A pro gun demonstrator holds a flag outside the Virginia State Capitol Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Here’s a story to break the constant stream of Wuhan virus news, though it’s certainly no more positive of one.

A man in Arlington, VA was confronted with three robbers breaking and entering the store where he worked. The worker apparently was sleeping in the back when this happened, awoke, and shot one of the suspects before the other two fled the scene. Here’s a description of the events.

Police say a group of three suspects broke into a store on the 2400 block of Shirlington Road and began stealing cash and merchandise. The employee, who was in a backroom at the time, picked up a gun, opened a door into the store, and shot one of the suspects, according to an Arlington County Police press release. The employee then retreated, before going back into the store and firing another shot, police said. The wounded suspect was a juvenile male; he suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries. The two other suspects fled the scene before police arrived.

Sounds like a perfectly legal use of a firearm, right? Apparently the powers that be don’t agree, as the employee is now charged with multiple crimes for defending himself and his store.

“Following consultation with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the employee, Hamzeh Abushariah, 33, of Washington D.C. was charged with Malicious Wounding, Reckless Handling of a Firearm and Violation of a Protective Order,” police said. “Additional charges related to the breaking and entering are anticipated at a later date.”

Note, the attorney’s office has charged the employee but has yet to actually charge the people who attempted to rob the store. You can try to make sense of that. Further, Abushariah is being held without bail, as if he murdered someone in cold blood or something. His boss described the situation on Tucker Carlson’s show last night.

Criminals are being released from jail due to Coronavirus but Americans are being locked up with no bail for practicing their 2nd Amendment Right. Three men tried to break into a store, the employee used his legally owned gun to defend himself & is being treated like a criminal. pic.twitter.com/m1eEtkYblu — Benny (@bennyjohnson) April 1, 2020

This is insanity. I realize the boy who was shot is a minor, but no one made him break a window and attempt to rob a store. The employee obviously felt threatened and exercised his constitutional rights. For the city to then immediately charge him with numerous crimes without even a thorough investigation is nuts. It’s even more insane that the prosecutor fought to not let bail be posted in this situation. I keep thinking there has to be more to this story, but all the local reports say there isn’t.

But this is what Democratic governance produces. Virginians had a chance to shift course and didn’t. Now Ralph Northam and his liberal allies are running roughshod over gun owners, up to and including charging them with crimes for defending themselves.

Hopefully, instances like this serve as a wake-up call and voters make some better choices in November.

Front-page contributor for RedState. Visit my archives for more of my latest articles and help out by following me on Twitter @bonchieredstate. Read more by Bonchie