Did Armed Robber Tell Deli Owner, ‘I Thought You Couldn’t Own A Gun In New Jersey’?

Alleged armed robber Mark Robinson was killed in an incident in January, but it’s just now starting to hit conservative media blogs and pro-gun rights websites.

What makes this case so special compared to all the other self-defense shootings that occur each year? Well, it has something to do with Robinson’s last words, which were reportedly immortalized in surveillance video of the event.

“I thought you couldn’t own a gun in New Jersey.”

That’s what he said right before the owner shot him, or so some would have you to believe.

New Jersey’s gun laws are some of the toughest in the nation, and so it probably would be a surprise to an armed robber to encounter a gun-wielding business owner.

No one at this point has disputed that the owner acted in self defense, and police have decided to not file charges, but there is one aspect of the case that is clearly in question.

Those last words.

Did Robinson really say the above statement or something similar to it? No one can know that for sure until they look at the actual video, but that isn’t being released to the public.

Many of the reports point back to the Guns.Buzz website as the point of origin, and when you go to that website, it does, in fact, have Robinson saying the words in the headline, but there is no mention of it in the actual story.

The main account of the crime itself comes from the NJ news site, which sticks to the facts of the case and makes no mention of such a statement.

However, the phrase or some derivative of it appears in abundance on sites like Conservative Post and Before It’s News that have a clear political slant.

Why is any of this important?

It’s important because without the statement, this is a news story that will largely be forgotten as soon as the next self-defense shooting comes along.

With the statement, it’s an effective piece of propaganda for boosting gun ownership rights, and it’ll be hitting Facebook feeds for years to come.

While I definitely support the Second Amendment, own a handgun, and would gleefully use it on any person who tried to hurt my family, I don’t like propaganda — something the Left and the Right are all too willing to create when dealing with each other over issues like gun control, religion, [insert cause here].

I’m not saying those weren’t Robinson’s last words. I’m not saying that he didn’t get what was coming to him. I’m definitely not holding the owner responsible for acting against the armed robber in self-defense, even to the point of deadly force.

But I am knocking the way this is being presented. None of the sources that say Robinson said this are reputable. They offer no proof for the statement. And they’re all just repeating the same misinformation.