Jezie
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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/0...s-cop-judge-and-jury-executes-an-18-year-old/
This is a story that is sure to spark lively discussion, if not controversy, over the “good guy with a gun” issue. A man whose friend was working the overnight shift at a gas station in Knoxville, Tennesee on Monday was sitting in his car in the parking lot when*he witnessedsomebody walk into the store carrying a weapon. Rather than call the police, the man grabbed the gun he kept in his car and took the law into his own hands.
When he entered the store, the bad guy was most definitely robbing it, forcing the good guy’s friend to open the register at gunpoint. Without hesitation, the good guy took out the bad guy with one fatal gunshot, and the incident was over.
The robber, identified as 18-year-old Tamon Stapleton, won’t be living a life of crime; he won’t be living at all. The good guy who shot him*won’t be facing any charges.
This may seem like a cut and dry case of a friend defending a friend, which is technically legal in Tennessee, with what some may consider a happy ending. Whenever a life ends, especially one so young, there is nothing happy about it.
man in this story made no attempt to contact police. He saw a “thug,” and the ammosexual dream came true. He was going to get to be the hero, and so he was. In places like Knoxville, such behavior is considered worthy of medals. In places where reason is appreciated, the “hero” did nothing but put himself, the clerk, the perpetrator and anyone who may have been in or near the store’s lives at risk.
Standard operating procedure*for armed robbery in EVERY corner of the nation is clear: Cooperate with the thief, give him what he wants, take notice of anything he may have touched, pay attention to what he looks like and in almost every case nobody gets hurt.
By rushing in, weapon drawn, this ‘hero’ did nothing but get lucky. He was lucky he was faced with a kid who was probably inexperienced with crime and guns. He was lucky he wasn’t faced with a career criminal whose partner was waiting around the corner as a lookout. He’s lucky his weapon was the only one fired.
He’s lucky more people aren’t dead.
Oh, sure, there are some who will say that his intervention may have saved a life, quoting a very unlikely situation where someone was killed in that same type of robbery by a psychopath.
The bottom line is, had the man called police, stayed where he was and watched where the thief went, a young man would be facing charges of armed robbery instead of a six foot hole. No matter how justified the law says he was, he’s not an officer trained to talk someone down or diffuse a situation, he’s another ‘good guy’ who gets to scratch a notch in his barrel.
Contrary to what right-wingers are saying about this case, Stapleton didn’t receive “justice.” Justice happens when a person is apprehended and faces charges for the crime he committed. In Tennessee, Stapleton would have been looking at five years in prison for using a gun during a robbery. He also would have had the chance during that time to turn his life around.
Stapleton wasn’t apprehended, he was executed. The circumstances behind what pushed this young man to attempt such a crime won’t be presented in court as part of his defense. Witnesses won’t be able to vouch for his character, and he won’t be able to plead guilty, apologize, show remorse and have a chance at a life.
This has been building for quite some time. As the left pushes for common sense gun safety regulation, the right pushes back with the “good guy” theory. Some wingnut came up with “criminals won’t follow laws, so why bother?” That has blossomed into a culture of open carrying long guns through Home Depot, protecting your latte with loaded weapons at coffee shops and making sure every ‘Murican is “prepared” for just this situation.
This “good guy” was certainly “prepared.” If he’s part of the conservative “good guy” movement, he was probably even a little bit ecstatic. A favorite argument of liberals is that statistically, the likelihood that you’ll ever have the chance to thwart a robbery is so thin that the notion of armed citizens patrolling the streets is simply ludicrous. This was his big chance, and all those hours spent shooting at the range were about to pay off.
After reading about this incident, how many more “good guys” will there be? How many loaded weapons will be sitting in glove boxes at 3 a.m. outside of the Circle K in a rough neighborhood just waiting for the chance to be needed?
Stapleton’s crime was thwarted, but the man responsible is no hero; he’s part of a much larger problem.
This is a story that is sure to spark lively discussion, if not controversy, over the “good guy with a gun” issue. A man whose friend was working the overnight shift at a gas station in Knoxville, Tennesee on Monday was sitting in his car in the parking lot when*he witnessedsomebody walk into the store carrying a weapon. Rather than call the police, the man grabbed the gun he kept in his car and took the law into his own hands.
When he entered the store, the bad guy was most definitely robbing it, forcing the good guy’s friend to open the register at gunpoint. Without hesitation, the good guy took out the bad guy with one fatal gunshot, and the incident was over.
The robber, identified as 18-year-old Tamon Stapleton, won’t be living a life of crime; he won’t be living at all. The good guy who shot him*won’t be facing any charges.
This may seem like a cut and dry case of a friend defending a friend, which is technically legal in Tennessee, with what some may consider a happy ending. Whenever a life ends, especially one so young, there is nothing happy about it.
man in this story made no attempt to contact police. He saw a “thug,” and the ammosexual dream came true. He was going to get to be the hero, and so he was. In places like Knoxville, such behavior is considered worthy of medals. In places where reason is appreciated, the “hero” did nothing but put himself, the clerk, the perpetrator and anyone who may have been in or near the store’s lives at risk.
Standard operating procedure*for armed robbery in EVERY corner of the nation is clear: Cooperate with the thief, give him what he wants, take notice of anything he may have touched, pay attention to what he looks like and in almost every case nobody gets hurt.
By rushing in, weapon drawn, this ‘hero’ did nothing but get lucky. He was lucky he was faced with a kid who was probably inexperienced with crime and guns. He was lucky he wasn’t faced with a career criminal whose partner was waiting around the corner as a lookout. He’s lucky his weapon was the only one fired.
He’s lucky more people aren’t dead.
Oh, sure, there are some who will say that his intervention may have saved a life, quoting a very unlikely situation where someone was killed in that same type of robbery by a psychopath.
The bottom line is, had the man called police, stayed where he was and watched where the thief went, a young man would be facing charges of armed robbery instead of a six foot hole. No matter how justified the law says he was, he’s not an officer trained to talk someone down or diffuse a situation, he’s another ‘good guy’ who gets to scratch a notch in his barrel.
Contrary to what right-wingers are saying about this case, Stapleton didn’t receive “justice.” Justice happens when a person is apprehended and faces charges for the crime he committed. In Tennessee, Stapleton would have been looking at five years in prison for using a gun during a robbery. He also would have had the chance during that time to turn his life around.
Stapleton wasn’t apprehended, he was executed. The circumstances behind what pushed this young man to attempt such a crime won’t be presented in court as part of his defense. Witnesses won’t be able to vouch for his character, and he won’t be able to plead guilty, apologize, show remorse and have a chance at a life.
This has been building for quite some time. As the left pushes for common sense gun safety regulation, the right pushes back with the “good guy” theory. Some wingnut came up with “criminals won’t follow laws, so why bother?” That has blossomed into a culture of open carrying long guns through Home Depot, protecting your latte with loaded weapons at coffee shops and making sure every ‘Murican is “prepared” for just this situation.
This “good guy” was certainly “prepared.” If he’s part of the conservative “good guy” movement, he was probably even a little bit ecstatic. A favorite argument of liberals is that statistically, the likelihood that you’ll ever have the chance to thwart a robbery is so thin that the notion of armed citizens patrolling the streets is simply ludicrous. This was his big chance, and all those hours spent shooting at the range were about to pay off.
After reading about this incident, how many more “good guys” will there be? How many loaded weapons will be sitting in glove boxes at 3 a.m. outside of the Circle K in a rough neighborhood just waiting for the chance to be needed?
Stapleton’s crime was thwarted, but the man responsible is no hero; he’s part of a much larger problem.
Everyone has 'gotta love something.
