It is undeniable that there has been a massive increase in violent crime nationally in the recent past. One city that stands out in infamy is Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love; having set its all-time homicide record in 2021, the City of Fratricide is on track to beat it in 2022.

Criminal-coddling policies like those implemented by far-Left Democrat DA Larry Krasner have a lot of blame to bear. These policies impact every citizen regardless of race or religion. Last week, an Indian American family was caught up in it.

Fox29 Philadelphia reported the following:

FRANKFORD – Two men are in critical condition after police say they were hurt in a shootout inside of a market in Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood Sunday night. 

The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. on the 1500 block of Arrott Street inside of Neighborhood Market. 

Police say a 23-year-old store employee was shot once in his left side by a customer he and his brother had asked to leave. 

The victim’s brother, who was also armed, shot back at the 28-year-old suspect hitting him in the left arm and left side, according to police.  

The article and the associated video report make it clear that this was a Defensive Gun Use (DGU) incident and began when the 28-year-old suspect allegedly shot the 23-year-old store employee, with the employee’s brother shooting back to defend his brother’s and his own life. Who knows what else could have happened if the 23-year-old’s brother hadn’t met force with force? The article provides no further description, but reporter Steve Keeley tweeted the following:

Two brothers working in Philadelphia store tell 28 year old man causing trouble to leave, then he pulls out gun&shoots one brother. Then other brother pulls his own gun&shoots gunman @PhillyPolice tell FOX29 News. Police take wounded store workers to hospital 1/2 @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/oP7ytJAP7J

— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) January 24, 2022

It appears based on the above that the shopkeepers are Indian, which isn’t out of the ordinary. I’ve run into Indian immigrant-owned small businesses in just about every city – gas stations, convenience stores, donut shops, fast food franchises, motels, you name it. What is out of the ordinary though is that one of these Indian shopkeepers was armed.

Indian Americans, from my personal experience and connections, are a lot less likely to exercise their Second Amendment rights as compared to other racial and ethnic groups in this country. This has persisted even after Indians have been the target of hate crimes. There are occasional standouts like the Storefront Sikhs, but those are the exception, not the rule.

The reasons for low gun ownership among Indian Americans are complicated. They range from culture and religion to the disarmament of India by the British after the 1857 mutiny. The institution of gun control by the British broke the tradition of firearms ownership, and once the generational link is broken, it doesn’t come back easily. The following is an excerpt from the article, “Gun Control and Indian Arms Act 1877 During the Days of the Raj”:

Before 1857 there was no gun control law in India. Any Indian could own any weapon of any caliber. After the mutiny things changed as the British decided that the time had come to restrict Indians from owning weapons and hence the first seeds of arms control were sowed.

The Viceroy appointed a committee which concluded that local Indians should have restricted access to arms and weapons. It however made an exception in the case of Anglo Indians and British rulers who were free to own weapons. The gun license was introduced to restrict Indians from owning weapons.

[…]

The Indian arms act of 1877 was successful in controlling proliferation of guns in India and hardly .5% of Indians were issued gun licenses.

The British successfully did to India what they failed to do to America, and the disarmament of 1877 has been “sticky” as most gun control is, and that’s why you see few Indian Americans owning guns. I hope that changes.

In the meantime, note that the 23-year-old brother is in hospital in critical condition. If you’re the praying type, please say a prayer for him.