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Park Attacks Serve As Wake-up Call PDF Print E-mail
Written by Daniel White   
Tuesday, 03 June 2008

The Plain Dealer ran an interesting article today by Phillip Morris following up on the tragedy of the woman beaten to death with a rock while walking her dog in a Parma Metropark.
Ecclestone died last week after lingering in a coma for more than two weeks. Police say career felon Todd Torok of Parma attacked and robbed [Chevonne] Ecclestone as she walked her poodle.

The unprovoked attack, one of the most cowardly in recent local memory, was an assault on any of the 42 million annual visitors to the parks.

Only the wrong person suffered and died. I wish Ecclestone had had a gun.

I wish she did, too.

Mr. Morris is correct. When a criminal attacks an innocent victim like this, that attack is felt on all of society as a whole. Couple that with the recent shooting of another woman in a Lorain County Metropark, leaving her paralyzed, and the idyllic veil has been lifted from the eyes of the public.

Overall, parks are mostly safe, but crimes do happen. And when they do, we as law abiding citizens need to be prepared to respond to the threat posed by muggers, rapists, child molesters, and murderers. The very best response is with a firearm. Make criminals aware that their potential victim might very well be armed that that this attack could be their last.

Studies have shown that publicizing concealed carry laws have redirected criminal activities from crimes against persons to crimes against property. While no crime is a good act, I'd much rather see a car broken into than a woman killed with a rock. And if a criminal were to select an armed victim and receive his just fate, I'd shed no tears.

Mr. Morris is right about one other thing, "we must not relinquish our parks." Avoiding use of the fantastic Metroparks system because of fear of attack would be letting the criminals win. As I said, crimes do occur, but we can be prepared to meet the threat, not only in parks but anywhere, by exercising our rights to bear arms. Get a concealed handgun license and carry your gun.

But don't let fear of the possibility of being victimized rule your behavior. Don't avoid use of the parks anymore than you would avoid a gas station (those get robbed, too, by the way).