Have you ever read something and, then, said to yourself, “That can’t be true! No one could be that stupid, could they?”
I found myself thinking exactly that when I read what Marvin Payton, Jr. did in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now, what happens in Vegas generally stays in Vegas (or so I’ve heard), but when you do something this unbelievably idiotic, it’s going to be talked about outside of Vegas, too (hat tip to here for the lead).
So, what did Payton do? He was caught rifling through the bag of another customer at a Las Vegas shooting range. One report indicated that police said that Payton was trying to steal a gun. The folks at the range escorted Payton outside to wait for police to come arrest him. What did Payton do, then? He attacked a female officer with a screwdriver. Outside of a gun range. While employees of the range were outside, too, making sure that he got arrested.
You can guess what happened next. Payton was shot fourteen times and died.
Yes, Martha, stupidity can kill people.
You can watch video of the incident below. And, yes, because it is a shooting, everyone may not want to watch it. Viewer discretion is advised.
Even for someone with a violent history (Payton had a history of run ins with law enforcement), attacking a police officer while multiple armed gun range employees are on hand seems to be a not very well thought out move. An uncredited writer at liveleak.com notes:
Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said Payton had a violent history with police, including charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery of a firearm and assault on a protected person. All involved police and arriving officers had knowledge of Payton’s violent past before the shooting.
Another viewpoint on this incident is that it perfectly illustrates what I tell people will happen in the first week after all gun control is nullified nationwide and Constitutional carry goes into effect across our country: those prone to criminal violence will either become the example Payton did or they will learn from their example and rush to find different (and, more likely, legal) professions.
Thus, eliminating gun control would radically decrease violence after the first week of implementation.
Just something to consider if you have a tendency to support any gun control at all.
On a side note, if you want to learn about concealed carry firearm safety, you may want to take the time to watch this video series.