It may be time for some guarded optimism when it comes to violent crime in the Windy City. They finished up 2018 with nearly a nearly 20% decrease in the murder rate. While that’s welcome news, Chicago was still left with more than 400 murders, however. That’s still well above the 289 people murdered in New York City last year, a place with more than three times the population of Chicago.

There was also progress in reducing other crimes, including an 18% reduction in robberies. But the number of armed robberies still taking place is staggering compared to the majority of the nation. Perhaps the 2019 figures will wind up being even better, or so we can hope. They might be off to a good start because one armed robbery wound up being stopped this week by a well-prepared woman with a concealed carry permit. The would-be armed robber, sadly, will not have an opportunity to rehabilitate himself. (CBS Chicago)

A woman shot and killed 19-year-old man Tuesday morning, after he tried to rob her in the Fernwood neighborhood on the Far South Side, police said.

Surveillance video shows the woman waiting alone at a bus stop at 103rd and Wallace around 5:45 a.m. Suddenly, she’s on the ground as a man runs around the corner. She then took off running down the street.

Police said a 19-year-old man had walked up to her, pulled out a weapon, and announced a robbery. The 25-year-old woman, who has a concealed carry license, pulled out her own gun and shot the robber in the neck.

Neighbors who heard what happened said the woman did what she had to do.

That had to have been a terrifying experience. It’s not even six o’clock in the morning and she’s approaching a bus stop. Suddenly a man runs up brandishing a weapon and demanding she hand over her money. Somehow she’s able to think clearly enough to draw her firearm and put one in the guy’s neck. Harrowing doesn’t begin to describe it, but the would-be robber didn’t make it very far before expiring.

In an ideal world, the criminal wouldn’t have had access to a weapon and police would have been in the area to handle him. But that’s not reality, particularly on the south side of Chicago. This woman was on her own and put into a fight or flight (or submit) situation. She chose to fight. Unfortunately, so few people in Chicago are able to obtain a concealed carry permit that robbers don’t expect to encounter many armed victims and carry out their crimes with impunity.

Would more “Good Gal with a Gun” stories make some of the criminals think twice? That’s hard to say, but it’s certainly worth considering. Don’t look for the Democratic municipal government of Chicago to take any action on this subject, however.