The Decline of Marion County, and The Want of a Gun

I was just listening to "Abdul in the Morning" on 1430-am WXNT in Indianapolis, when a female caller and apparently a personal friend of host Abdul, related her tale of being mugged in Indianapolis the other day.

According to the caller, it happened downtown, at 3:30 in the afternoon- broad daylight. A man on a bicycle cornered her and demanded her purse. She was using her cell phone, and she told the man that she was going to call 9-1-1.

The man laughed at her and told her, 'go ahead. Call 9-1-1.'

She related how frustrated and defeated she felt by this reaction. She expected the man to be worried. She said that she figured he knew he would be long gone before any police officer arrived.

Then she said, "it's not like I had a gun or some mace".

This incident as described by the caller illustrates that police protection is a great thing when you have several minutes to spare. When you don't, self-reliance is your only option, and a gun or a can of mace is a very handy tool.

Indeed, your threat of using a gun by simply showing it is more powerful than following through on a call to 9-1-1.