[Texas] Felony Friday: Bar Patron Thwarts Robbery

xavierok · 发表于 2014-10-10 13:59

Felony Friday: Bar Patron Thwarts Robbery By Fatally Shooting Two Robbers
Two employees at a bar in north Harris County by Houston, TX must be very thankful that one of their customers was packing heat last weekend.
About 2:30 am Saturday morning a bartender and waitress were cleaning-up to close the Houston area bar when four armed men burst through the doors. Two of the men proceeded into the bar area and demanded everyone get down on the floor. The other two armed robbers lingered by the door.
The robbers must have felt emboldened by a Texas law that makes it illegal to carry firearms into a bar. Fortunately, there was a man seated at the bar, who chose not to follow the state law, that was prepared to defend the bar’s occupants against the violent assault.
Jenny O’Donnell, owner of EJ’s Place, was not there at the time of the attempted robbery, but based on her employees’ recollection she explained the events that followed to The Houston Chronicle:

That’s when a customer at the bar pulled his own gun and started shooting at the men, she said. The attempted robbers fired at least three rounds inside the bar, said O’Donnell.
“That man was a hero,” said O’Donnell. “We could have had some bodies.”
The men then turned around and ran out the door, O’Donnell said. One of the men died right outside the front door, while the other man died at the end of the bar’s parking lot, she said.
The other two men and the unidentified customer with the gun fled the scene. Authorities are searching for them.

The armed patron probably vanished from the scene because he was afraid of facing felony charges for carrying a gun into a bar. In Texas guns are banned from businesses that derive more than 51% of their income from the sale of alcoholic beverages that are consumed on the premises.
Basically, Texas – and many other states – suspend your Second Amendment right when you walk into an establishment that generates the majority of its revenue from the sale of alcoholic drinks. The intent of this law is to make the bars safer, but in this incident and many like it the law probably serves the opposite purpose.
EJ’s place has a sign on the front door that’s supposed to remind patrons not to bring their firearms into the bar. If they disobey and are caught, then they risk facing felony charges. Unwittingly, the out of touch bureaucrats that passed the law have made an advertisement to criminals by posting the equivalent of a “gun free zone” sign on the door. When thieves see a sign like this they assume less resistance and a less dangerous heist.
The bartender and waitress are thankful a patron was armed. To truly show their thanks they should serve as spokesmen for changing the state law to allow guns in bars. If individual bars still choose to disallow firearms in their establishments, then that is their prerogative. But it is morally wrong for the government to intervene and suspend the natural right to defend life by forcing businesses to prohibit the carrying of guns into establishments.
Check out the video of the story from KHOU: