“Why would someone being mugged at gunpoint try to resist?” That is cry of somebody who supports a ban on guns in the campus of The College of William and Mary. I do have to remind myself that I was a young idealistic college pup once and saw life through the rose colored glasses of Hope and Change (OK, maybe not that idiotic) and that I subscribed to the ideals of the Noble Savage from the philosophers of the 18th Century and Father Flanagan’s No such thing as a bad boy. Just about that time my apartment was broken into and my meager possessions taken away by an unknown misunderstood member of society which made me revise in a damn hurry my beliefs and got me into buying my first gun. About a week later and after 2 more apartments were broken into, the poor misguided soul was attempting to break into my downstairs neighbor’s apartment while he was visiting me. We challenged the Poor Soul and he responded by threatening the use of force and advancing  towards us. Before I knew it, the gun was up at the end of my arm and aimed at his direction and the Scum Of The Earth decided that it would be wise to disappear into the night in the opposite direction.

That night my core beliefs about the No-Need for Firearms in a Modern Society disappeared. All the beautifully poetic talking points of not resisting, giving-up-giving-what-they-want and assorted BS began eroding like a South Florida Beach during a Cat 5 hurricane. Fighting back became not only a rallying cry but just plain common sense if my survival was in the table.

Life keeps demonstrating that, no matter how beautiful our dreams might be, they must be tempered with heavy doses of reality. At the risk of sounding like a candidate for Miss Universe, I do want World Peace but I acknowledge that we may have to take care of certain individuals in a less than Miss Universe fashion in order to put us on the road of such Peace. There are some people that just needs killing (quoting from somebody who escapes my memory right now) because no matter what beautiful thoughts we wish for, they will have no qualms on killing you for their selfish reasons.

So, Why would someone being mugged at gunpoint try to resist? Allow me to introduce you to this beautiful piece of human detritus: Michael Richard Swanson.

Why is this smiling teen in handcuffs and wearing a less than modern apparel consisting of horizontal stripes? Because poor misunderstood Michael shotgunned to death two Iowa convenience store clerks after they complied with his demands and did not offered any resistance to his endeavors. The usual “logic” that we hear from the experts is that if you do not resist and comply with their wishes, you will survive, guaranteed, 100%, you can take it to the bank, FDIC Insured, Bet your house on it, a sure thing.

It was not such a hot guarantee after all.

Maybe having one of the clerks having a gun would not have changed the result of that night’s events, but maybe it might have. So to answer the question, Why would someone being mugged at gunpoint try to resist? Because there are people like Smiling Mikey out there that did not get the memo saying they are supposed to leave people that do not resist alive and unhurt. Criminals do not subscribe to the Brady Campaign newsletter or a t least they do not mind it much.