One is the lawlessness that has gripped the nation in recent years, resulting in a sharp upswing in violent crime and criminals targeting who they believe are easy marks. The other is the well-chronicled surge in gun ownership as law-abiding citizens exercise their Second Amendment rights to self-defense in the face of this lawlessness.
When these opposites meet, it is increasingly with a bad result for those who would prey on innocent victims.
Another such incident happened Sunday in Greenwood, Mississippi. According to authorities, 18-year-old Kyler Matthews attempted to rob another man at gunpoint.
Apparently, he was unprepared for what he encountered. The confrontation happened just after 4:00 p.m. “in front of W.J. Apartments on Clay Avenue, according to the Greenwood Commonwealth.
The intended victim, according to Leflore County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Bill Staten, was simply walking down the street returning from a nearby convenience store. Authorities believe Matthews waited for his target in a place where the two would encounter each other.
Staten told Breitbart News, “Matthews confronted him, asked him for a smoke or a cigarette lighter, and the man said he didn’t have one. Matthews then turned away and turned back around suddenly and shoved a gun into the guy’s chest.”
The investigator said that the target immediately shoved the gun away. Matthews obviously did not know the man he stopped on the street Sunday was “lawfully armed.” But he was.
The intended victim produced his own weapon and fired a single shot. Matthews was reportedly struck in the shoulder and transported to the local hospital in a private vehicle. He later died.
There is no celebration of a young man’s utterly foolish death. However, no one can reasonably expect to attempt to rob another person and not have that person resist with lethal force. That is the chance that violent criminals increasingly take, and more and more often they are paying the ultimate price for their mistake.
