As reported, a cab driver in Mecklenburg, NC shot an armed robber who posed as a passenger then pulled a gun on him. Police say that 17 year old Renaldo Smith called a cab to an apartment complex, intending to rob the driver. Seconds after getting in to the cab, Smith pulled out a gun and pointed it at the driver, threatening his life. The cab driver grabbed his own gun, and shot smith in self defense. By the time police arrived, Smith was dead, and the cab driver was unharmed. Police records show that Smith had previously been arrested and charged with felony breaking and entering last September.
Criminals often prey upon victims in vehicles, perhaps because they see the vehicle as a quick means of escape. Gun control laws don’t stop these criminals from being armed, as we can see time and time again in places like Chicago, which have the strictest gun control in the country but no shortage of armed criminals. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, since a criminal willing to commit a serious felony such as carjacking or armed robbery won’t be deterred by the less-severely-punished law that tells them not to have a gun. Instead of disarming the criminals, such gun control laws only ensure that law abiding crime victims are defenseless against the still-armed criminals.
However, as this case shows, when a crime victim is armed, they are in the best position possible to defend themselves against a carjacker. As another example, this 74 year old man used his gun to defend himself against a carjacker who was holding a knife to his throat. Similarly, this other man used his gun to fend off a pair of carjackers, who were armed with a pistol.
Self defense works, as the many real life cases of armed self defense, and the statistical evidence make clear.