Home and Mumbai Ramblings

Yosemite Sam and I returned from New Hampshire on Sunday. Traffic was unbelievable that day and the wet weather didn’t help. We helped support out our favorite gun shop in New Hampshire. I’ll be posting more on that tomorrow when I can download pictures from the camera. Let’s just say, something followed us home.

I wanted to say something about the Mumbai incident. I probably have nothing here that you already haven't read, but here goes.

Every gun or suicide-belt attack illustrates how a defensive posture doesn’t work. My point does not include just terrorists, but also rampage shooters, angry spouses, and even garden variety armed robbers. Our leaders hope to defeat these people by giving us security theater. They ban guns from civilian carry in public places, they set up metal detectors, have unarmed guards check luggage and IDs, write security manuals. Then they tell us we’re safer.

Such defensive postures are an illusion. Granted, they may make car bombings more difficult if vehicles are kept back from buildings by barricades or building design. But, all the metal detectors in the world won’t stop a woman wearing a suicide belt, or a man with a gun.

The only thing that stops these attacks is the death of the would-be attacker. The only way to affect that death is to have armed people on the scene. Those people could be police or military, but there aren't enough of them to protect every possible target.

Armed citizens can help. They couldn't prevent all deaths, they may even accidentally shoot an innocent person (police or military could do so as well), but overall they could reduce the carnage by applying controlled and justified violence. In all events, it’s better to have people fight than cower under a table waiting for that fatal bullet.

It’s a sad thing to write that. I’d prefer to live in a world with puppies and unicorns where no violence is done to others for good or evil reasons. I don’t live in that world and neither do you.

It is time to realize that all the security at airports and in our buildings cannot make us safe. It may have a role to play, but without enough armed citizens who by definition are at possible targets at all times, there is no real safety.

If I ruled America, I’d ensure that Americans had access to good training and ranges for practice. I don’t and the security theater will remain our paradigm.