An armed robber in Chicago picked the wrong cell phone store to hold up, running into an employee with a concealed carry permit that was ready to fight back.
From ABC 7:
A store employee, a 29-year-old man, pulled out his own gun and fired shots at the robber, striking him in the chest, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The 29-year-old has a valid concealed-carry license, police said. Officers recovered his gun as well as the other man’s gun.
Police are still investigating the incident and have not said whether the store employee will face any charges.
While homicides and mass shootings usually result in calls for gun control, less attention is paid to incidents where guns are used in self-defense. According to numbers compiled by the Foundation for Economic Education, guns are used in self-defense about 2.5 million times per year, or roughly 6,849 per day. In most cases, just the presentation of a gun is enough to stop a crime and no shots are actually fired.
Criminals admit to avoiding areas where they know potential victims might be armed, with 60% of convicted felons admitting they sidestepped committing crimes against armed victims.
Nevertheless, former Vice President Joe Biden declared gun violence a “national health crisis” earlier this month and vowed to tackle the “issue” as president.
“But in this collective pain, you’ve helped usher in a collective and growing purpose,” Biden said while honoring victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. “You’ve helped us forge a consensus that gun violence is a national health crisis, and we need to address its total cost to fully heal families, communities, and our nation.”
Biden said that “more than 30,000 people die from gun violence” in the US every year, but never acknowledged that guns are used far more often in self-defense.
