The Armed Citizen Project (ACP) has begun implementing its plan to arm single women and residents of neighborhoods in high crime areas by training 50 residents from Houston’s Oak Forest neighborhood.
As reported by the Associated Press, these citizens receive training on how to load and use a shotgun and when to use such a weapon. ACP then provides them with a shotgun they can keep in their homes for self-defense and places signs in the neighborhood warning would-be criminals that the neighborhood is armed.
ACP believes this approach will do more to deter crime than a gun buyback program or simply increasing the size of a police force. ACP founder Kyle Coplen explained it this way: “When we have a crime wave, we don’t just say ‘let’s increase police’ and that’s all we do. We do multiple things. I see this as one aspect of what we can do.”
Harris Country Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen, “whose deputies patrol Oak Forest,” seems to agree. Commenting on ACP’s program, Rosen said: “In terms of having a shotgun, after you’ve been properly trained on it, to have that in your home to protect your home, I’m for it.”
ACP plans to broaden this training and shotgun giveaway to Dallas, San Antonio, and Tucson, AZ. They also hope to expand the project to include New York and Chicago.
ACP says it is “deterring crime by empowering neighborhoods.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.