LEARNING IMPAIRED OR JUST PLAIN DUMB: Land of Lincoln Credit Union learns nothing, continues with the same failed policy

Land of Lincoln Credit Union at 115 Susan Drive in Normal, IL is proud of their “NO GUNS” signage.

For many months, they have stuck with their sign advertising themselves as not welcoming to card-carrying good guys and law-abiding gun owners, despite nearly every other bank and credit union in McLean County that originally posted themselves “NO GUNS” taking their signs down.

Why did those other financial institutions take down their signs? Because they discovered how they only irritated and alienated productive citizens – and in many cases drove business away to more welcoming banks. They also learned that those card-carrying good guys that have gone to the trouble and expense to get licensed are some of the most responsible and productive members of the community. Those competing banks also have learned that those signs attract criminals.

Land of Lincoln’s slogan is “Bank on Learning More”.

They STILL haven’t learned – after almost two weeks – from the armed robbery where a man armed with a pistol threatened to kill bank staff if they didn’t give him money.

Why do you think Scott E. Books, the alleged armed robber, chose that credit union instead of any number of other banks and credit unions nearby? Could it have been because he knew that Land of Lincoln’s sign on the front door assured him there would be no good guys with guns around to potentially thwart his crime?

From the Pantagraph:

NORMAL — A 33-year-old McLean man is charged with aggravated robbery in connection with Thursday afternoon’s hold-up of a Normal credit union.

Scott E. Books is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery with a firearm for the incident at Land of Lincoln Credit Union, 115 Susan Drive.

Police responded to a call of an armed robbery at 3:51 p.m. in which witnesses said a man wearing a hoodie with a bandanna covering his nose and mouth demanded cash from bank staff.

The man displayed a semi-automatic handgun, said Normal police, and drove away in an SUV.

Would you send your wife and children into a bank or credit union with a big sign on the front door welcoming bad guys? A sign that acts like a dinner bell to criminals, hoodlums and lunatics?

Not me.

Don’t do business with posted businesses if you can avoid it. It’s not worth the risk where other options are available.

Remember, the best way to win a critical, potentially life-threatening incident? Avoid it.

Interestingly enough, there was a nice letter to the editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph about the armed robbery:

‘No gun’ signs don’t deter criminals

I am writing in regard to the armed robbery that took place at the Land of Lincoln Credit Union on July 28. Is anyone else as outraged as I am that the 33-year-old charged with the crime disobeyed the official no-gun sticker that was on the door of the establishment? I mean, aren’t those signs intended to keep gun-toting criminals out of public places? Shouldn’t we be safer because of those stickers on doors? Should the signs be bigger? Maybe the signs should be in neon? Perhaps the signs lack the kind word “please.” Or maybe, just maybe, the problem is that those stickers are invitations to criminals, letting them know that no one inside will be able to defend themselves.