I recently heard an interview with the base commander at the Navy Yard in Washington speak to the issue of how it feels to be defenseless in the face of an active shooter. What bothered me most was the cavalier way in which he approached the subject. Twelve people perished today, not including the shooter, and the sad part is that it didn’t have to happen. David Codrea gives us his initial thoughts on one of the root causes.
… one fact is indisputable. The killer(s) took advantage of a “gun free zone” at not only the facility, but one that extends throughout Washington. D.C.
Security at the center utterly failed at stopping a murderer bent on killing defenseless personnel. And even acknowledging special security conditions at a military installation, in the absence of a special legal relationship the government has no duty to provide protection to people it prevents from protecting themselves, meaning there is no attendant liability should they fail to do so.
“Special security conditions” will never stop a determined shooter, and it didn’t in this case. The folks are defenseless, and they have been made that way intentionally and with malice of forethought. It’s the same way in church worship services.
HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) — Holyoke police are looking for a man they say interrupted a church service and robbed several members of the congregation at gunpoint.
Lt. James Albert says the masked suspect entered the Pentecostal church at about 2 p.m. Sunday, announced the robbery, and took personal items, including cellphones, from several of the roughly 20 worshippers.
The fact that he stole from them rather than killed them is a blessing and a second chance. They should never voluntarily be in a gun free zone (or a gun free state) if they have any other choice.
But leave it to the progressives to learn the wrong lessons.
Gun enthusiasts say it is inappropriate to talk about gun violence at the time it occurs. Better to wait … and wait … and wait … until time has passed, and the weeping next of kin have vanished from TV, and it’s safe to return to business as usual. The idea of the gun enthusiasts is that the way to show respect for the victims of gun violence is to do everything possible to multiply their number … better mental-health provision would contribute to the reduction of gun massacres. But America’s uniquely grisly record of gun death cannot be addressed without addressing guns.
I don’t know his state of mind, and thus I don’t know if David Frum really believes his propaganda that making guns illegal will stop the perpetration of crimes, or if he’s just too invested in his idiotic notions to turn back now, or if he is a full-orbed totalitarian. But Frum wants to discuss guns, and wants to do it right now.
Very well. I’m okay with that. Here’s a note to Frum. If you or your ilk ever try to take away my guns, I’ll use them to ensure that you don’t. There. I’m glad we had that conversation. Tell me if you want to talk again.
