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If you’re unfortunate enough to reside or work in our nation’s capital and want to exercise your Second Amendment rights to their fullest extent possible, you’ll need to navigate the bureaucratic nightmare that is the District’s concealed carry permitting process. That means completing an application which included authorizing the city to access your mental health records, and certifying that you’ve had at least 16 hours of firearms training plus two hours of range training.

In all, you’ll spend somewhere between $500 and $1000 to do all of that. Then you’ll have the privilege of waiting between six and 12 months for the city to get back to you. In the mean time, you’ll have to continue to make your way in a city that, like so many other urban jurisdictions, is enjoying a double digit spike in violent crime including 485 carjackings in 2022, a 350% increase over 2018.

Washington, DC carjacking map
Courtesy Washington Post

So it probably wasn’t much of a surprise that yet another driver was confronted with a gun and told to surrender his vehicle in the city’s Southeast district yesterday. The only real surprise was that the owner of the car was armed.

From shorenewsnetwork.com . . .

The incident unfolded at approximately 6:30 am at the 2300 block of R Street. The victim, positioned near his vehicle, was approached by two suspects traveling in a car. One of the suspects retrieved a gun and demanded the victim surrender his car. The victim drew his own firearm and discharged a shot at the suspect, 27-year-old Marcus Thompson, injuring him.

The accomplice took off while the victim tried to help the carjacker he’d just shot until police arrived.

The suspect was taken into custody and faces multiple charges, including armed carjacking. According to detectives, the victim possessed a valid concealed carry permit in the District, and his firearm was duly registered.

The carjackers had managed to select a rare prospective victim…one who’d actually cleared the intentionally onerous hurdles the city has erected to keep as few residents as possible from legally carrying a firearm in the District.

If the victim in this case had defended himself but had been carrying without the proper permitting, he’d have been charged and would stand a very good chance of spending far more time in jail than either of the two predators who tried to jack his ride.

The city has seen fit to ensure that criminals like Marcus Thompson and his fugitive partner in crime are kept mostly safe while they carjack random victims, ensuring that the average D.C. resident is legally unable to carry a firearm to protect themselves. The more District residents change those odds, as in this case, and are able to act in their own self-defense, the more predators like Thompson and his pal will think twice.

 

72 COMMENTS

    • Flee the killing grounds call “gun free zones”!! It only pertains to you not the miscreants.

      • Stand your ground!

        If we continue to cede vast swaths of the country to liberals we will never have another president, congress, senate or supreme court on our side.

        Conservatives need to man-the-f-up and flood purple states.

        • Unfortunately, that means people with scruples must become candidates for a job that no person with scruples would want.

        • Murphy’s Law, that is the way of the world. Someone with scruples must stand up for what is right.

        • You actually believe this BS? 😂 Your preferred president is a traitor, a liar, and a thief. Yes, I am a 2nd ammendment Stand Your Ground Man. But what these old a– fake Republicans have done and continue to do to our country is horrific and embarrassing. The only problem Many of us have with the current administration is their misguided understanding of the reasons and the need to remain armed.

        • TD if that is the only ‘problem” you have with the “current administration” you certainly have missed a lot of the shenanigan they have been pulling. I have two words for you: Hunter Biden.

  1. DC sounds like CA. Only well off white guys can afford their civil rights in both places. The fascist left seems to prefer it that way. But they claim we are the racists.

    Fascinating.

    • Well, not actually correct. I am a Black man, applied for and have my DC concealed carry. The process was easy, relatively quick (45 days), and about $250. Not including the $250 required training for both DC and MD. SOOOOO, $500 for 2 localities. Both easy and within 2 months.

      • For the love of God, get yourself fixed and stop procreating any further. Then apologize to your kids for not being a good father in spite of your feeeeelings. Then look in the mirror. Maybe you hate your kids because they are like you.

      • if you don’t like them, that’s a you problem and not a them problem. But you better damn well protect them and with your life if necessary.

      • To easily and quickly locate and identify the responsible party, simply find a large mirror and point your nose at it. Then open your eyes to reveal the culprit.

  2. which included authorizing the city to access your mental health records…

    You can’t have it both ways… If you honestly believe that firearms should be kept out of the hands of the mentally unstable you can’t also complain about a health records check FOR mental issues… That information should be a part of the NCIC background information… As a 100% disabled Veteran I get my medical care from the VA and I have no doubt that other agencies can access it if they feel the need, I don’t care if they want to read about my last colonoscopy or my great BP and cholesterol numbers I’ve never worried about who sees my health records…

    • Maxx…
      Just what would be the criteria on mental health? Would fear of being denied access to firearms prevent someone from seeking help for easily treatable issues? Who make the determination?
      Not that I really care who knows I’ve dealt with PTSD. Or had drug issues in the distant past.
      But, should some unaccountable bureaucrat really have a say over who can or can’t have a pistol for self defense?

      • “Would fear of being denied access to firearms prevent someone from seeking help for easily treatable issues?

        Easily… 🙁

        • It absolutely would. I know this first hand.

          I have a friend, guy I’ve known for decades. He’s got a fairly substantial gun collection and a carry permit in CA. He shows all the signs of bi-polar disorder. Not bad, just low level.

          He’s flat said, “no way would I confess that to a therapist”. They’d pull my guns and my permit would be gone.”

          I’m guessing that were he on medication, it wouldn’t be a heavy dose, but the risk is just too high.

        • Kyle, how do you “grade” this risk. Bi-polar disorder has a number of variations. The fact is he may not even be on any medication at all as you admit you are just “guessing”? “Guessing is kina like assuming. It makes an ass out of you and me.
          Tell me, are you a medical professional of any kind?

      • I don’t know, how about anger management issues, that might be a good place to start, suicidal individuals would be another group to look for (how many “suicides by cop” involve the shooting/killing of innocent citizens… manic depression? I too have PTSD but I don’t sit around fantasizing about shooting up the local Walmart, my shrink knows I’m a gun owner and carry concealed and she is not at all concerned, but there are a lot of sick and violent people out there who think nothing of shooting up a school yard full of children… Anyone who gets healthcare from the VA should automatically assume that their health records are wide open to the FBI, ATF, and any other Federal agency that has an interest in you, but the level of healthcare I receive would cost me thousands in insurance annually so it’s a tradeoff… Just one of my prescriptions (5 mg Eliquis for AFib) is $567.00 for one month (60 tabs) supply, so throw a clot and have a stroke or let the Feds play their stupid games?

      • When a parent gleefully signing their kid up for sterilization isn’t considered mentally ill and the parent hesitant to do so is the system ceases to have any value.

    • I’ve never committed a crime so why should I care if the government monitors me? No man, no.

      • You claim you have never committed a crime which is an outright lie.

        I have heard that there are so many laws on the books that the average person may commit 3 felonies a day and not even be aware of it.

        And I’m pretty sure you have been speeding at some time in your life and maybe slipped through a yellow light a second or so late.

        The problem arises when there is a small chink in the “…shall not be infringed.” armor through which the government can decide which laws they can consider worthy of rescinding your Second Amendment protections.

        If they can claim mental health issues then it is they who can claim WHICH mental health issues.

        If they can claim TERRORISTS! then it is they who can decide who is a terrorist (MAGA?)

        And so on.

        You might as well just go ahead and repeal the Second Amendment because it would only a matter of time before they gutted it anyway.

        • After democRats and RINOs sold out America anyone who sees Make America Great Again as something negative can go pound sand. America was doing Great with POTUS DJT at the helm and today it is an embarrassing train wreck under Jim Crow Gun Control joe and his giggling vp. Obviously their slogan was Make America A Shithole Again and they did so f them and anyone else who sees MAGA as a negative.

    • REALLY? That would be evidence of insane.

      LGBTQWXYZ would be evidence of mental problem so no guns for degenerates.

  3. i think the emphasis on DC wanting access to your mental health records doesnt think of it as infringement but more ironic, that in the daily deluge of new gun control laws the dems Never want to include a mental health wellness check

    • Jack please consider the chilling effect on people, specifically veterans, who may not seek mental help with real trauma for fear of losing their rights. I don’t think invading medical privacy is anything except another step towards disarmament.

  4. Gun permits. For purchase or carry, are for mostly rich people. They are and never have been meant for the poor or working class.

    A legal, defined as having your paper work in order, self-defense shooting, is mostly likely a permit carrier who paid big $$$ in DC.

    The poor have self-defense shootings all the time. But they are called illegal because they don’t have the proper paperwork.

    And that is why you have gun control in the 21st century. The rich, criminal or law abiding, will always have guns.

    • Chris T In KY, I Have a pistol permit and I am certainly not “rich” except in my FREEDOM!

      • I’m so glad you can afford to get a gun. I’m so glad, you can afford to buy the ammunition, and all the required permits, $$$, to possess your “freedom” in 21st century America.

        • Chris T in KY, so now you want the Dept of Social Services to get their charges firearms and ammunition? To buy ammo does not require a permit anywhere I know of.

        • Connecticut requires purchasers of ammo to have a pistol, rifle or specific ammo purchase permit

        • Ben, I stand corrected. Why hasn’t someone in your state challenged this in court?

  5. This is a major reason why I retired to 30 acres of rural MS in 2000. Saw this shit coming to every big city.

  6. I was looking at an ad earlier today for a double barreled black powder 12 gauge pistol with 6″ barrels (Diablo) requiring no BGC and no ffl, and was thinking to myself, “what a great anti car jacking tool this would be.” Whip that thing out, and I imagine you wouldn’t even have to pull the trigger. On the other hand, to carry it in my car I’d have to have it listed on my California CCW, and I don’t imagine that my IA would go for it.

    • I sometimes keep an S&W Governor handy in the pickup for situations like this. Loaded with Hornady Critical Defense .410 000 buck.

      • The Taurus Judge is deemed a short barrelled shotgun and is specifically banned in California, so I imagine the Governor is as well.

    • “…a double barreled black powder 12 gauge pistol with 6″ barrels (Diablo) requiring no BGC and no ffl, and was thinking to myself, “what a great anti car jacking tool this would be.””

      Eh, you may want to reconsider that. How reliable is BP itself in a high humidity environment?

      Since BP firearms weren’t considered to be the most reliable, storing them in your vehicle or on your person long-term might make it worse.

      If that was all I had available to use, I’d use use a BP firearm only if it was ignited with a percussion cap and sealed both ends of the cylinder with a wax or something similar…

  7. “The carjackers had managed to select a rare prospective victim” Divine intervention, maybe our higher authority decided it was time for a lesson for a couple of clowns. Everyone gets to live another day.

    • Probably–especially if your skin’s melanin level exceeds an arbitrary threshold.

    • “Is armed carjacking in D.C. a no cash bond crime?”

      Don’t you know requiring a cash criminal bond is racist? 🙁

  8. Might be time for the shooter, victim, to spend a bit more time on the range. Should have been 2 deceased car jackers and a potential victim happily going home tonight.

    • I think one of them stayed inside the vehicle they drove up in, making it a pretty hard target to hit. I bet he pealed outta there when the shooting started. (Honor among thieves, and all that, right?)

  9. Suspect still on the run.
    Have they tried 1600 Pennsylvania NW Ave.
    I’ve heard that place is full of criminals of all types.
    I’ve heard one of the leaders of the gang is trying to sale our country. That angers me a bit because we all own it and if he sales it we should get a chunk of the money.
    Ehhh, probably wouldn’t amount to nothing but dimes and pennies after that Bureau of booze, smokes and gunms got their cut.

  10. From this article:

    If the victim in this case had defended himself but had been carrying without the proper permitting, he’d have been charged and would stand a very good chance of spending far more time in jail than either of the two predators who tried to jack his ride.

    That is an incredibly poignant way of showing how unjust our laws are when they require licensing (in advance) for righteous self-defense–and entail more legal jeopardy for a righteous defender than a heinous violent attacker.

  11. When I see stories like this I wonder how many unsolved shootings in places like Chicago are self defense shootings by people who have had their right to self defense abridged by government edict.

    • Rusty Chains,

      I have had the EXACT same thought many times myself.

      And here is another dimension: even someone with no criminal record who has satisfied all government requirements well in advance of a righteous self-defense event–that someone still faces significant legal jeopardy. Thus, with everything to lose and nothing to gain following a righteous and legal self-defense event, why would a righteous defender call attention to herself or himself?

    • Rusty Chains,

      I pondered my response to your comment above and I feel compelled to draw attention to something. Consider a decent woman who lives and works some place in urban Chicago and is just barely scraping by. Well aware of the rampant violent crime which occurs on a daily basis, she wants some ability to defend herself if a violent attacker comes calling. Because she is just barely making ends meet, all she can afford is $250 for a modest handgun and she has no extra money for official training (which includes a non-trivial expense for training ammunition) nor government licensing. And she definitely has no extra money to pay for a defense attorney. Plus, she would probably lose her job if she missed even a single day of work due to being in jail for just one day following a self-defense event. If some thug violently attacks her on her way to work one day and she shoots her attacker in righteous self-defense, why in the world would she call police and stick around?

      • i’d say most cpd begrudgingly accept that there will be some vigilantiism. with all these damn cameras they get very few offenders booked, obvious self defense won’t be pursued unless some optic is embraced by the media.
        otherwise they see it as deputy support.

  12. Rare even for areas where lots of people do carry. I live 10 miles from the border with Idaho and here in Washington state which is a SHALL ISSUE, smoking a deserving puke rarely occurs.

    Indeed, those DC scum-bags chose poorly.

    In actuality, it’s simply luck of the draw as the odds are clearly on the dirt-bags side that they ever meet resistance, less armed resistance where they actually get shot at.

    In all appearances, firearm training and shooting classes were certainly worth it and made the difference.

  13. UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT:

    If both the intended victim and the carjackers lacked a carry permit, why wouldn’t the carjackers spend just as much time in jail as the intended victim? Does the DC law allow unpermitted carrying of guns if they are used as tools with which to commit other crimes?

    • Robert Hutchings,

      “… why wouldn’t the carjackers spend just as much time in jail as the intended victim?

      Excellent question. The answer is fairly simple although not immediately obvious.

      Under a true justice system, both the carjackers and the intended victim would face equal time in prison for the same crime (carrying a firearm without a license in this particular case–which should not actually be a crime by the way).

      What people are saying (in a sly way) on this forum is that we do NOT have a true justice system. The evidence of that assertion is visible in three facts which occur frequently in many of our nation’s urban Hellscapes:
      1) Many jurisdictions have eliminated cash bail for virtually all crimes.
      2) Prosecutors frequently refuse to prosecute thugs for violent crimes.
      3) Prosecutors frequently DO prosecute decent people who possess firearms without government licenses.

      My paragraph above makes sense if the TRUE objectives of urban Hellscape governments are:
      1) Facilitating as much chaos as possible so that …
      2) People beg government to eliminate that chaos so that …
      3) Government requires ever more from the masses to fix the chaos so that …
      4) Government can consolidate control, wealth, and power.

      And also happening, which is less obvious, many members of the Ruling Class derive sadistic pleasure in humiliating the masses–going so far as making the masses subject to violent attacks and even murder.

      Back to the incentive to jam-up otherwise good/decent people who break the law to carry firearms for self-defense: those people are less likely to give up money and liberties to government and more likely to reduce community-level chaos. That goes against the true objectives of urban Hellscape governments. Thus, urban Hellscape governments actively jam-up otherwise good/decent people who carry firearms for righteous self-defense. And, because violent thugs increase chaos (which advances the true objectives of urban Hellscape governments), urban Hellscape governments frequently refuse to impose any significant penalties on violent thugs.

      That is why a righteous defender would often face more prison time than violent thugs.

  14. it seems to me that if some of our do-nothing repugnicants Wrote limiting clauses in a prospective bill that Only precludes those who have espoused a desire to commit mass murder or are under psychiatric treatment due to being a danger to themselves and or others thatd be a step toward getting some of these social media addicted some attention, right now it seems homeland the fbi deliberately ignore their posts. and those with minor ailments couldnt be persecuted as easily

  15. “The accomplice took off while the victim tried to help the carjacker he’d just shot until police arrived.”

    What happens when you’re trying to help the wounded suspect and his accomplice returns?

    What happens if the wounded suspect is capable of doing harm to you, even though he is wounded (this is common)?

    Everyone should think about what they would do in this scenario. Me? I consider a firearm to be an escape ticket. If I have to use it, the suspect is either deceased (in which case he requires no aid) or is not (and probably still a threat if I foolishly decide to get within grabbing distance of him).

  16. We had an attempted car jacking a little while back. Traveling, stopped for something to eat, came back out after eating to get in car and four guys appear from around the corner of the restaurant in the parking lot two with guns and rush us as we started to get in the car.

    They were not too thrilled when my wife and I both drew our firearms. They tuned and ran, no shots fired. We call 911, cops arrive, tell us we would have been the sixth successful car jacking at that location in a month and most likely would have been seriously injured or killed had we not used our firearms. The other five car jacking were successful, and no other victims reported using DGU and they were all badly beaten and two shot by the car jackers.

    • .40 cal Booger,

      It sounds like you are as “lucky” as I am.

      I have never lived in nor conducted business in a “bad neighborhood”. I have never done anything that falls under the “doing stupid things at stupid places at stupid times” umbrella. And yet I have been the victim of four violent human attacks and two near-miss animal attacks where I would have been legally justified to use deadly force in self-defense. And I lived at a rural 20 acre property many moons ago where a violent attacker subdued, sexually assaulted, and kidnapped a 10 or 11 year-old girl from that property while I was at home.

      For reference I was too young to legally posses a firearm for self-defense in the first three events. I only escaped the first event because I was exceptionally fast for my age (4th grade elementary), racing more than a quarter mile with my attacker close behind the entire way (who continued to beat on my garage door and tried to break through the glass on my garage door to carry out his stated goal to kill me). The second event in 10th grade (high school) was a huge German shepherd who chased me at least 100 yards. I only escaped that attack because I was exceptionally fit/fast and was already at full speed on a classic 10-speed bicycle whizzing by when the dog started chasing me. (And no, that dog did NOT routinely chase bicycles and cars that went by.) The third event was in college when a stalker ambushed me and a platonic lady friend who was the stalker’s ex. We were still in my car when he ambushed us and thankfully he was not able to break into my car.

      I was old enough and armed for the last three events. Thugs in two unrelated events approached me for what was going to be obvious armed robbery and/or carjacking. When I repositioned myself to cover and ensure instantaneous access to my handgun on my belt, both thugs immediately broke off and promptly left the area. And the dog (yet another German shepherd with known hyper-aggressive disposition) in the more recent event was running quickly and silently straight at me–and promptly put on the brakes when I stepped forward and drew my handgun to shoot it. Thankfully that dog stopped 15 feet away and I did not have to pull the trigger.

      In addition to those six clear-cut events, I have been present at additional dangerous events where my well-being was in serious jeopardy and could have turned into a life-or-death event at any instant.

      Like I said at the outset: it appears that you and I are just “lucky” in that way.

  17. I tohs ym lostip nehw eht gingthghil saw esolc dna eht sorbhgien dias ” taht saw esolC.
    555 it was right outside their bedroom window.

  18. I’m just happy the potential victim was able to defend himself and lived to tell about it.

    • SuperG Most of the time in spite of what our resident Lefties claim, the good guy with the gun triumphs over the bad guy(s).

  19. So the guy was legal then And bloody lucky of course that he was hijacked by a complete idiot who had no intention to kill because if he had the driver would have been dead.
    SO are you recommending bthat you should always go to OUTDRAW the bad -bugger with a gun at your head?? _
    I know of course that being obviously the bravestestest of the brave that you personally would go for the DRAW because you are one of the world bravestest experts in these matters, But what about those idiots who are neither experts OR quck draw super-doopers like you?? What would YOU recommend that they should do? COMMIT BLOODY SUICIDE??

    • Albert L J Hall,

      Every event is different. In some attacks the victim has better odds of avoiding serious injury/death if he/she tries to immediately draw on the attacker. And in some attacks the victim has better odds of avoiding serious injury/death if he/she waits for something to distract the attacker and create an opportunity to “get the drop” on the attacker and fight back. In still other attacks the victim has better odds of avoiding serious injury/death if he/she complies with the attacker and does not resist.

      There are two associated huge problems with attacks. The victim almost never really knows for sure how the attack will play out from start to finish, regardless of how the victim responds (or does not respond). All the victim can do is decide as best as he/she can and act (or not act). The second huge problem is when scumbags like yourself and governments dictate how a victim must respond (or not respond) in all attacks. That is none of your business and none of government’s business.

      Case in point: the horrific Petit family attack in Connecticut, United States. The attackers initially had zero intention of doing anything beyond robbing the wife/mother for a few hundred dollars in a grocery store parking lot. Tragically, that robbery turned into a carjacking (taking the wife/mother and her daughter to their home), a horrific rape of the wife/mother and one of her daughters, the terrible beating and attempted murder of the husband (so severe that the attackers only stopped beating him because they thought he was dead), and the beyond-horrific final act where the murderers tied the mother and both daughters to the their beds, poured gasoline on them, and set them on fire to their demise. Scumbags like you and governments who tell me that I am not allowed to have firearms nor use them to stop horrific attacks on me and my family: you are accessories to violent criminals and, as such, deserve severe scorn and punishment.

    • Albert L J Hall, Are you really that stupid? Or didn’t you bother to read the article. The carjacker was ARMED and doing so illegally. The victim was properly licensed and he sustained NO INJURY. Can you please tell us how you “know” that the carjacker had “no intention of killing”? Are you a mind reader? Mayb mental telepathy?
      If I read the article correctly it does not say anything about whether you should “draw” or not. That decision is up to the legal gun owner (good guy) and should be based on a good tactical decision.
      Seems it was the carjacker who was flirting with suicide.
      Are you sure you know something about firearms?

        • No shi*, Hannibal, but there are people around here who sit on the fence and take what this jellybean says as “gospel”. Now if you choose not to respond to him, that’s on you but you are only giving him and unrestricted forum.

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