Gun safety and background checks are a must if someone is looking to purchase a gun. A few years ago, a semi-viral video – one depicting an armed robbery gone terribly wrong – was circulating. The two would-be robbers ran out of the store as fast as their feet could carry them, with their tails tucked firmly between their legs.

One minute they are pointing their pistols at the frightened patrons of an internet café, and the next they are scrambling out the door, literally knocking each other over, in an attempt to get the hell out of there I one piece.

How did that happen? Simple. One of the café’s patrons, a senior citizen by the name of Samuel Williams, was carrying a weapon in concealment. The video shows the events unfold from several different angles, using the café’s security cameras, and then concludes with saying that the average police response time (in the United States) is six minutes, and that the average reaction time for a legally armed civilian is five seconds.

The two robbers were later arrested, and Williams was not charged with any kind of wrongdoing. He did what he did, in order to protect himself, his wife – who was sitting nearby – and the innocent people at the café.

Videos such as that one cause a lot of debate, and so they should. Talk of gun laws, gun culture, and legal armament are vital, and I feel it is very important to continue talking about them. It is part of what makes our society what it is, for better or worse. I’ve seen some great articles on this topic on Gunivore.com.

There are those who believe that Williams is a hero who acted right, who did what he had to do, and who did it in the best possible way. Alternatively, there are some who agree that his actions were, indeed, heroic, but who argue that guns should still be prohibited and closely monitored.

Gun laws vary from one state to the other, and in Florida – where the attempted robbery took place – there is nothing wrong with what Williams did. The robber who was holding the gun (the other had a baseball bat), later told the press that the gun was not loaded, and that he and his fellow perpetrator had no intention of hurting anyone. He said it was a ‘take the money and run’ kind of deal, and that they were taken by surprise when Williams began shooting at them.

As for Williams, he chased the perps out of the café, locked the doors, and called the cops. This is precisely what needed to be done. Once they were out and the threat was neutralized, he did not continue to chase them down the street (and possibly endanger others in the process) – he did the responsible thing, and called the authorities.

That, in my opinion, is a model concealed carry weapon carrier. He acted fast, did what he had to do, and then stopped when the threat was gone. He didn’t play games or overstep his authority. The fact that the criminals were later caught is an added bonus.

Stay armed, and stay safe!