By: Andrew Vernon

Published: February 15, 2013

HOUSTON -- Kyle Coplen is on a mission.  His newly created organization, The Armed Citizen Project, focuses on arming law abiding citizens in high crime areas. "My hypothesis is that criminals have no interest in dying in your hallway, and that by exploiting their fear of an armed society, we may be able to decrease crime in a specific geographic area" says Coplen. 

The plan is to analyze the relationship between a perceived increase in the ability of residents to respond to a crime, and the total of home invasion crimes in the area.

Coplen recently trained a 25-year-old single female living in an apartment. "Afterwards, she felt really comfortable with the gun.  It was nothing like she expected, and we actually gave that firearm to her," he says. "Since then, she said her sense of safety has gone way up."  The organization hopes to give away 20 gauge shotguns to individuals in high-risk areas, provided they pass a background check and go through the proper training. "We are looking for donations. We need to get these firearms out to folks".

Kyle is confident in the organization's goals, and the impact that can be made in the local community.  "I hope to (each week) find a vulnerable citizen to train and arm."

You can find out more about The Armed Citizen Project at www.armedcitizenproject.org.

To send an email to Michael Berry, click HERE.