Here's were I differ ...

"... The woman is suspected of firing pepper spray into a crowd in order to clear a path to a crate of Xbox video game players that were being unwrapped late Thanksgiving night at a Walmart in the upscale Porter Ranch section of the San Fernando Valley ..."

I think her actions are a greater danger to society that a thug with a gun. My point in offering the incident is if one person thinks it's okay to pepper spray other shoppers in a crowded store there will be more incidents in the future. Especially if the crime is only considered to be battery.

If you think about it, crimes committed with a weapon, such as a gun, are considered more serious and are dealt at the same level. So other alternatives available that carry a lesser penalty that has the same effect is the next best option. In your response, you mention the robbery and shooting in Oakland ... substitute pepper spray for the gun and the same crime would still have been committed with the exception of the wounded individual. So all that changed was the chance of a being shot and/or dying dropping to almost zero in such altercations ... but the robbery still occurred.

The woman involved in this incident saw no problem with using the same tactics the police are using for crowd control for her own personal benefit at the expense of others. And it was in an upscale neighborhood too ... doesn't sound like a place overrun by ghetto queens or disadvantaged youths. And if it was that easy to get pepper spray it won't be too long before you start seeing advertisements encouraging people to carry personal gas masks whenever they go to a public venue. It opens up a whole to market of personal safety items one needs to have at one's side to be safe.