Held a group of people at gunpoint, tied them up and took off with the money. Can you imagine the terror the individuals were going through during this time? 6 years for the robbery and 5 for the gun while committing a felony. I think any time a gun is used during a crime another 20 years should be added to the sentence. That would be gun control.

And yes, it is tantamount to armed robbery. They send sheriffs (with guns) to force you out of your house after shady forclosure deals. Okay, so the executives didn't physically hold the gun, but by proxy they did. I can see the armed robbery with a gun netting five years, but what's up with the other six? It was a stupid move by a young kid who didn't even score his $350.

Personally I think he should have gotten a rehabilitation sentence. He knows what he did was wrong. The Wall St. mafia know what they're doing is wrong as well, but hey, what's a few million stolen here or there? Who cares. Which would you prefer? Should they send him to prison for eleven years to learn how to be a hardened criminal or spend a few years working with him so he can help younger kids avoid his own fate? I'd prefer the latter.

Prison is a for-profit industry in this country and the more people we send there for what are really minor offenses in the greater scheme of things, the more seasoned criminals we get back.

Our judicial system is set up to incarcerate the most vulnerable of our society. Is it a wonder that they turn to guns? It's also set up to protect the richest and most dangerous individuals, the ones who do the most harm to society and create the conditions that produce an environment that this kid must have grown up in. Seriously, a Little Ceaser's? They serve cardboard with ketchup on top. Why would anyone expect to get away with so much as $50 from the register? Do they make that much in a day?

Another point. Why isn't the entire cast of the GOP clown car standing up for this young man because he was just doing something the 2nd Amendment allows - carrying a gun? I know. That's an extreme extrapolation for the situation at hand, but if he was white you know FOX would be spending every moment possible decrying the extreme sentence for robbing a junk-food store. That stuff really isn't edible. I've had it a few times. Never again. FOX would be all over this if it was a 19 year old white boy. If they cover it at all, I'm sure they'll use every racial innuendo, subtle or not, that they can fit in.

And yes, I've stared down the barrel of a gun. It isn't pleasant. Then again, most armed robberies seldom involve an actual bullet being released. If you stay calm and just agree you'll almost always be okay. My situation was in a bar with a rather drunken patron so that was a little more subject to unpredictable behavior. I wasn't even the target of his aggression. He just randomly focused on people to intimidate them. I never found out if he was captured or not. That was before the Internet provided nearly instantaneous coverage of the entire planet.

The loner has no such protection.

I have investments for retirement, I have been through a few agents and every one of them has tried to get me to do stupid things. It has gotten worse though. I think maybe the late 80s, early 90s, when I noticed it.