Indeed, if the range rules are similar to any I have been to, unless you are actually on the firing line, your weapon is safed and unloaded. And if you are on the line, your safety gear and the like don't exactly add to your situational awareness. Hell, for all we know he could have been cleaning his weapon or there just to talk or used it as a meeting place and been completely unarmed. Arguing one incident proves or disproves an idea completely is silly. People have survived car crashes by being thrown free, does that disprove seatbelts save lives?
I get that. Once incident doesn't conclusively derail an argument . Yet, this event and Ft. Hood anecdotally demonstrated that being in a place around men who are trained to use guns and who could be armed doesn't guarantee any kind of deterrence or protection against a mentally deranged assailant.
On the other hand, there is absolutely no evidence--anecdotally or otherwise--at all to back up the NRA's claim that arming principals or security guards in schools will thwart would-be Newtownn style assailants, which is strongly advocated by the NRA and some politicians. The solution is not to army the bejesus out of everyone, but to make sure that guns don't get in the hands of these insane people to begin with. While there isn't a complete guarantee that this will work, requiring background checks for every single gun purchase in every venue that include mental health checks will probably stop at least some of these whackos without requiring any kind of ban at all on assault weapons or clips.
Our violent gun culture has to be changed. If it isn't, there won't be a civil society in the US. Indeed, in too many places in the US, civil society has been replaced by a wild west violent gun culture. Granted, we must do more to prevent the mentally ill from having access to guns, (which will be a formidable task in a country with as many firearms avaliable as we do), but we also must face the fact that the way we think about guns and the way we use them has to change if we want to have a decent, law-abiding civil society.
"...(CNN) -- A former Los Angeles police officer who police say has violently threatened his former colleagues shot at least two officers early Thursday, killing one, sparking a huge manhunt in Southern California, according to authorities.
Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, is also wanted in a double slaying Sunday in Irvine, California.
The California Highway Patrol issued an alert Thursday morning urging officers in several Southern California counties to be on the lookout for Dorner after the overnight shootings.
Two officers in Riverside were shot, one fatally, police there confirmed to CNN. CNN affiliate KTLA reported another officer was shot in Corona, California.
Irvine police identified Dorner on Wednesday as the suspect in the February 3 deaths of Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan in Irvine. ..."
Stories like this are common-place these days. We are a violent gun culture, and it has to stop, we have to change.
Stories may be common place, but they are not the norm. Your 'Wild West' just keeps getting safer and safer.
While this thread doesn't need to turn into a debate about gun control, we need to realize that Kyle deserved better...especially from a man that was elected by the people to serve the country, same as Kyle did. Anyone read his autobiography? I did, and Kyle was an honorable, God fearing, family loving man that indeed deserves to be and IS a hero.
RIP Chris, may your last round soar downrange like no other.
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RIP Chris, may your last round soar downrange like no other.
From the Son of a Sniper- Krieg
"Long ashes my friends."