New York subway incidents like this are in my view doing a pretty good job of making the case for right to carry laws:

The victim of the subway power-saw attack says workers at the Manhattan station did nothing as a man sliced his chest open.

Meanwhile, police say they've charged a man who they say fits the description of the attacker.

The victim, Michael Steinberg, 64, said in a phone interview from his bed at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital that he had just put his MetroCard through a turnstile at the West 110th Street and Broadway station about 3:30 a.m. when he saw transit employees running down the platform. "I saw this guy with a hacksaw, or whatever the hell it was running toward them."

Steinberg, who was on his way to his job as a postal worker, says he didn't know what was going on and that "all I was thinking was I was late for work. I just wanted to get to work."

"And the guy came outside, where I was standing--he looked at me, and before I knew it, he was attacking me."

Police say the suspect had snatched up two cordless power saws from a workbench being used by a contractor, and taken a swipe at one rider on the platform before attacking Steinberg. An MTA spokesman said the tools were on a cart that was cordoned off, and were not out in the open.

The suspect sliced open Steinberg's chest, puncturing his lung, before fleeing on foot, police said. Police say he also robbed Steinberg of his wallet, which had cash and credit cards. The saws were later found ditched in a trash can on West 110th Street.

"I screamed for help, 'Please help, please help me'" says Steinberg, who lives on 113th Street and is in critical but stable condition. "The transit authority people heard me, and they just looked at me, and they never stopped to help me."

"That disturbs me more than anything else."

They've posted signs like this everywhere:

Maybe the sign is working after all. After all, he only sawed through the chest of a passenger, and there were plenty of MTA employees around.

I'm amazed that New Yorkers put up with such nonsense.

Not that I have any illusions that they'll change their draconian gun laws or anything, but I think that if another Bernard Goetz came along, it might make a few of these psychos think twice.

MORE: Tha arrested man, Tareytown Williams (an ex-convict who had earlier been seen holding a teddy bear) seems to be your typical angry street psychotic. Probably the type who walks around yelling at people all day as they tiptoe gingerly around him hoping he won't go ballistic on them. The MTA workers (who did nothing to intervene) are said to be traumatized:

One MTA worker says the attack was a frightening scene for his colleagues.

"They're very shook up," said MTA Supervisor Saint Dorceus. "They're very shook up because this is an incident that happened right in front of them. The guy grabbed their tools and went to work trying to kill people. And so it's traumatic."

What's interesting about this is that we wouldn't allow wild animals or rabid dogs to roam the subways.

Why is that?