Back in the days before reliable handheld firearms and cell phones, highway robbery was a thing. Groups of bandits would ambush lone travelers out in the middle of nowhere, far from help and unable to defend themselves. It was the perfect crime, and was a popular method of robbing and murdering people in the United States right through to the early 1900’s. It remains a popular method of robbery and murder in much of the disarmed world (like South Africa and India) but it isn’t something very common in much of the United States. Except in . . .
New Jersey.
In the video above, a man is driving his car down the New Jersey Turnpike in the middle of the night. All of a sudden a line of cones appears in the road ahead next to a stopped car. When he slows down and stops to ask what’s going on, a shadowy figure sticks his hand in his pocket. As soon as the driver sees this action, the car takes off and leaves the whole mess behind.
The reason why this is still possible in New Jersey: there’s no means for self defense available for the driver. Concealed carry laws might be on the books, but as a practical matter, getting a license is virtually impossible. Drivers in New Jersey are completely unarmed. As a result they are prime targets for highway robberies and murders – as this incident was set to become.
Imagine this same situation happening in Texas. [ED: Now stop laughing.] In Texas, you don’t need a concealed carry permit to carry a firearm in your vehicle. Stand your ground rules apply equally at home or in your car. The second that blocker’s hand went into his pocket there’s a good chance our robber would have encountered the business end of a self-defense firearm.
Of course, there’s zero chance this would happen in the first place. The fact that there are a ton of legally armed people driving around in the Lone Star State makes highway robbery a fool’s game. The deterrent of an armed population is very real, and criminals tend to not want to die. But in New Jersey, no one legally carries a gun. Criminals are free to prey on the weak. In this case, the criminals have found a way to ensure that the police are as far away as possible when they make their move.