This is why I carry a firearm, Vol. 1

The second of 2 teens, Justin Shelton, has joined Marlow Carson in admitting to carjacking a 7-months pregnant woman at the Cub Foods on University Avenue in St. Paul on Dec. 20. When she tried to refuse, stating her pregnancy, here's what these animals did:

"Carson struck her in the mouth with the bottle. Shelton dragged her from the car by her ankles and onto the ground. The teens punched, kicked and hit the woman with the bottle, according to the complaint. The force of the blows shattered the bottle."

"Onlookers told police they saw one of the teens kicking the pregnant woman in the head while the other stomped her head on the asphalt."

In yet another example of inexcusably lax sentencing, Carson, who was 16 at the time of the attack (I'm assuming he was charged as an adult, since his name was released. I have a query in to the author of the article concerning this.),

"received a stayed eight-year prison sentence and was sent to a boys' military school in Pennsylvania for up to one year."

That's right, he received NO JAIL TIME for robbing and assaulting a pregnant woman with a deadly weapon, just an extended "time out" at a private school. That'll teach him. I hope the residents of Pennsylvania are thankful for our gift to them.

Shelton, who admitted guilt yesterday, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated robbery. Hopefully this guy will get some time in the pokey, but after reading about the first teen's sentence, I'm not holding out hope.

To the people that are behind and belong to groups such as the Brady Campaign and Citizens for a Safer Minnesota:

This is why I carry a firearm on a daily basis. The fact that thugs like this run free on our streets, and are sent right back to them by a judicial system run amok, is the reason that I choose to take an active step in protecting not only myself and my family, but also innocent victims such as this one. If you choose not to, that is your business and OK with me, but do not interfere with my freedom to defend my life and property, as well as others, with the same means as people that wish to deprive me of them. The police can only do so much, and are not required to protect and serve me, the individual, as the Supreme Court recently stated in Castle Rock v. Gonzales.

This attack happened in a decent part of town, in a busy location, and in broad daylight. If it can happen there, it can happen in your neighborhood, as well. Be ready for it.