A gun store owner in the Chicago neighborhood of Bucktown is giving away pepper spray as a way to fight surging crime in his community.
Store owner Tom Bellino says he is giving the spray as a means to help protect “young moms and nannies” who walk neighborhood streets without any form of protection.
According to CBS Chicago, Bellino began giving the spray away after not being allowed to sell it. But he made clear that he does not mind missing out on a profit in this area, saying, “You can’t make money at everything you do. You’ve got to give back sometimes.”
Crime stats year-to-date in Bucktown “show 60 robberies, 59 assaults, 4 criminal sexual assaults and 43 reported batteries on the sidewalk or alley.”
On November 14, Breitbart News reported that Chicago as a whole is fast-approaching 4,000 shooting victims for 2016. As of November 17, the Chicago Tribune reported 3,904 shooting victims year-to-date. The number of murders in 2016 so far sits at 681.
CBS Chicago reports that people in the Bucktown neighborhood are thankful that Bellino is giving out pepper spray. Professional dog walker Julianne De’Chaump said, “I appreciate the store doing that for us.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.