It’s one of the worst nightmares of any family. You are walking either alone or with your kids and are surrounded by a belligerent mob of “teens,” or young adults, often in packs as large as 15-20. They are not even looking for money; they are looking for blood. At its core, this is the most important job of government: to protect people’s freedom of movement so they are never confronted with such danger. Yet this is what is happening all too often because citizens are disarmed while criminals, particularly violent juveniles and young adults, are not deterred. The latest horrific pack knockout murder took place in increasingly violent Minneapolis.

A 75-year-old man was exiting a bus at a metro stop last Wednesday when 23-year-old Leroy Davonte Davis-Miles, who was together with a bunch of belligerent companions, punched the man. The victim hit his head hard on the pavement and remained in critical condition until he died Tuesday.

Minneapolis, with its plummeting prison population and proliferation of jailbreak policies, has seen a spike in violence, particularly on local public transportation. The Twin Cities are likely to break the record for annual homicides this year.