A Dorothy Height Benning Library security guard was robbed of his gun last night in the District of Columbia.

Police said the library guard was robbed about 9:15 p.m. Thursday as he walked to his car. A police report says he was approached from behind by a man holding a dark metal object to his head. “This is a gun,” the victim told police, according to the offense report. “This is a revolution. I want your gun! Get on the ground.”

Police said the man jumped a concrete barrier and ran eastward. Police found the radio nearby, but not the 9mm Glock handgun.

As we’ve noted before, a firearm is not a talisman that wards away evil. It is merely a tool, and an expensive tool which some people may decide they want to possess.

It used to be not uncommon for police officers/security guards to be attacked and killed for their weapons in the United States, and it is still very common for that to happen in many other parts of the world.

Merely possessing a gun doesn’t mean that you are armed, any more that owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Criminals make their living by playing the victim selection game, and the better criminals are very good are reading a person’s body language. To a thug immersed in violence from a young age, a person with a gun on their hip who betrays physical weakness, unprofessionalism, distraction, or uncertainty is nothing more or less than a target for robbery. The mere presence of an exposed firearm isn’t a deterrent to such individuals, and instead may serve as an invitation.

Fortunately, this security guard survived this robbery, unlike the Food Lion Security guard executed for his gun in North Carolina earlier this month. That case remains unsolved.

It’s unlikely that this one will be either.