Predictable Results

I don't remember where I saw this story first, but I'll give Old NFO the credit because that's where I saw it last. At any rate, the line that jumped right out at me was “We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.” (emphasis mine)

I think it was Sean that remarked the laws aren't there to protect me from you, they are there to protect you from me. I couldn't find the post, but his point was the laws are agreements between the Citizen and the State whereby the State will prosecute criminals via the courts and save the Citizen the trouble of having to deal with the criminals themselves (not to mention cleaning up afterwards).

The flip side of that, of course, is that when the State fails in that bargain eventually the Citizen can - and will - take care of the problem themselves. This was in fact one of the reasons the Second Amendment was adopted, so the Citizen would have the means necessary to defend himself (and the State).

More and more it seems the Citizen is becoming aware of this, which in my opinion is a good thing.

(For anyone who will cry vigilantism, you would do well to look up the etymology of the word.)