The ghost at the ACT party proposal [updated]

Dairy owner Virender Singh was stabbed as he fought back against intruders into his shop, only to have to fight back against police who charged him for having the temerity to defend himself.

Greg Carvell defended himself and the occupants of his family’s gun shop, and was arrested and charged for it when the police arrived twenty minutes after the fact.

Michael Vaimauga was arrested for assault after he stopped a burglar breaking into a shop.

As an Avondale dairy owner said when a colleague was stabbed in the neck and back by a robber, “When we protect ourselves, we get charged - and if we don’t, we get stabbed. What do we do?”

These people were the lucky ones.

Manurewa shop owner Navtej Singh was shot  and killed by thieving scum as he stood unarmed and defenceless behind the counter of his family's store – following the advice of police who tell shop owners what they should do is to simply follow instructions and hope armed intruders go away.   Mr Singh followed instructions,  and was then shot and killed.

The manner of his death hung briefly over the election last week when ACT’s Jamie Whyte quite properly suggested dairy owners right to defend themselves should be recognised and upheld.  John Key and his cheerleaders disgracefully and intentionally mis-translated the proposal to mean that every shopkeeper would  have a loaded shotgun under the counter.  Unable to defend his own overlooked right to life, the death of Mr Singh went unmentioned.

His ghost should have haunted the short debate, as his death should haunt everyone opposed to the very simple right to defend one’s life against one’s attackers.

UPDATE: Here's ACT's actual policy. Note, no mention of shopkeepers having loaded guns under counters…

[Hat tip Steve Wrathall]