David W. Thompson, president of the Peoples Bank & Trust in Troy, Missouri was in a meeting in his office earlier this week when his receptionist buzzed him with an emergency. His bank was being robbed.
Thompson looked out his office door into the bank lobby and saw a man wearing a heavy jacket and a ghoulish Halloween mask calmly walking away from the teller window carrying one of the bank’s red money bags.
The problem for the would-be robber was that the bank he chose to rob has a strong institutional support for the Second Amendment right to bear arms. In fact, it says on the door of the bank that concealed weapons are allowed inside: “Management recognizes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as an unalienable right of all citizens.”
One of those who took that message to heart was the aforementioned Mr. Thompson, who upon seeing the robber making his exit, followed him out to the parking lot, watched him get in a Ford pickup, and then pulled out a Colt .380 handgun and pointed it at the him.
Thompson, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association who supports concealed-carry laws, foiled the crime, and singlehandedly (the hand that held the Colt .380, that is) delivered the criminal to the local police. “I didn’t have time to get scared,” said Thompson. “I was excited. Your adrenaline pumps. He robbed a bank, he menaced my employees, and I don’t allow that.”
Jerry Sage, executive director of the Missouri Independent Banking Association, said there was no protocol for bankers regarding using a firearm, but that it certainly was not prohibited.
Troy Police Chief Jeff Taylor commended Thompson, but cautioned about the use of firearms by the public who might take crime fighting into their own hands. “It worked out really well,” he said, but “in general, I would suggest they lock that door, get a good description of the robber and call police.”
The story was reported in the Kansas City Star.
