“Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Designated Driver!
“Friends don’t let friends die helpless.” Designated Defender!
It’s time.
Another heart-breaking atrocity, blamed falsely on law-abiding gun owners: the massacre at the country-themed bar in Thousand Oaks, California, which had recently been named one of the three safest cities in America. The perpetrator: an honorably discharged Marine combat veteran who had been taught how to shoot people by the government.
And – why should this incident be different? – perpetrated in a gun-free zone, a/k/a hunting preserve for psychopathic murderers.
We are told there were half a dozen off duty cops in the bar when the shooting went down, and that none were carrying guns. It would be unfair to blame them for that. Cops are universally told not to carry their off-duty guns when they might be under the influence of alcohol, and consuming alcohol is what most folks go to bars for.
The murderer shot down the unarmed security man first. He was easy to spot, and “unarmed security” is really an oxymoron in a case like this. The first armed good guy through the door, SWAT-trained hero Sergeant Ron Helus, was murdered before he could engage: the coward apparently anticipated where responding officers would enter and was probably waiting for him in ambush.
By contrast, one or more unidentifiable patrons in the crowd, had they been competently armed, would have had the advantage of surprise and would almost certainly been able to neutralize the gunman before he could rack up anything like the death toll he did.
by Massad Ayoob
