Violent Crime Surges in Capital City!

A graph on the US violent crime rate

On Halloween Night WAPT News Anchor Megan West and her family were held at gunpoint by 4 armed men in the Belhaven Subdivision. You can read the full story here. On Tuesday, a Lyft Driver was kidnapped and shot 7 times in Jackson. Violent Crime in the Jackson area has climbed to record heights. As of October 29th there have been 124 homicides in the city, just 6 shy of the 2020 record high of 130. In our September 2020 “In The News” article called “Prepare for the Pattern” we highlighted this concerning trend happening around the country. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it and then prepare yourself and your family. Fortunately, Megan and her family were unharmed in this incident, but a study in his booked called “Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America” Gary Kleck states that even if you fully comply with a violent criminal, you still have a 25% chance of being injured. It goes up to 50% chance if you try and fight back. If you are armed, well trained and able to respond quickly, your chance of injury goes down to about 6%. But as you will see in the following news story, proper training and gear is a must!

Woman reaches into purse, accidentally fires gun at Madison basketball game

At 7:44 Pm on Monday, my phone rang. It was a call from a local law enforcement officer, fellow instructor and friend who wanted to know about the potential ramifications of this event. Based on my experience, I said most likely she would be charged with “discharging a firearm in the city limits” At 10:48 PM, I got an email from another LEO and Instructor with a link to this article. The woman had taken a basic handgun safety course and had an enhanced carry permit, so she wasn’t breaking the law by carrying into the school gym. But because the state of Mississippi limits what can be taught in Basic Enhanced Carry Classes they ARE NOT true concealed carry classes. Fortunately no one was injured, but this could have been a tragic incident and is a clear example of why intermediate and advanced TRAINING IS SO IMPORTANT. If you think getting the proper training and buying quality gear is expensive, think about the legal and financial ramifications if someone had been injured or killed. Without proper training in how to safely carry (and draw) your firearm, you are at an increased risk of a similar incident. Plus, every incident such as this, is just more ammo for anti-gun groups to use as a means to try and further restrict our right to carry.

If your last class was a Basic Enhanced Carry Class, I highly encourage you to check out our Defensive Carry Clinic. The class is 5 hours long and only $125 and you can can learn to safely and properly carry and draw your firearm from your preferred carry mode.