Posts
A little background for anyone not from the area: In Plant City, FL, Friday morning, 5 December 2008, around 0900 detectives were attempting to apprehend a 25-year old known gang member with a prior arrest record in connection with a daylight murder of a rival gang-banger and shooting of another on Thursday afternoon. A vehicle pursuit ensued during which the gang-banger waived a semi-automatic rifle (misleadingly reported in the media as an “AK-47 assault rifle”) at the pursuing police. The gang-banger then slammed on his brakes, jumped out of his car and began firing at the detectives. He managed to disable two of the three police cars and, most tragically, one of his shots hit a car traveling in the opposite direction, striking a passenger in the back of the head and killing him. The gang-banger then jumped back in his car and traveled a few more blocks before bailing out into a residential neighborhood with a near-by elementary school. The police reported that while the gang-banger left the semi-automatic rifle in the car, they believe he was armed with a handgun. Over 250 officers from three agencies converged on the neighborhood and spent the rest of the day searching for the gang-banger. The thug was finally apprehended late in the afternoon. See more information here:
This incident, along with the recent terrorist shooting attacks in
At a minimum, you should know some basic self-defense skills, including formal firearms training and use of deadly force laws for your state if a handgun is part of your self-defense plan, and just as important but often over looked: at least basic first aid training. In the middle of an active shooter situation (or any kind of major terrorist attack or man-made or natural disaster for that matter), emergency medical aid is most likely not going to be able to reach you immediately. If you, or people around you, are injured, it will be up to you to provide care until more advanced help can reach you. Depending on the situation, that could mean that you are on your own for quite some time.
While Basic First Aid training is better than no training, keep in mind the major assumption for this level of training is that you have ready access to the emergency medical system (
The second lesson from the
If you’re like so many people on the roads, driving along in your car focused on your cell phone conversation or listening to music so loud the whole car is shaking or engaged in boisterous conversations with your passengers, your situational awareness is not where it needs to be. Keep your situational awareness focused on what is going on around you (including behind you). ALWAYS leave yourself an out (for example, one rule of thumb is if you stop behind another car and can see the bottom of its back tires, you have enough room to make an emergency turn out of traffic if you need to do so).
This is not at all meant to Monday morning quarterback a poor guy who had to watch his father get shot in the heard by a vicious animal, but perhaps if the driver had noticed the scene ahead of him a split second sooner, he might have had time to bug out (perhaps and might being the key words). The bottom line is: maintain situational awareness and do whatever it takes to try to avoid a bad situation to begin with. If, God forbid, you do end up in the middle of the fight, then be prepared to do whatever it takes to prevail, which goes back to point number one and training.
The third point is: when will the politicians and anti-gunners ever accept the fact that legally armed, law-abiding citizens REDUCE crime, not increase it as those politicians and anti-gunners claim? If you look at crime statistics for concealed weapons permit holders in states like
What happens though when you take guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens? In
A similar situation occurred in
As we face the specter of the most anti-gun administration ever, we need to remember this is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We must not sit by and allow politicians and special interest groups who think they know better to disarm law abiding citizens. I for one don’t want to be involved in a situation where for the rest of my life I have to live with the lose of a loved one and hear that voice over and over in my head: “If only I’d had a gun.” Do you?
What are your action steps? First, get trained and then keep your skills sharp with regular practice and refresher training. That training needs to include some type of first aid certification and absolutely must include training in firearms and use of deadly force laws for your state if you choose to avail yourself of a concealed carry permit and go armed. Second, keep up your situational awareness. Keep yourself aware of what’s going on around you. Avoid the situation if you can (GTFOOT). If not, then have the mindset that you will do whatever it takes to prevail. Finally, be a good law-abiding citizen and become politically active. Join the National Rifle Association, as well as groups like Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation. Then go beyond just joining and take an active role in defending our right as law abiding citizens to own firearms. Only vote for representatives who are on record as defenders of the Second Amendment (not people like Barack Obama who said in the campaign he supports the Second Amendment, but has a track record which proves the exact opposite). For the ones who are already in office, continually remind them in writing that as your representative, you demand they protect your rights under the Second Amendment.
If we fail to defend our rights, we could very soon find ourselves disarmed and living in a society where only the bad guys and the government have guns. I certainly don't think armed criminals would ever have our best interests at heart, and as for the government, we would do well to remember the words of President Ronald Reagan: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
