Crude, and a little under-armored, but I like it.

False! According to the British Home Office (hardly a 'pro-gun' organization)


This mirrors the <a href=http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdgeff_table7.html target=new>comprehensive study</a> that Dr. Gary Kleck did for his book "Armed: New Perspectives on Gun Control"

Related article published 12/15: "In harm's way: A biker's tale of being accosted on city trail"

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdo ... 73164.html

This victim was a Marine infantry man and a writer for the Trib...wonder what his stance on Armed Citizenry is ?

There's 14 pages of comments following the story.

In harm's way: A biker's tale of being accosted on city trail
An avid bicyclist and former U.S. Marine recounts a harrowing robbery on a Minneapolis bike trail.

By TROY MELHUS, Star Tribune

Last update: December 15, 2008 - 12:33 PM
"I'm going to shoot him."

He jabs the gun onto the back of my head three times. I'm lying face-down in the middle of the concrete path. He's talking to his two friends, 3 feet to my left.

"Don't ... look up," one of them says to me.

"I'm gonna shoot him," the man with the gun repeats. He sounds anxious.

"Please don't," I say.

He jabs the gun into my neck and pushes up my helmet. He slides the muzzle up behind my right ear. I feel him lean in close. This is the end of my life. I'm about to be shot in the back of the head.

I stare at the ground and wait for him to pull the trigger.

• • •

It's Thursday, Dec. 4, 8:29 p.m. I know this because I'm just 300 yards south of the Franklin Avenue Light Rail station, where moments before I saw the 8:28 train approach. I will call 911 at 8:38 p.m.

Seconds before, I was pedaling at about 20 miles per hour along the Hiawatha light-rail path. I travel this route every day, passing dozens of pedestrians. It's unremarkable to see three young men walking along the path, particularly this early at night. So, of course, I was confused when, about 20 yards off, one began to walk in front of me.

As I moved toward the shoulder to pass, he stepped into my way. When I was within 5 yards he raised a hand and leveled it at my face. A gun. Is it real?

I spent four years in the Marine Corps Infantry. It was a 9-millimeter semiautomatic. I stepped down from the pedals and quickly sized up the situation. I was being robbed by three kids. Young adults, maybe, but not yet grown men. And they had a gun.

Suddenly isolated. No place to run. Nothing in my pack really worth fighting for. Cooperate.

"Get on the ground," said the one with the gun.

"Turn this thing off," one of the others said, kicking his foot near the headlight on the top of my head. He then reached down and peeled the pack off my back. "Is this everything? What else you got?"

"That's it."

I expected this to be over quickly. I never thought about what could happen after they got the goods. What more could they want?

Then came the threat.

I waited for the shot for about 30 seconds, then slowly raised my head. They were gone.

• • •

Nov. 20: A bicyclist on the Midtown Greenway near Cedar Avenue was knocked down around 10 p.m. by three men who then attempted to rob the biker at knifepoint.

Nov. 21: A bicyclist on the Midtown Greenway near Minnehaha Avenue was robbed around 8 p.m. by two men wielding a box cutter.

Nov. 24: A bicyclist on the Midtown Greenway near Nicollet Avenue was knocked down around 7 p.m. by two men who attempted to steal the bicyclist's pack.

Nov. 25: A bicyclist was attacked while riding near Hiawatha and Cedar Avenues around 6:30 p.m. and robbed at knifepoint.

I saw these reports on a local bikers website the day after my attack. I Googled "Greenway Bike Path Robberies." There had been as many as 10 similar incidents. Clearly a pattern. Clearly a problem. Why hadn't I heard about these?

The day I began getting angry, Minneapolis police issued a crime alert.

• • •

Two police officers arrived at 8:44 p.m., six minutes after I called 911. In the time that it took for police to respond, I was passed by four bicyclists, and in each case I flagged them down and told them what happened. Three continued down the path. The fourth, a young woman, stopped and waited with me until the police arrived.

The police quickly took my statement at the Franklin Avenue Station platform. Three times they asked if the suspects were black. Three times I said I wasn't sure of that much; they were wearing masks. All I knew was that three cowards risked up to 20 years in prison (the penalty for first-degree aggravated robbery in Minnesota) for:

1 pair of pants.

2 dirty shirts.

1 pair of dirty underwear.

2 broken watches.

Carmex.

Deodorant.

Plastic razor.

1 ballpoint pen.

A broken camera

The only item of true value was a journal: my story of a cross-country trip last spring to reconnect with my father. Beyond what I can easily recall, those memories are now gone.

• • •

I'm angry. Not so much that I was robbed -- I'm not so naive to think I'm invulnerable to crime. I'm angry because I can no longer bike on a busy Minneapolis thoroughfare without fear or suspicion. I'm angry that my family now lives in fear for my -- and their own -- safety. Mostly, though, I'm angry because of the silence. It took nearly 10 violent assaults -- that we know of -- before police warned the public.

Two days after the robbery, I returned to the scene in daylight. I hoped to find my notebook. It was eerie. Quiet. And somehow much more isolated than I could ever remember. I wandered into the Seward neighborhood beyond the station and felt terribly uneasy.

I have not ridden a city trail since. But I can't say I would have done anything differently.

I keep returning to that moment when the robbery was over, and the gun was at the back of my head. We live our whole lives thinking ahead, from our next breath out to planning and thinking in some way about tomorrow.

For that split-second, I was not moving forward. That was the end of my life.

I don't want to get stuck there.

Troy Melhus • 612-673-4883

And this one might be the worst:

I read this and think all the times the antigunners have said 'if you have a gun then the criminals will simply be able to take it, and the it will go much worse!'

How can begging for your life, kissing the concreet, with a barrel pressed against the back of your skull get any worse?

I have noticed how bad the process is for getting important information to the public in a timely manner and with as much detail as possible. Not just from the police but from the media too. I once heard a story about a serial rapist. This was after many attacks. The media and police asked for the help of the public in capturing this creep but gave no details about height, age, race, or description in any way. So how were we supposed to “help”? It is also scary how the public fears us, carry permit holders, more than the thugs that perpetrated this crime. What is wrong with people?

There's a can of worms. Where to start?

It'd be easier to make a list of what's right with people.

Might take 30 seconds or so.

As far as the comment made to get the member a 'time out'........

I didn't read it as an insult. His opinion, yes. But not an insult/personal attack.

Although the outcome was much better the story sadly reminded me of Michael Trinity and Richard Christianson who were executed in a back alley in Mpls.

Link to the events here: http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article ... yid=251562





Link to the murders' rationale here: http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 40456.html

Sooner or later some victim is going to fight back against the attacker. My prayers are for his success

Tail Gunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3lPPYKwMII&feature=PlayList&p=E7CE0455A366FA03&index=48

Are police reports available online? They should be and then use a tagging/sorting engine like flickr to display whats going on in a city.

My heart goes out to the families of these two murdered men. I refer back to a quote from an FBI study cop attackers, “Davis said the study team "did not realize how cold blooded the younger generation of offender is. They have been exposed to killing after killing, they fully expect to get killed and they don't hesitate to shoot anybody, including a police officer. They can go from riding down the street saying what a beautiful day it is to killing in the next instant."

"Offenders typically displayed no moral or ethical restraints in using firearms," the report states. "In fact, the street combat veterans survived by developing a shoot-first mentality."

BTW, This is really bad news. I have been commuting on that section of the greenway five days a week, two times a day for the last four months and had NO CLUE that this stuff was happening until I saw it on this forum. Thankfully I've had no incidents. Sorry to those that have.

So, I have taken the CCW class and passed and I am submitting my paperwork to the Hennepin County sheriff on Monday. I'm on my way to getting it, but it's still going to take a little while, obviously (especially with the holidays ).

Here's my question: Can I legally carry to and from work in the interim between now and when I actuallly get my permit as long as I don't stop anywhere in between either way? It seems from the way the law is written that I can, but I wanted to ask just to make sure I wasn't missing something.

And yes, I'm considering a different route until I get my permit, (and even after I get it), but riding on the greenway is just SO MUCH BETTER in the winter. Minneapolis (as I'm sure you all know by now) doesn't do a very good job clearing the roads. Trying to maneuver a bicycle through slushy/icy/snowy banks that accumulate on the side of the road (where we- bicyclists- are supposed to ride) and dealing with traffic at the same time is really difficult and dangerous... basically insane. The greenway, OTOH, is can be counted on to be plowed after almost every snowfall, and, of course, no traffic.

I should also note that I don't want to drive (I don't own a car - my choice) and I don't want to ride the bus because it takes too long. Plus, I like the workout and the fact that I get to work really awake. The bottom line is that I don't want to be scared into abandoning the way I commute. I am not a sheep.

At the same time, I'm not looking for a confrontation either. If I feel something's not quite right, especially now, I won't hesitate to just turn tail and go in the other direction. The CCW is, for me, the absolute-final-"there's-no-other-way-out-of-this-alive" measure. But it would be nice to know it's there if I did absolutely need it, especially on the greenway.

624.714 says: "A permit to carry is not required of a person...to carry a pistol from a place of purchase to the person's dwelling house or place of business..."

Whether "place of business" means a place you work or a business you own is not settled in case law.

Hypothetically, if you carry, and get stopped, and charged, you would get to be the test case.

Hypothetically, if you choose to wait, and get killed, you won't have to worry about any pesky court costs.

It might be a good idea to suck up taking the bus for 30 days or so. In that time, you can get your permit, and maybe the MOD will catch the little thugs.