Armed Amazon driver defends himself, now out of work

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

You can’t buy everything on Amazon, but close to it. That includes stuff for gun nuts. While they don’t sell firearms, they do sell a lot of firearm accessories. They make a lot of money off gun folks, particularly those looking for the best price.

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The fact that they sell that kind of thing shouldn’t be taken as any endorsement of the Second Amendment or lingering pro-gun sympathies at the company, though.

No, they like the almighty dollar plenty, but they don’t care for people actually using the guns they buy accessories for.

Worse, though, they’d rather their own drivers be dead than defend themselves.

An Amazon delivery driver is not facing any charges after he shot a knife-wielding man on Sunday.

The driver, Gino Grove, was out on his route when the suspect, Christopher Roberts, walked up to him with a knife, according to Middletown police.

“Obviously, he [Grove] was in fear,” explained Middletown Police Chief David Birk. “So, in defense of himself, he was able to discharge a firearm striking the individual in the leg area.”

The police report shows Roberts was suspected of being under the influence of drugs when he confronted the Amazon driver.

Officers were investigating the shooting to determine if it was done in self-defense when Roberts walked out of the hospital, the chief explained.

“Him walking away from the hospital kind of helped clarify the situation that the Amazon delivery driver was just defending himself,” Birk said.

Grove says he has been deactivated as a driver by Amazon and, as of now, is unsure where his employment stands as a delivery driver.

In other words, he used a gun to defend himself from being killed and Amazon dropped him as a driver.

Tell me again how this is right?

The short answer is that it’s not.

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Amazon has made its position clear. They would rather their delivery drivers be dead of knife wounds than alive and explaining to law enforcement how the knife-wielding druggie got the aftermarket holes in him.

And let’s be clear, that’s exactly what we’re talking about here.

Drivers for companies like Amazon have thousands of dollars worth of goods on those trucks at any given time. They’re likely to be targets for a lot of criminals, particularly those looking for stuff they can sell quickly and get enough for their next fix.

As such, it makes sense for drivers to carry a firearm if they so desire. Otherwise, they could end up like a couple of Amazon drivers earlier this year. That’s right, shot.

The right to defend yourself is a basic human right. Amazon, by dropping this particular driver, is saying that their policies matter more than your life. They’d rather see you shot or stabbed, even killed, than you be able to defend yourself from an unwarranted and unlawful attack.

It ain’t right, no matter how you try to slice it.

Were I in Grove’s shoes, I’d much rather be where he is right now than where he almost ended up, but he shouldn’t lose his job for not wanting to die.

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