Armed peasants

It isn't time for this solution in the United States, but unleashing the peasants may not be the worst idea in the inventory.

Down Mexico way, an enclave of murderers and rapists was getting uppity in the environs of Santa Cruz Tepenixtlahuaca, The village doesn't have many local cops, and the federales weren't much help.  So village elders gave aggrieved citizens a green light for direct action.

The results were not optimum. Among other sadnesses, a kid was killed in the crossfire.

This does not necessarily argue against the villagers' strategy. It does suggest the need for a higher level of tactical training for  Citizens Juan and Diego, and perhaps a weaponry upgrade. (I've spent a little time on the Tehauntapec isthmus, and one of the enduring memories is of small farmers carrying their old single-barrel shotguns on slings made of sisal. Their hearts are right, but -- along with a good small-unit training program --  they need a bit more firepower.)

As I say, using armed good guys to rein in village thugs may not be right for U.S. villages yet. But I suppose if I were in the village of New Orleans I might be thinking about it. Or Washington, D.C.