[The Toll]

I have a supermarket about one mile from my house. The walk there and back has a very nice sidewalk and it’s just pleasant. I have made that walk everyday for 8 years for exercise and mental relaxation. I love my walk. It puts a cap on the end of my work day and relaxes me. I think through all of my responsibilities and problems when I walk.

Well, about 3 years ago an apartment complex on the route went section 8 and things have gone down hill swiftly. It started with vandalism, graffiti, cars broken into, etc. Now we’ve had two armed robberies on that lovely sidewalk in the last two months.

I stopped taking my walk. Am I a coward? I don’t feel like I am. Do I own a firearm? Sure, I own enough firepower to invade Cuba. Do I have a conceal carry? No. I have yet to go down that road because I take the responsibility very seriously and I’ve opted to judge my maturity level harshly before following through with that step. Could I illegally pack my pistol every day and walk on like I still lived in a civilized nation. Sure I could do that. Would I kill my attacker, yes I would. Would I be prosecuted, yes I would. Would I lose my life savings defending myself? Yes I would.

The result: the savages win.

[B-Chan]

I live in an otherwise wonderful inner city neighborhood. But down the block from us is a notorious Section 8 ( = almost entirely black) apartment building, and it has recently become a source of crime in our neighborhood. The house two doors down from ours was burgled about a month ago. About two weeks ago, our good friends around the corner got hit. Same M.O. in both cases: the parasites comes in daytime when decent people are at work, kick down the back door, rifle the house, and split. I know these are kids because they take video equipment, shiny things, and personal electronics and do not bother to look for fencible or pawnable items, or the victim's drugs and weapons, as a professional thief would. The cops found a trail of athletic shoe prints leading from our friends' back door to the apartment complex. To date no suspects have been IDd or arrested, nor has any of the stolen property been recovered.

I'm a professional writer, so I'm at home working during the day. The day after our friends were robbed, I cleaned and oiled Mr. Mossberg and moved him to an easily accessible location (I keep him put away when Baby Chan is at home). Should the Section 8 Gang choose my home as their next target, I'm prepared to take their lives if necessary in defense of my life and the lives of my family members.

Most of the employees of our family business are black. Among them is one guy, a longtime employee and family friend, who does cabinetmaking as a side job. About two years ago, this man was in my home building bookshelves when he spied a black teenager ride by our house on a bike. Our friend downed tools, went out the front door, and watched as the kid rode away. He then turned to me and said, "Black people got no business in this neighborhood. That kid is looking for a place to rob." "He's probably just going to the store or something," I replied. He looked at me like I was crazy. "No he ain't. If you see a black kid that age in this neighborhood, he goin' to rob or kill somebody. Call the cops." At the time, I thought he was going a little bit overboard. I no longer think that.