Posted on 07/17/2008 8:16:54 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A horrific news story has slowly made its way into the headlines here in the Twin Cities. A local resident, his wife and three daughters spent the evening of the Fourth of July at Valleyfair, a local amusement park. They were leaving the park at midnight when a criminal began to molest his twelve-year-old daughter.
The father intervened to defend his daughter, and the offender put out a call for his "homies." Eight "men" materialized and began to beat up the father. They knocked him to the ground and took turns stomping on his head. The man's wife and daughters tried to protect him, unsuccessfully, and Valleyfair's security guards apparently tried to help, but ineffectually.
The father is still hospitalized, but the criminals are out on bail. The family's name is being kept secret, lest the criminals find them and kill them to avoid prosecution.
Initially, the local media downplayed the story, presumably because of the race of the criminals. But today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune broke down and covered it. Still, the story was apparently too hot for the paper to allow comments; if you follow the link, you'll see that, contrary to the Star Tribune's usual policy, it is impossible to comment.
The story is an infuriating one in several ways, but what strikes me most forcibly is that it would have been a good thing if a few armed citizens had happened by while the assault was in progress. It's no surprise that the victim's wife and daughters couldn't protect him from eight "men," and apparently Valleyfair's security force is unarmed. So the optimal outcome here would have been for one or more normal citizens to pull a firearm, shoot a couple of the criminals, and hold the rest until the police arrived. Criminals who carry out outrageous assaults in public do so on the assumption that passersby will not be able to stop them. Absent firearms, that assumption is reasonable. So let's hear it for concealed carry.
Under Minnesota law, any business can ban guns on its premises, and, while a few minutes of research yielded nothing, I assume that Valleyfair bans guns, as most businesses that are open to the public do. This strikes me as a mistake. Against a gang such as the one that is now on the loose in the Twin Cities, only armed citizens can be effective.
Hey, now waitaminit....;-)
That's my carry choice, Springfield Armory with Chip McCormick's 8 round mag. Some say a single stack is more reliable than a double-stack. I can live with that.
“That’s a light load. Those with a 9 mm carry 52 rounds. But .45 is more effective, especially in the winter, when people have lots of layers.”
Lots of layers of winter clothing and other barriers is where the high velocity of the 9mm is often more effective than 45acp. The main weakness of 45acp is in penetration. It’s great for situations where targets are unprotected but when you have to shoot through stuff is where it can fall short.
There are many +p+ level 9mm loadings that will reliably penetrate soft body armor, 45acp does not do well in this department.
The victims both the assaulted girl and her father should sue
hell out of the park for not having proper security.
you take its profits away and all of the sudden they may allow folks to carry protection or else they can go out of business.
Also Minnesota is a very liberal state which has elected the judge that allowed bail on these cretins. You reap what you sow.
Contrast that with our experience at Sea Breeze park near Rochester, NY. The Rochester area is a lot like Minnesota and in this had become a welfare magnet. Anyway, an otherwise very pleasant facility had lots of unruly young people of a certain ethnicity and encounters with them seriously detracted from the experience.
There was no visible security and if the park had attempted to enforce order, there probably would have been a lawsuit brought by the ACLU.
This isn't a racist observation. It's just commonsense. When we become so sensitive to the race of disruptive people we destroy the comity that makes civilized existence possible.
This is a hard call in some ways. They were coming out of an amusement park. I conceal carry, but I don’t conceal carry going into an amusement park. I don’t think my SP-101 would feel to good slamming up against me while riding a roller coaster etc.. I guess the wife could have it in her purse but then my wife does not bring a purse to the amusement park. I guess the final idea might be to store it in a locker on the premises and pick it up when you leave. You would be protected coming into or out of the park.
One other thing, as I mentioned in the summertime I carry an SP 101 in .357 form. It’s a five shot and if this guy would have had it he would have been able to fend off attackers. I don’t believe you need overwhelming firepower to solve these situations (40 - 50 rounds). If he would have shot one of them, the rest of them would not even notice that you have only 4 shots left. They would have gotten out of there in a hurry.
FMJ because despite what you see in Hollywood, it will penetrate light cover at close range. Also, and probably far more importantly, its what I practice with (partly due to cost), so I know the feel of the round (kick, drop, etc.). If possible, practice and use round should be as close as possibe to each othe, IMHO.
That’s well said. One shot would have sent them scattering like geese. Trash like that understands bullets quite well.
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Has the guy who allegedly touched the victim’s daughter been charged for laying hands on the kid? If not, why the heck not?
I remember hearing about this a few years ago. Valley Fair has really gown down the tubes. I used to go when I was a kid, but I went a few years ago and realized how ghetto it’s become. From what I’ve seen at heard, this is actually a nationwide trend; amusement parks anymore seems to attract only white trash and thugs.
Or pulled the guns THEY were carrying...
Around here the police code is “Number 1” for black, “Number 2” for white. “Number 1 male” wins hands down every night. It was always interesting to hear all the “shots fired” calls in gun-free DC.
Minnesota’s Amish population is out of control:
Teens beat up bus driver in St. Paul
http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/25496519.html?location_refer=South%20Metro
Then you shouldn't have any trouble citing sources as you should have before I had to ask.
Hmmm! I’m a P-13 Limited myself. I took out the factory springs in the magazines and replaced them with Wolff extra power springs, and replaced the 16lb recoil spring with a 20lb Wilson combat. It lowered me to 12, but in over 5000 rounds of my carry load, I have had only one smoke stack and no other feed issues. Para Ordinace may not be as sexy as some 1911’s, but super reliable 25yd 1” groups with my carry load ain’t bad.
Combat Handguns that I read every month has numerous stories regarding citizens ending a confrotation with only the threat of deadly force. Criminals are cowards that never practice.
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