Friday’s tragic atrocity at Fort Hood brings to mind many questions. A friend who’s an appellate attorney in New Mexico has commented privately that almost any public place in his state would have seen a different outcome, with the perpetrator shot down by a random armed citizen as soon as he shouted “Allah Akbar!” and raised his FN pistol.  Dave Workman, my colleague at the Second Amendment Foundation, notes HERE that had the trained warriors present had weapons with which to fight back, the casualty toll would have been minimized. He compares it to the incident years ago in the Luby’s Cafeteria in nearby Killeen, where a mass murder of the people legally required to be unarmed led directly to Texas passing a shall-issue concealed carry law to arm the helpless. As Dave notes so well, there’s a lesson there.

Fred Zera sends along THIS LINK to remind us that the Fort Hood massacre is not the first time GI blood has been fatally shed stateside by a cowardly assassin acting in the name of radical Islamic beliefs. Major Hassan apparently showed his hostility and even his murderous inclination well in advance. Someone should have reported it, and someone it was reported to should have acted upon it. I don’t intend for this blog space to become a host for anti-religion sentiments of any kind, but the fact is, our nation is in global conflict with people who commit mass murder for the sake of their belief system, and it cannot be ignored in the interest of either religious freedom or political correctness.

I’m still wondering why, for all those hours, the authorities told us the killer was dead, and only later revealed that he was alive and on a ventilator? Was someone perhaps pumping the SOB with sodium pentathol “truth serum” to find out whether his actions constituted a conspiracy or not? If so, the ACLU will have a problem with it, but the pragmatists among us will not.

When someone asked a Fort Hood spokesman why there was no soldier with a gun among the crowd to stop the religious fanatic, the spokesman almost indignantly replied that they didn’t need to be armed, because at the base they were “at home.” Someone might have told him that so many of us “backwoods home” folks DO keep guns at home for protection, because self-protection is already there and “official protection” takes time to arrive. At Ft. Hood it took some three minutes. A long-declared jihad has made American soldiers stalking victims. They have a right to be able to protect themselves any time, anywhere, just like the unarmed citizens they serve to protect.

Finally, kudos to Sgt Mark Todd and the wounded Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who courageously “rode to the sound of the guns,” shot down the mass-murderer, and ended the carnage.

1 COMMENT

  1. Mas, there is a reason I await your posts with eagerness. You should take pride in the fact that time and again you seem to just nail the issue on the head. Cudo’s on this one.

    For my two cents worth. While the MSM and inexplicably the Army seem to be shying away from calling this an act of terrorism, I do not. In today’s world if I beat the crap out of someone and should utter a single ethnic slur in the process, I would most probably be indicted and convicted on a HATE CRIME. Well, I apply a similar rule to our current conflict across the world. The moment someone like Mr. Hasan utters an “Allah Akbar” while killing soldiers, he becomes a terrorist. That trumps all the secondary PTSD excuses, bullying stories, poor performance reports etc. The gentleman just chose sides. He became one of “them”, not one of “us”.

    My philosophy is behavior oriented. I could care less what you think, believe in or worship. The moment that you take an action in the physical world you need to be judged. Whether that action is talking too loud in the movie theater or pulling the trigger on someone. You moved from the abstract to the concrete and there are cultural norms that your action can be judged against. I may not always agree with those norms, but you’ve moved into the public square and have to live with the consequences.

  2. According to an officer who knew him (from a FOX fri nite interview) he had noticed disturbing changes in the major’s talk and reported it. The major was “being watched”. Not close enough too be sure. As far as ‘being at home”, the Israelis are at home and the IDF is armed 24/7/365 and while some might argue it’s different there not so much from what we can expect in the future or in today’s cities and their streets. Crime is encroaching on the countryside. I understand the military’s reason for keeping arms locked up, to prevent just this thing, but I can’t agree with it. Thank GOD for Todd and Munley. She made my hero’s list.

  3. The Maj. was to deploy to Iraq and was getting increasingly adjitated as his deployment neared even hiring a lawyer to get out of the army. Have you heard, Mas, what Munley’s weapon was?

  4. Marc, I’m HEARING that both officers were armed with Beretta 9mm pistols, either commercial Model 92s or the military M9, which is essentially the same gun. I haven’t CONFIRMED that, but it’s consistent with what I’ve seen on every other military base I’ve been to.

    Their ammo? I don’t know at this time. Last I knew, MPs used GI ball in their handguns on base. USAF Security Police switched to Federal hollow points in their Berettas some years ago, but I haven’t heard of the Army equivalent doing that. Didn’t mean they didn’t have HP, though. The Army has also purchased quantities of Federal FMJ-LP (full metal jacket-low penetration) which is essentially the Federal EFMJ (Expanding Full Metal Jacket), slightly modified to GI specs. It would be a much more logical load to use than deep-penetrating ball on a heavily populated military base. I don’t have the answers at this time, though, and that’s strictly speculation on my part.
    best,
    Mas

  5. I’m retired Navy. Once a year, on vacation, I visit a Naval Air Station. I like to travel armed but have to make arrangements for my sidearm before going on base. I wish the military would remove the “no self-defense allowed” rule. If I can legally carry I should be at least be able to store it in my car while on base.

  6. I’m sure someone will reference this post and simply accuse the author of being anti-arab/muslim. They’ll probably also totally ignore the author’s name.

    I get frustrated, because there is this whole taboo to speak out against the extremists that act in the name of Islam. However, I feel that such is not only a disservice to Americans. But is a horrendous disservice to many of the immigrants of arab or muslim descent, who came to America specifically to avoid the elements of extremism that were present in their homelands.

    Family’s that fled and came here, I can’t even imagine how they feel when they read of an incident like this or of cases of honor killings in America. They must weep, because they left to avoid those things. I also imagine it is very hard, because one is still attached to their culture.

    I had a friend who was of Palestinian heritage, but also a Christian. How torn. Hated seeing what his people are suffering. But also did not want to live under strict sharia law.

    But by preventing criticism of such elements, we in fact empower them. It’s as if one couldn’t say “Gang bangers are creating a culture of violence.”

  7. During WWII, no way would Army have let in – much less commissioned as an officer – anyone it knew was a member of the German-American Bund and talking about it. That’s the equivalent of what happened here, though.

  8. Mas,
    Now you’ve done it.
    You’ve actually named our enemy.
    “Religious Fanatic” is precisely on target.
    It’s the truth that so many want to turn away from.
    Such people are deprived of the ability to reason because reason is the fundamental alternative to faith. Once faith (in the religious sense of belief without reason) is one’s standard of behavior, one loses the ability to critically evaluate the rationality of one’s position and actions. Of course, less fanaticism leaves more wiggle room for rational behavior which is why most in our western cultures don’t attack those who disagree with us. I see a lot of lip service to supernaturalism, but most of us seem to live in the real world.
    It’s hard to be a pragmatist in fantasy land.

  9. Hi,
    Mas, right on target as usual. Can anyone point me toward some objective discussions of the shooter’s documented religious extremism and his motivations? I want to talk about this intelegently with several friends, but so far most of what I’ve read paints him as a troubled officer who was shaken by the stories he heard as a mental health professional and his impending deployment. I strongly believe in the right-to-carry, and I can’t believe that people are trying to paint a mass-murdering gunslinger as a victim. If someone can point me to an objective discussion of the facts surrounding this event I’d be much obliged.
    Thanks.

  10. Mas, reading all the coverage of the Ft. Hood incident this weekend prompted me to think last night of the following. The 5.7 has been around a couple of years. Its effectiveness has been debated hotly. I am wondering if you will be able at some point to summarize for us this tragedy from a ballistics standpoint. I in no way want to minimize the personal loss but here is an incident with a very large number of rounds expended and hits made. From a forensics point of view, the true nature of the cartridge can surely can be derived. Other than this I am unaware of any other real life usage of the round and FN.

  13. More government lies…this guy is hung before he’s out of a hospital bed.

    10 days ago we would have patted this guy on the back said “God Bless You” for his service. Now, the government has turned on him, and so do we?

    When did we throw out the concept of innocent until proven guilty? We strip this man of his rights based on government and government-driven-media reports?

    When we’ve all just been declared homegrown terrorists by the MIAC report, we think that the Army is incapable of lying? We think that the military side of government is honest?

    After watching the evening news, should we all line up for a government recommended injection?

  15. It was a great tragedy. It is magnified by the fact the military does not trust its soldiers to be armed. I’ve long held the belief that a Soldier should be issued weapons at basic training which they then carry with them throughout their career. Same weapon, ships base to base with them. Handgun and Rifle, handgun carried at all times when on installation and should be carried when off. Upon ETS or retirement the Soldier should be allowed to purchase said weapons, used price of course.

  16. I have a Texas Concealed Handgun License, carry a Springfield XD-40 Subcompact, and work at Fort Hood. This might change after last Thursday, but as for now you do not need to register your handgun at the PMO (Provost Marshall’s Office). The rules to follow on post, as told to me by an officer at the PMO, is to “Follow Texas law.” You don’t need to declare at the gate as you drive through.

  17. I live in the area near Ft.Hood. None of the media have reported whether the 5.7 was a semi-automatic hand gun or an FN PS 90. To have fired so many shots in such a short time, even a PS 90 with a 30-round clip would have to be reloaded. There is no mention of Hasan stopping to reload. No witnesses have mentioned this.

  18. Tamara had a nice criticism on her blog over the weekend of the brass’ mentality that no one had to be armed on the base because they were safe at home. Like the sailors on the USS Cole were, or those on the Arizona. In a time of war – especially war against unconventional forces, the lack of responsibility of the military higher-ups is astonishing.

    My prayers go out for the families of those who were killed and for those who were injured. And for our entire country, that we don’t betray our heritage of strength through wise and welcoming tolerance either through political correctness or through mindless jingoism.

  20. I am a US Army Retiree and will not and have not gone on a military post for many years.
    37 states trust me to carry a firearm, but the US military does not. I miss the Soldiers, but do not miss the idiots that make the rules!

  22. Amazing timing to have latest American Handgunner Ayoob File cover the similar “Andy Brown” case on a USAF base in 1994.

  23. “Matt, it is comparable to a .22 Magnum. A .22 Hornet has twice as much energy.”

    I’m talking HANDLOADS on the Hornet as it’s the easiest way to clone the 5.7×28 in a centerfire.

  24. It’s nice that the Backwoods people have their weapons at home and ready. But that is not an options at Fort Hood! I just left the active army less than a year ago and my last duty station was Fort Hood. At Fort Hood the policy is that you cannot (legally) carry a handgun on your person when on the post. In fact, if you are bringing a handgun on the post it must be 1) Registered with the Provost Marshall 2) When you bring it on post it must be unloaded and out of reach while in your vehicle 3) You are supposed to notify the gate guards when you come on post that you have the weapon and let them check your paperwork. If your intent is to fire your handgun at a shooting range on post you have to go straight to the range, shoot and then go straight off post.

    It blew my mind that I had a state (Texas) issued concealed carry permit and spent a year in Iraq toting a M16 around for my country but could not be trusted on post with a concealed handgun!

    Maybe if they did not have such a retarded policy in place regarding legal carry of concealed weapons then an incident like this might not have gotten this out of hand. This incident should show the reliability of placing all our trust in the response time of uniformed police officers. Even on a military post with Military Police officers and uniformed police officers they can’t be at all places at all times!