Events in recent days remind us that while the firearm is seen at law as a deadly weapon, it is also sometimes seen in logic as a tool of rescue.

CALIFORNIA: A drugged-up gang-banger who has flunked mental health treatment takes his mother hostage. When he points a gun at her head, two snipers from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team dispatch him with surgical rifle fire, saving her life. (Link)

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents surround a British patrol. The situation looks hopeless until a British sniper – said to be firing from an incredible one and a half miles away – breaks the ambush by killing five of the insurgents with his rifle in less than half a minute.   (Link)

TEXAS: Two deputies are making a seemingly routine arrest when the suspect goes suddenly hyper-violent. He gets one deputy down and attempts to rip the service pistol from the policeman’s holster.  Moments later the perp is dead, justifiably slain by two police bullets. (Link)

FLORIDA: A police sergeant who went from 1994 to second quarter 2010 without having to discharge his weapon in the line of duty, is forced to shoot his second man in two months when, like the first, this one points a gun at him and other police personnel. (Link)

These are clear lessons, seen every day around the world. These happened to involve rescuers in uniform. Sometimes, the rescuers are ordinary citizens, whose guns extinguish the threat and protect innocent lives. Often, the mere drawing of the gun is enough to forestall danger, with no blood shed on either side.

The common thread is the presence of a gun in the hands of the good folks. Lesser means accomplish less.  For instance…

VIRGINIA: Outraged at an armed robbery occurring in his presence at a service station/convenience store off the Interstate, a customer grabs a couple of bottles from the beverage case and smacks the gunman over the head. In the struggle that follows, the Good Samaritan is shot several times. Fortunately, his assailant is a poor marksman; doctors say the good guy will recover from his multiple gunshot wounds. (link)

There are lessons here. Do not point a gun at your mother. Do not surround well-meaning peace-keepers and try to kill them. Do not try to take the nice policeman’s gun. Do not point a gun of your own at the nice policeman.

And if you do have to get into a gunfight, bring a gun, not a bottle.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/breakingnews/2010/05/shooting-update-mother-confronted-by-drunken-husband-deputies-say.html

1 COMMENT

  2. That’s a pretty impressive feat the British Sniper pulled off. It might not be as far as the Canadian Sniper but five Insurgents in 30 seconds? That should be some kind of record.

    As for the Virginia guy, Mas summed it up well: don’t bring a bottle to a gunfight. It might have not been the best idea but at least the guy tried. While my emergency kit includes a firearm, I also have a knife, OC spray, and some martial arts to fall back on. If I had been in a similar situation (unarmed), my first thought and instinct would be to get my significant other and myself out of the danger zone and summon aide.

    One wonders if the Good Samaritan will consider something more than a bottle after this…

  4. “And if you do have to get into a gunfight, bring a gun, not a bottle.”

    Mas,

    If I bring my blankie can I have my bottle too? 🙂

    Biker

  5. Mas – Reference the British sniper; I think you are referring to two separate incidents and two separate snipers. One when the unnamed Corporal took out five Taliban in 28 seconds, the other was when Corporal-of-Horse Harrison killed two Taliban at a range of 2.4km.

    Both feats are pretty darn incredible though.

    FYI and FWIW Corporal-of-Horse is a rank unique to the Household Cavalry and is equivalent to Sergeant. (I think.)

  6. You may be right, Fruitbat, and if so, mea culpa. Harrison’s two are variously reported at 1.5 and 1.54 miles, while the as yet unnamed five-in-28-seconds shooter is listed at “over a mile,” with details fuzzy as to how much over. Will keep an eye on more detailed reports as they emerge. Your sharp eye is appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Mas

  7. In addition to “bring a gun, not a bottle”, I would add “or choose your bottles wisely.” A good glass ketchup bottle should dispatch the purp to the Land of Nod as it did, some 40 years ago, to my neighbor when his wife got mad at him. He was in the hospital for 2 days.

  8. I find it very telling and disturbing to read those news articles and THEN read the comments. Hopefully those comments are only a representative sample of the rock-bottom end of the intelligence pool.

  9. James Robertson Says:

    May 12th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
    I find it very telling and disturbing to read those news articles and THEN read the comments. Hopefully those comments are only a representative sample of the rock-bottom end of the intelligence pool.

    What comments are you referring to James?

    If it was mine, it is because I was trying to be funny and realize the seriousness of using a less than lethal instrument in a lethal encounter.

    Sometimes all I can do is crack a joke, because to say anything would be pointless. No offense was intended, if you were in fact offended sir.

    Biker

  10. Why, James? Does it surprise you that the majority of people have simply had it with the bad guys? That people have actually come to enjoy the thought of murderers and drug crazed psychopaths losing at the end of a violent incident? Over the past 40 years people have been de-sensitized to the loss of life of bad people. Perhaps because the masses never really could buy into the theory that the lack of a hot lunch program is all that is required to justify growing up to be a bad guy and killer…

  11. I took James Robertson’s comments to be in reference to comments at the news source links, where some local folks got pretty ugly over the Florida matter, and someone else bemoaned glorifying snipers who did their job. However, James’ comment could be read two ways. (It comes with the territory when we invite spontaneous responses.)

    James, could you come back and clarify?

    Thanks,
    Mas

  13. A weapon (whether it be a pistol, rifle, knife or hands, etc) in the hands of an experienced individual is like a knife in the hands of a competent surgeon. He knows when and where to use it and what the situation entails. The end result is “usually” for the good. We have been entrusted to use our tools wisely. As long as we are capable of fast, precise decision making, we shall prevail. Semper-fi Mike

  14. Sorry for not clarifying, folks. I was referring to the comments sections for each of those individual links, NOT the comments on this blog.

    I apologize for the confusion. I always enjoy the comments here, even if in a few instances I may disagree (hint, hint: I’m a big supporter of AZ’s new constitutional carry legislation, and I know there were a few here with some reservations).

  15. As an afterword, to Biker: Your posts are some of the ones I enjoy the most, besides Mas’ (obviously). Ride on, man *thumbs up*.

  17. I knew that Mr. Robertson was writing in reference to the comments on the newspaper stories/websites. He is right about the scary people who write these comments, especially the ones from California. Of all places, it is the “Thin Blue Line” of LEO’s that keeps California habitable. Sure, there are always examples of excess force, but I believe that LEO’s are under a great deal of stress and they do their best. The California comments show what they have to deal with. California should break away from the rest of the USA. In fact, under the current administration in DC, it seems like the whole country is falling apart.

  18. Thank you for clarrifying that for me James Robertson. I hadn’t seen any comments on the story, so I was unsure of what you were referring to.

    Keep the shiney side up and the rubber side down bro’.

    Biker

  19. Heh I was born and raised in the PRC (People’s Republic of California) and yeah, it’s bad. I finally got fed up with the effective “No Issue” policy and move out to CO with my fiancé and her family.

    Our families are roughly the same size. Hers have not been the victim of any violent crimes and property crime.

    In the PRC, my family has been the victims of at least half a dozen violent crimes and probably at least the same amount of property crimes. As for the violent crimes, most were random muggings in decent to nice areas of Sacramento. Two resulted in hospitalizations.

    With one of the hospitalizations, my uncle (ex-Ranger) brought an SUV to a gunfight. Sadly the guy my uncle was trying to protect vilified him to the public.

    Twenty minutes outside of Sacramento in the City of Davis, you can expect four squad cars to pull you over for riding a moped without a helmet. In Sacramento, average response time is one to four hours. The only person I know in Sacramento with a CCW is a gunshop owner who does a lot of business with the local PD and even then it was hard for him.