An East Oakland pawn shop owner is in the hospital today after taking on five armed assailants who tried to rob him on Wednesday night. Thankfully, the man is expected to recover from his injuries, which he received during what police describe as a "major gun battle" between himself the five armed robbers.
The incident unfolded around 7:45 Wednesday evening, when the five men entered the Cash 4 Gold pawn shop in East Oakland and attempted to rob the business at gunpoint. Instead of getting gold, they were greeted by a store owner who gave them lead instead.
When officers arrived at the scene, they located multiple people who were struck by the gunfire. Medical personnel confirmed that one person was deceased. Five other people who were struck by gunfire, including the business owner, were taken to an area hospital, where a second person was confirmed dead, the Oakland Police Department said. The remaining three suspects were in stable condition as of 10:30 p.m., and the owner is expected to survive, according to Oakland Police Officers Association spokesperson Sam Singer.
Singer said a robber allegedly pulled a gun on the store owner, who then pulled a gun on the robber and four accomplices.
A "major gun battle" ensued, said Singer.
The store owner allegedly shot and killed the two people and wounded the other three.
At this point the store owner isn't facing any charges, and it sounds like there's no doubt he was acting in self-defense. Police haven't said what kind of gun the store owner used in self-defense or if it had a magazine that can hold more than ten rounds, which could result in prosecutors going after the armed citizen for violating the state's ban on so-called large capacity magazines.
That ban is already the subject of a court challenge, and the Supreme Court is expected to consider granting cert to Duncan v. Bonta later this fall. While U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez has twice found that the state's ban violates the Second Amendment, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has also twice overturned his decision; once before the Bruen case was decided by SCOTUS and again after Duncan was vacated and remanded back to the Ninth Circuit after the Bruen decision came down.
According to the Ninth Circuit, magazines aren't "arms", so they're not protected by the Second Amendment. Under that logic, California could ban external magazines altogether, rendering semi-automatic firearms single-shot pistols. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, meanwhile, has contended that even if magazines are protected, there's no need for gun owners to have more than ten rounds available to them without having to swap magazines because it's rare that more than ten rounds would be needed to act in self-defense.
Well, "rare" doesn't mean "never," and this is a perfect example of why the government shouldn't be able to arbitrarily limit the capacity of a firearm. It was a 5-on-1 fight, and assuming everyone involved had a 10 round magazine, that's a 500% advantage to the criminals.
Criminals don't want a fair fight. They want an advantage over their prey, and California's magazine ban helps to provide that. Is an armed robber all that concerned about catching a misdemeanor charge for possessing a large capacity magazine when they're committing a crime that could result in a decade or more behind bars? Why on earth would they be? It's the legal gun owner who's impacted by California's ban, not violent predators in the Golden State.
The Supreme Court has the chance to right this wrong by granting cert to one or both of the magazine ban cases it will consider in conference this fall. These bans fly in the face of our national tradition of gun ownership and the plain text of the Second Amendment, but they also lack basic common sense and put good people at risk. Maybe this business owner was just a really good shot and cool under pressure, but its also possible he'll be facing criminal charges even though he acted in lawful self-defense.
Editor’s Note: The anti-gunners will stop at nothing to enact their radical agenda, stripping us of our Second Amendment rights and putting us at risk.
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