Good pro-RKBA perspective from a veteran / police officer

[appal_jack]

http://chrishernandezauthor.com/2012/12/17/cowards-mass-murders-and-the-american-public/

I just came across this blogger today, but I like his writing style, and appreciate the perspective that his experience (serving in Bosnia, Iraq, & Afghanistan, for starters) has given him.

The author begins with a hypothetical mass-shooting situation, one not unlike many of the recent tragedies, except that this unfolds in a mall. After describing the horror of it, he asks "what measures could have protected you and your family?" He continues:

Cameras? No, video just helps with the investigation after the fact. Metal detectors? Maybe they would have deterred the man from choosing that mall, but let’s be realistic. Malls aren’t going to put metal detectors at every entrance, they’re not going to become mini-airports with customers waiting an hour in line to get in. They’d lose all their business.

What about the “gun free zone” sign on the wall? That obviously didn’t work. People who plan on committing mass murder followed by suicide could care less about getting in trouble for illegally carrying a gun. Unarmed mall cops? They can call the police, but that’s about it. Gun control? As I heard a wise man say recently, “That genie is already out of the bottle”. Making new laws won’t eliminate guns already out there.

What about calling the police yourself? As a cop, I can tell you the phrase, “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away”, isn’t a joke. Unless one of us happens to be right there when the shooting starts, the first officers will arrive several minutes later to find many citizens murdered and one coward dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

So what is the only realistic defense available to you and your family? Armed, trained citizens. Hopefully, many armed, trained citizens. Armed citizens who can be anywhere, unlike the limited supply of police and security guards.

I (neither a veteran nor a cop) believe that the full post at the link is worth a read...

He continues this theme in a second thread:

http://chrishernandezauthor.com/2013/01/07/making-cops-lives-easier-at-the-publics-expense/

So, on-edit, I'd say that the whole blog might be worth a look.

-app

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Sorry, but...no.

The argument that "you should have a gun and know how to use it! Hell, everyone should have a gun! Because BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN!" is a paranoid and fearful one, and a society where everyone absolutely needs to be armed in the interests of personal safety no longer deserves the label "civilisation".

[baldguy]

4. +1000

It reduces humanity to the lowest common denominator - being fearful, and going no farther for a solution than trying to induce fear in others.

The problem is, of course, there's always going to be someone out there with a bigger gun to be afraid of.

[Major Nikon]

2. Just what we need. More gun nuts to protect us from the gun nuts.

Makes perfect sense and maybe, just maybe, creme-de-la-dumb LaPierre was right all along.

But I doubt it.

[onehandle]

3. Pro-NRA is more like it. Gun company lobbyists can shove it. nt

[appal_jack]

8. What should we citizens do?

"Gun company lobbyists can shove it. nt"

I don't know any 'gun company lobbyists.' I'm just a citizen who enjoys the hobby of target shooting, and chooses to possess useful means of self-defense whenever feasible.

-app

[onehandle]

10. How many bullets per second do you need to hit your target? nt

[jmg257]

12. We citizens should suffer a little inconvenience in our hobbies,

And forget our own perceived needs for a change, for the good of all.

When we stop being afraid of being outgunned at any moment, we can devote a little more attention to fixing the reality.

[Robb]

5. What a bullshit dystopia.

[ellisonz]

9. Unfortunately that's what this country has become.

Sir Thomas More would be aghast.

[Historic NY]

6. Trained citizens, so what would constitute that, yearly, semi-yearly - monthy...

training? We know most cops have to quailfy at least anually maybe even more often, they train for active shooter & shoot don't shoot scenarios, low light and no light trainign. Its scored, who is going to score the trained citizen and who is doing the training. Should it be mandatory. As for friendly fire just ask the families of dead cops it happens more often than not. The common victim a trained cop.

[backscatter712]

7. And the solution to drunk driving is more booze...

[jmg257]

11. What? Another gun clown telling us the solution is more guns? With all the NRA

Points covered, I'd say.

Let's see...
'gun free zone'. Chek.
'useless gun control' chek.
'Guns already out there' Chek.
'Cops slow to respond' Chek.
'Super good guys with guns to save the day'. Chek.

Maybe that genie should be shot and finally buried. Maybe we try something new and actually do what we need to to get rid of the guns, or at least the most deadly, instead of expanding the madness and feeding the fear.

Semper Fi, Mac.