The photographer's lament has been criticized elsewhere and the critics deftly filleted by Uncle. Having read the photog's account, the critics are alllll wet; armed police officers were on the scene, hiding, perhaps fearing to make it worse. Had one armed citizen been able to drop one of the jerks murdering people or even made a try,* it is probable they'd've taken their shot, too: bravery is easier to imitate than originate.
Soapbox ('cos I'm not Breda and not succinct): someday it may be my turn, or yours. While I've scant respect for altruism, in a situation where one encounters villains tramping through killing folk as the whim strikes, there is nothing to lose; odds are you're dead anyway. Me, I'm taking along an honor guard of civilization's enemies. I recommend the same to you. If we're serious about stopping this sort of thing, we must make the cost of it too high for even barbarians to bear by stopping them in the act, as swiftly and violently as we can. Police and the various TLA-type agencies are good for picking up after, at containment when possible, even at ferreting out malefactors before they strike but in the moment, it's like a fire, like a car wreck, like flood and tornado: it's up to everyone to do whatever they can.
Are you prey or are you human? Better answer it now and make your preparations accordingly.
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* It's easy and catchy to call 'em "terrorists" but the term's become dilute and worn from overuse.
7 comments:
I heard that statement too, on Fox News. I wonder if it was shown elsewhere.
Every time I hear of one of these things, I wonder how quickly it'd be stopped had the general public been armed and proficient in the use of their weapons.
Some would still have been killed, but a far smaller number than is now the case.
The choice in these types of situations is to die on your feet or on your knees.
Personally, I would do my damndest to send a vanguard into hell before me.
Exactly! "When you get to the next world, tell your pals there that they're next!" Maybe it's just frustration talking but I'm sick and tired of yammerheaded "freedom fighters" who think shootin' commuters, shopkeepers and random unarmed others constitutes effective action and advances their cause. It's time we all fought back, using whatever means are at hand.
Shit like what just happened in [s]Bombay[/s] Mumbai is the whole reason I carry a 1911 with 21 rnds on tap...
Another thought... How the hell do you cower in a corner when armed with a friggin RIFLE??
A SMLE or Ishapore in the hands of one who knows how to use it would reach out and smite those rotten pig buggering followers of allah well outside of the average Jihadi's skill with an AK-47/74...
I can't think of an instance here where police have stopped a mass shooting once it is under way except: the Salt Lake City mall shooting back in February when an off-duty officer intervened, and the University of Texas tower sniper in 1966.
When I was an LEO, I sometimes caught myself thinking I was nothing but a blue-clad sanitation worker. We got there in time to work the crime scene. Murder-suicides, msinly.
Gun-free zones are target-rich environments. Metal detectors at the door are simply window dressing. At worst, they channel victims into a narrow field of fire. They won't stop losers trying to be infamous.
Brilliantly said, Roberta. Providence willing, we none of us will find ourselves in a situation like that in this lifetime, but it is irresponsible not to consider the possibility and to plan for such an occasion. Like Tam said sometime ago- I'm not going down cowering under a desk. Not like that. I'll muster every ounce of hausfrau rage at my disposal, should the need ever arise, and if all I have to defend myself with is a can opener, well, it'll have bad-guy bits stuck to it when I'm done.
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