Don't like the crime here? "Move out"

What would you think if you continually called the police about crime in your neighborhood, and the police told you to move out, if you didn't like the crime in your neighborhood?

You won't hear that in Woodstock or in any other part of McHenry County that I know of but, if you lived on the south side of Columbus, Ohio, in the Ganthers Place neighborhood, there seems to be a pretty good chance that you'll hear it. Enough of a chance that neighbors are uniting to let the Columbus Police officials know that is not the answer.

If I have anything to say about it, you'll never hear that in McHenry County. Knuckling under to lawbreakers is not the answer. The head of the cop's fraternal lodge in Columbus said, "It's like the OK Corral out there." And he's not talking about Chicago, either.

Citizens engaged in shoot-outs on the streets isn't the permanent answer, but occasionally it is going to happen. Isn't that how the wild, wild west got cleaned up? Citizens finally got sick and tired of the lawlessness and took matters into their own hands, when local law enforcement wasn't effective enough.

Illinois legislators refuse to give citizens the right to defend themselves outside their homes. How much longer will Illinois residents allow the legislators to keep their heads buried in the sand?

The fact is, when the criminal element doesn't know whether a citizen is armed, the criminal is more careful - and less likely to prey. As it is now in Illinois, the criminals know that the citizen on the street, at the gas station, in the convenience store, at the ATM is unarmed. And so crime soars.

What should the folks on the south side of Columbus do? Arm themselves. What else? Look out for one another, as they are in the Ganthers Place neighborhood.

Source: www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/10/29/MOVEOUT.ART_ART_10-29-09_A1_FNFGPM5.html