ST. PETERSBURG — Given the recent armed robberies of two Tampa Bay real estate agents, many Realtors are wondering if they should start carrying a gun.
“No!” St. Petersburg police Chief Tony Holloway emphatically said Friday. “That person’s going to take that gun away from you.”
Source: Police advice to Realtors: Every agent is a target but don’t carry a gun | Tampa Bay Times
I was amazed that this day and age, there are still mental derelicts that can stand in front of a room full of self-starting female professionals and tell them to their faces that they are too stupid to pull a trigger in self-defense. Out of the 523 sworn officers in the St. Petersburg Police Department, 17% of them are women (88 if my calculator did not steer me wrong) and I am guessing they do not carry sidearms because criminals may take them away from them. Maybe they are allowed to carry a duster or a bottle of Windex.
Seriously, the Tampa-St. Pete area appears to be the New Jersey of Florida. And I thought Broward County was anti gun.
Hat Tip to The Gun Writer.
Boy I sure hope Chief Holloway doesn’t carry a gun. Wouldn’t want criminals to take it from him and use it on the rest of us.
“Arrive at an empty home at least 40 minutes before the scheduled showing. ‘Most of the time, if the bad guy is going to meet you, he’s going to scope out the area, too. If he’s there first, he’s controlling the situation, you aren’t.'”
I often arrive early or check out new locations beforehand to ensure I get it right and am on time for the meeting. I guess that indicates I’m a bad guy!
In my very limited experience there is a reason to say that 99% of folks should not carry a gun. Sadly, women do make up a large subset of that 99%. It’s not because they are too stupid, or too weak. It’s because they are too reluctant.
When people ask me if they should get a gun I ask them to come back in a week with the answer to this: Are you absolutely positive that you will, without hesitation, pull the trigger? If they come back and say “Yes” they are sent back for another week to get the answer to this: Where is your line in the sand that you will not allow another person to cross? How will you now that it is time to shoot? Lots of folks flunk Question #2 when they describe situations where they are already in the middle of being attacked, and usually when they are losing in that scenario.*
This is not to say that the chief was right and that those women should not carry. Based on my (again limited) dealings with female real estate agents they are very good at establishing boundaries. IMHO their failing, if any, is that they often do not listen to the voices in their head that practice situational awareness for them. They (and their male counterparts that are just as guilty) have had it drummed into their heads that closing the deal and avoiding being sued for some pretext of discrimination are the equally most important things in their job.
stay safe.
* – self defense laws I am familiar with discuss “the imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury”. Not “the threat of….” It may require reading case law to learn and understand the distinction between those two conditions, or worse the way some folks twist things around to get to “the immediate threat….” Those that would like to study more might find it useful to see how our State Department views the distinction. http://www.cfr.org/international-law/legal-basis-preemption/p5250
We just had the third anniversary of the murder of real estate agent Ashley Okland. Shot in a empty home, no leads and still unsolved. Would a gun have saved her? Who knows. I look at it this way. If there is a chance you are going to die anyway, why not go out fighting.
It is entirely possible that a criminal could take away a firearm and it is entirely possible that the criminal gets multiple lead implants. It is most often the second situation which is the best result.
The silly argument of this idiot police chief is to give up and accept your robbery, rape, or murder because having a self-defense tool like a firearm will make the situation worse! How so? That’s a logic failure and it does not compute.
He should turn in his badge for the good of his community, since he is likely a political hack and got his position for doing favors for the mayor or city council. I do not respect police chiefs because their allegiance is to the politicians, not the Constitution like the sheriffs.
You have to admire the cognitive dissonance of the anti’s revolving position; ‘Firearms are magical instruments of death that can only be wielded by mystical State-approved sorcerers with badges (unless racism)’, followed by ‘it’s so easy for “anyone” to get a gun and go on a killing spree that can murder hundreds.’*
*As long as the gun is black, scary-looking and has a pistol grip!
MSFT’s CEO stepped in the female PC pile recently, too.
http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/nadella-angers-women-over-karma-pay-comment/863334
“It’s not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along,” Nadella had said when asked about his suggestion to those women who are not comfortable asking for a salary raise.
Nadella, who earlier this year became CEO of the world’s largest software maker with turnover of USD 87 billion, replied that not asking for a raise can in fact be “one of the additional superpowers that, quite frankly, women who don’t ask for a raise have”.
“citing FBI statistics that three out of four police officers killed by gunfire were shot with their own weapons.”
Where did he dig up this “statistic”? Then police would be much safer if they didn’t carry guns, huh?
Complete BS!!