Odds are that the ultraliberal, Occupy movement-supporting crowd in Portland, Oregon, which includes its mayor in late 2011, who told the Los Angeles Times that "I support a lot of what the movement stands for, as a political leader" -- are already trying to figure out how to stop what they surely see as a dangerous idea which has sprung up about 10 miles to the south: fed-up citizens arming themselves.
Portland is among several localities in the Beaver State which "have banned loaded firearms in all public places." That's apparently not the case in an unincorporated area of Clackamas County near the suburb of Milwaukie, where a fed-up woman is forming a "Glock Block" that Portland's OregonLive.com web site, based on a search on "Glock" returning no relevant results, is ignoring, despite the national attention the group has begun to receive. Portland TV station KOIN has the following story (HT to Zero Hedge):
New neighborhood group: ‘This is a Glock block’
Neighbors say crime in their Clackamas County neighborhood is getting worse, so they’re taking drastic measures and packing heat for protection.
“We’re starting a new group,” said Coy Tolonen, who lives in unincorporated Clackamas County. “We don’t feel neighborhood watch is sufficient, and we don’t feel the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is sufficient.”
Tolomon and a group of Jennings Lodge neighbors say they’re responding to escalating crime on their block by also making fliers that read “This is a Glock block. We don’t call 911.”
It’s mostly petty crime that neighbors are sick and tired of: stolen lawn ornaments, vandalism. But for neighbors like Tolonen, a breast-cancer survivor, that’s enough: “I will defend myself — and my home,” she told KOIN 6 News.
Tolonen recently had a beloved statue she calls “Lilly Rose” stolen off her front porch. She said she even saw the man who stole it and tried to chase him down — but he got away.
This was the last straw for Tolonen, who decided to take a class to get her concealed carry permit.
... The fear, she said, is that with growing crime the thieves will become bolder. In her case, she was home at the time when her statue was stolen: “The radio was on,” she said. “If he got in the house, what then?”
Hopefully now, she said, the bad guy will see this flier before trying anything illegal.
While the uber-left in Portland and elsewhere in Oregon strategizes, the comments section at the KOIN story is in full free-for-all mode. As usual, liberal arguments aren't holding up very well.
Coverage of the story at Cincinnati's WCPO-TV includes this inaccurate statement: "Authorities are wary of this vigilante movement."
A vigilante is "any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime." Unless someone has contrary evidence, that's not what's going on in this Oregon neighborhood. This appears to be strictly a self-defense movement. But you can expect to hear those in the "Glock Block" to be frequently described as "vigilantes" in the coming days anyway.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
