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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

One for Rambo

Here's one that can keep gun proponents and opponents arguing for hours:

A 51-year-old man stopped a masked man from robbing a Southside grocery store and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

Charlie Merrell was in checkout line at Bucks IGA Supermarket, 3015 S. Meridian St., when a masked man jumped a nearby counter and held a gun on a store employee at 5:17 p.m. Monday, according to a police report made public today.

While the suspect was demanding cash from the workers, the police report states that Merrell pulled his own handgun, pointed it at the robber and ordered him to put down his weapon.
When the suspect hesitated, Merrell racked the slide on his gun to load a round in the chamber, Officer Jason Bockting wrote in the report.
The suspect placed his gun and a bag of cash on the counter, dropping some of the money, police said. The suspect removed his mask and lay on the floor. Merrell held the suspect at gunpoint until officers arrived and took him away in handcuffs. 
This worked out so well that it seems the perfect illustration for those who talk about how robbers and deranged killers can be stopped by armed, law-abiding citizens. But it could have gone so wrong so quickly. The would-be thief's gun was empty -- he was bluffing. What if he hadn't been? Police know how risky it is to get into a standoff with somebody who is already pointing a gun at somebody else, and they are accordingly cautious. So this incident can also fuel the arguments of those who say armed civilians might be too quick to go into Rambo mode.

Comments

Bob G.
Thu, 01/03/2008 - 5:43pm

Hell, I'd buy Charlie and beer AND a box of ammo...anytime.

He's the kind of guy we NEED a lot more of down here.
Screw the fun opponents.
And yes, things "could" have gone wrong, but that can be said of SO many other things in life like crossing a street, driving a car, or walking down a flight of stairs.

Charlie at least seems to "get it".

B.G.

Bob G.
Thu, 01/03/2008 - 5:44pm

Oops...the "fun" opponents should be GUN opponents.
(Freudian slip)
B.G.

Larry Morris
Fri, 01/04/2008 - 5:11pm

I'm not even going to take this bait, ...

tim zank
Fri, 01/04/2008 - 6:01pm

I will Larry!

If you have the balls (or stupidity) to hold a gun on somebody while robbing them, (loaded or not, it's irrelevant) you are inherently accepting the risk that somebody might just blow your sorry ass to kingdom come.

No deep thought necessary, no rationalizing necessary, you reap what you sow. Sorry about your luck.

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