Chicago Concealed Carrier Defends Himself
On January 13, 2016, two perps entered a T-Mobile store on the 2000th Block of East 95 St. in Chicago and attempted to commit an armed robbery. Witnesses stated the two men entered the store and began browsing phones for a short time. They then both pulled handguns and attempted to rob the store. I’m incredibly curious to how these two criminals acquired their handguns in a city with some of the strictest gun control measures in the country.
Regardless of how the criminals acquired their firearms, the employees at the store were lucky that one of their fellow employees came to work with a concealed firearm. The legally armed employee engaged the two men. The armed employee hit both men twice, cause the perps to be a bit more aerodynamic with their speed holes as they fled the scene. The employee reportedly chased after the men as well. Both men later ended up in the hospital, and will soon be making their way to a nice bed and breakfast for the next 5 to 10 years.
A good story with a happy ending right? Perhaps these two perps will turn away from their life of crime after learning what a legally armed citizen can do to their life of crime. An interesting note that as I was watching an ABC news report on the subject they showed the exterior door, with it’s large no weapons allowed sign in plain view. This sign has the force of law in Chicago.
These no guns signs are required to be posted near the entrance in a clear and conspicuous manner. This would make carrying a firearm illegal at this location, even for the legally armed and licensed employee. While it’s doubtful he’ll be charged with any crimes, or that the T-Mobile franchise will take any action against him you never know. “It’s China town, Jake,” and all that.
The manager was actually praising his armed employee and said, “I think concealed carry is a great opportunity for managers, workers, employees to protect themselves in these cases. And our employee did a great job to protect themselves and the other employee.” While this T-Mobile appears to be a non-corporate store, akin to a franchise, T-Mobile does have a no gun policy, that is part of the franchise agreement. So far T-Mobile has been mum, and hopefully it will stay that way.
If we break down the shooting a bit more, though and focus on the good and bad actions the employee had reportedly taken, we can armchair quarterback every little thing, but I want to focus on two big things, one good, and one bad.
The bad is nothing the employee did during the shooting, but what he did right after. He pursued the perps out of the store. They had decided they weren’t going to fight, and running would be easier than catching a few new holes. At the point they are no longer a threat we have to stop shooting, fighting and pursuing. One important factor to be a concealed carrier is realizing you do not get to decided when the fight starts, or when it ends, that’s in the hands of the bad guy.
What the employee did well was speed, violence, and action. He saw there was a threat, two threats actually, armed with guns and decided to engage immediately. From the reports we’ve read, he didn’t give these thieves much time to react when he drew down on them. He drew on two armed men without hesitation, and then, he pulled the trigger. He engaged both threats and landed two shots. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself.
This employee proved what an armed and ready person can do in the face of adversity, in the face of a life and death situation. Chicago had a long road to concealed carry, and today we got to get to chock one (or two) up for the good guys.
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