Two stories in the news make it clear that the real problem in America is not guns but crime and the conditions that breed it. In truth, those conditions have less to do with physical deprivation than they do with social and emotional expectations.
One story has Kansas City Mayor Sly James fretting about a late night shooting in Westport that left two people injured. Said James, “Nobody wants to talk about the issue of guns in these cities.” In fact, that is very close to the opposite of true. James and his political and media allies talk about almost nothing else.
“Until they’re ready to deal with it,” added James, “we’re going to continue to have the same problems.” In reality, those “problems” have less to do with guns than they do with the people who wield them.
In Boonville, Missouri, for instance, people are much more inclined to put guns to their best use than are people in James’s Kansas City. This fact was driven home to Kansas City man Elijah Carter on Friday when he arrived at an Eagle Top off I-70 in Booneville Friday with a yen for someone else’e money and a city-bred expectation that he should have it.
The Cooper County Sheriff’s Office reported the turn of events on Facebook: “a patron who noticed the suspect’s suspicious behavior stayed in the area to observe him. When the suspect approached the register and began to demand the money, the patron was able to
intervene with his concealed firearm and held the suspect in the store until Law
Enforcement arrived.”
Those who responded to the Sheriff’s post appreciated the dynamics of the arrest:
“Great job citizen! Thank you CCSD for your prompt response.”
“Hooray for the armed citizen!!!!! Good job!!!!”
“And this is why [guns] should not be banned! Who knows what could have happened if he had not intervened!! Thank God everyone is ok!!”
Most appreciative was a woman named Jennifer Surratt. “Thank you to the citizen and BPD that helped my daughter. She was the one that was working when this happened. We are very grateful she is ok.”
Added Surratt, “We are so glad that someone took the time to pay attention and decided to return and help our daughter out…she was very scared. So thank you once again to the citizen and the BPD for their help getting this taken care of quickly.”
This post brought a response from Amee Riley: “That was my grandpa! He messaged me and was very proud of himself that he helped her out!!!”
The grandpa had every right to be proud. Thanks to him, Carter was charged with Robbery 1st Degree, Armed Criminal Action, Unlawful Use of a weapon, and Stealing a motor vehicle. For the time being at least, he will rob and steal no more.
Mayor James may not be responsible for the explosion of crime on his watch, but he has no excuse for failing to understand it.