Oregon - Another Lesson Not Learned

A number of years ago, when I was a commander in the Navy, the small staff I was on was asked by our Admiral what we might do to save some money – the Navy being in a ‘hunt’ to find some ‘savings.’  I suggested we stop collecting ‘Lessons Learned,’ fire those folks responsible for doing so and end all the associated work.  When I received a stupefied stare from the Admiral and everyone else to this suggestion, I responded ‘well, we never pay attention to them anyway, so let’s get rid of them.’  (I'm not certain the Admiral appreciated my "wit.")

Along the same lines, and a bit more eloquently, George Santayana famously remarked that ‘those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.’ 

And we keep having those lessons pushed back at us.  No better example are the ones that appeared on the news from three separate perspectives yesterday.

The first case was a court decision that ended the state of Illinois' complete ban on ‘concealed carry,’ the carrying of a sidearm (pistol) in such a manner that it cannot be seen by anyone else.  While this is a victory for the supporters of the 2^nd Amendment, there will be no change in Illinois for quite some time, as the legislature has 90 days to draft new legislation and, of course, more court actions will be taken in response to the court’s decision.

Meanwhile, the violent crime rate in Chicago remains, and the city may well reach 500 homicides this year.  Connect those two issues.  Criminals do not have concealed carry permits; violent criminals already are “exercising” the right of concealed carry.  The folks who aren’t?  That would be the law abiding citizens.

The second case was the appearance of the Chief of Police of Camden New Jersey on several news shows, discussing the murder rate in Camden, 20 times the nation’s average, the highest murder rate in the nation.  How easy is it for a law-abiding citizen to carry a pistol in New Jersey?  The answer is: it’s nearly impossible.  So, who has weapons in New Jersey, and particularly in Camden?  Bad guys.  And the police.  Who have been averaging, according to the Chief, a 30% absentee rate.

Third case, the shooting in the mall in Oregon.  First, it is a tragedy that two people were killed.  But the instructive point here is that the gunman killed himself before the police arrived.  So, add that into the mix.

It is said that the average police response time in New York City – where the police force has been working on this for more than a decade – is now 4.8 minutes (for serious crimes the 911 operator asks if it is serious).  This is among the lowest response time in the nation.  That is fantastic, and an incredible improvement over where it was just 10 years ago (a bit more than 7 minutes).

Here’s the catch: the average violent crime lasts 3 minutes, start to finish.  So, assuming you start the 911 call the instant the crime starts, the bad guy has 1.8 minutes to jog out of the area before the police arrive.  (Of course, this assumes that you can make call 911 while being attacked).  In short, the police will NOT save you.  Just as they didn’t save anyone at the mall in Oregon.  Just as they rarely save anyone involved in any sort of shooting or knifing or beating or choking.  In fact, the courts and the police will tell you it’s not their job to protect you individually from a crime, that that would be impossible.  Courts have routinely found that police forces cannot be held responsible in any way for a crime committed against a specific individual, that the police cannot be everywhere at once, and they cannot be expected to protect YOU from a criminal.

This is not to blame the police – 99.9% of them do a fantastic job.  But, it will still take them time to get to you, and almost assuredly the violent crime will be finished by the time they arrive.  For you, or someone you love, it will be too late.  Because you weren’t able to protect yourself – and the police will NOT get there on time.  Whatever else you take away from these events, remember that: in 99% of the situations you may find yourself facing, you and you alone are going to be the difference between how you come through the event: alive and well, beaten up, or dead.

So, think about it again: if half the people in that Mall had been carrying a concealed weapon, would the gunman have killed two people?  Maybe one of them would have lived.  Maybe, if the gunman knew that “everyone” in the city had a handgun, that a large number of people carried concealed weapons, maybe he would have thought differently about what he was doing, maybe he would have gone someplace else.

It is said that a well-armed society is a polite society.  Some may argue that.  But an unarmed society is simply a feeding ground for the criminals and slime of the world.  We have tried keeping firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens (that is what the laws do - keep firearms out of the hands of law abiding citizens) in the belief that this twisted logic will result in fewer violent crimes – it doesn’t work.  Western Europe – with restrictive firearms laws that are the envy of any number of foolish legislators - has a violent crime rate that is substantially higher than the US, with some major cities in Europe with violent crime rates unmatched in the rest of the developed world.

Other nations have tried it as well.  In sub-Saharan Africa the only people with guns are criminals, terrorist gangs, rebels and the army.  The only people who are unarmed are the peaceful majorities.  The people who do all the suffering: the peaceful majority.  The answer from the power-loving politicians in the UN: make sure the peaceful majority can’t access any weapons.

Here are the two lessons of history for the day:

1)    You are the only one who is truly interested in your safety. 

2)    The police will not arrive in time to save you.