p>\n

The immediate aftermath of last year\u2019s rioting in several cities, caused by Antifa thugs who exploited what began ostensibly as peaceful demonstrations, reminded the country what the Second Amendment is really all about \u2014 and it isn\u2019t hunting.<\/p>\n

Stepping Up
\nIn several communities, when reliable intelligence warned of planned property destruction and looting in suburban business districts, armed citizens came to the aid of local businesses. Granted, not everyone was happy to see this, but as things turned out, this show of force was a deterrent to violence. In places such as Kirkland, Snohomish and the Tri-City area of Washington, and in Coeur d\u2019Alene in neighboring Idaho, what didn\u2019t happen made all the difference.<\/p>\n

Naturally, those who don\u2019t care for the appearance of armed citizens contended there was never a real threat, but there is another \u2014 and more credible \u2014 explanation the media and the gun control crowd were loathe to acknowledge. Faced with the possibility of confrontation with people prepared to fight back, the masked cowards decided to behave themselves and simply depart before stupidity got them into trouble.<\/p>\n

Liberal municipal officials, some business people and local \u201ccommunity activists,\u201d and the press, simply could not bring themselves to admit the obvious: A show of force prevented trouble.<\/p>\n

Case Study
\nAmong the most likely targets were suburban gun stores, where at least some of these people expected to steal firearms and ammunition. One of those establishments is a gun and pawn in Washington State, owned by a friend of this columnist, Melissa Denny, a retailer and Second Amendment activist.<\/p>\n

When several gun stores in her region were tipped off they might be targets for gun thieves, word spread quickly through the local firearms community. Denny told me in an exclusive interview the rioting in Seattle unnerved the region, and the threat of targeted burglary was very credible.<\/p>\n

What happened at her store was a textbook example of neighbor-helping-neighbor.<\/p>\n

One evening, she recalled, \u201cA little black car showed up in the parking lot, waited for a bit and then peeled out. We thought that was kind of strange, so I called the police department and talked to the sergeant on duty and they put an extra officer on duty that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

She got off the phone, called the store manager, and 30 minutes later, another black car \u201ccame rolling through the lot really slow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought, this isn\u2019t good,\u201d Denny recalled. \u201cI called a friend of mine who said \u2018You can\u2019t stay there by yourself.\u2019 He said \u2018I think you\u2019re being cased.\u2019 I decided to stay there and as we were talking, a third car rolled through really slow. My friend called several of his friends and in about 30 minutes there were a half-dozen guys there. We were all outside talking when a fourth car rolled through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut to the chase; Denny and her friends decided to stay through the night, and it was an interesting several hours until daylight. There was an unusually large amount of traffic and a drone even flew over the area. People in some passing cars yelled at the crowd outside of Denny\u2019s shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not a normal situation,\u201d she sagely observed. \u201cThere was an obvious interest in the store.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several gun stores in Denny\u2019s region were apparently targeted. In the aftermath, she has improved the store security system, and at this writing, she had spent many nights at the store \u2014 with company, of course. On some nights early in the process, there were as many as dozens of friends and customers gathered in the parking lot.<\/p>\n

As with Denny\u2019s experience, the turnout of armed citizens protecting small businesses was not designed to create conflict, but to create a deterrent. It obviously worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very clear we\u2019re not law enforcement,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe\u2019re simply here to create a barrier. I\u2019m there every night. There\u2019s a (store employee) there 24 hours a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal Ramifications?
\nIn some instances where this phenomenon unfolded, those citizens who turned out to prevent violence were predictably branded \u201cvigilantes.\u201d It was a deliberate effort by those opposed to gun ownership to demonize good people interested in sparing their communities from property destruction, looting and other criminal acts.<\/p>\n

But there could be legal ramifications, which armed citizens must consider. In many instances, some of these efforts were actually joined at times by law enforcement. In every situation, everybody had cell phones to immediately contact authorities if trouble did occur, while others might use the camera features on their phones to record incidents.<\/p>\n

Always know the law in your jurisdiction, especially about open carry. Don\u2019t push the envelope and don\u2019t be stupid. Don\u2019t approach suspicious vehicles \u2014 it could be construed as instigating an incident \u2014 but try to get a license plate number and report it to police or sheriff\u2019s deputies.<\/p>\n

Cameras can be a deterrent, too. There is no privacy protection against being photographed in a public place day or night. In today\u2019s environment, being \u201con camera\u201d in any location is pretty much a given.<\/p>\n

Self-defense expert Massad Ayoob\u2019s discussions have appeared in this magazine for many years. Pay attention to the lessons he offers every month in these pages.<\/p>\n

Troubling Times
\nWhen the forces of anarchy and hysteria began demanding the defunding or dissolution of police departments, the nation experienced a predictable rush to gun stores.<\/p>\n

The same people hoping to be rid of police are typically those wanting to rid society of firearms (except, perhaps, for themselves and people they control), but they seem incapable of grasping the obvious. Faced with the potential of being left to defend themselves, people are going to take increasing responsibility for their own safety. For many Americans, this has meant buying a gun, even if they previously wanted nothing to do with guns. Self-preservation is the strongest motivation for doing something you might have never previously considered.<\/p>\n

Nobody can predict what the future holds but last year taught us a couple of things. Among many, if not most, Americans the spirit of self-reliance is alive and healthy. There also thrives a spirit of community, where friends and neighbors show up to protect each other from irrational violence and destruction.<\/p>\n

The Second Amendment isn\u2019t just there as a defense against tyranny, be it foreign or domestic. As last summer proved, the right to keep and bear arms can be a formidable tool of crime prevention.<\/p>\n

With state legislatures now at full speed, last year\u2019s lessons can be this year\u2019s ammunition in the fight to protect your rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEMONSTRATING THE PURPOSE ARMED CITIZENS A DETERRENT TO SUBURBAN VIOLENCE The immediate aftermath of last year\u2019s rioting in several cities, caused by Antifa thugs who exploited what began ostensibly as peaceful demonstrations, reminded the country what the Second Amendment is really all about \u2014 and it isn\u2019t hunting. Stepping Up In several communities, when reliable … Continue reading “Armed Citizens A Deterrent To Suburban Violence”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62597","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62597"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62600,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/62597\/revisions\/62600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}