'If I Only Had a Gun'
It looks like abc's 20/20 had a program on whether or not a gun would be of assistance in a mass shooting.
I didn't watch the program. You can not prevent this kind of thing. You can only defend against it.
To paraphrase Suzanna Hupp though, a gun in hand sure as Hell would even out the odds. Mrs. Hupp has been there. My advice is to listen to her.
I didn't watch the program. You can not prevent this kind of thing. You can only defend against it.
To paraphrase Suzanna Hupp though, a gun in hand sure as Hell would even out the odds. Mrs. Hupp has been there. My advice is to listen to her.
Labels: Shootings
posted by Xavier at 8:47 PM
12 Comments:
It would be worth watching, if anything just to reinforce how important training is. The implication is more or less "even if you have a gun, you're going to die anyway."
Although strongly anti-gun, the ABC 20/20 program did make one good point: training and practice with the concealed weapon is essential.
Shooting at targets -- which is about all I have done -- isn't enough. I know nothing about finding and using cover nor about getting my concealed weapon out and ready quickly. And I have no practice on controlling my actions while under fire.
As a result of that program, I've found two local training sessions that will help fill in the gaps and am working them into my calendar.
Although 20/20's point seemed to be that if you're a victim it's hopeless, I took it as inspiration to better prepare myself.
Thanks, ABC.
The experiment was skewed to make the armed student a sitting duck. First and foremost, the attacker was a highly trained professional. Second In each instance the armed student was sitting front row center in the classroom. The shooter burst through the door and shot the teacher then in each case immediately moved to the front row.
Still it was an eye opener. Just how fast you need to react draw and fire.
Training.
Of course the next segment was all about kids being "accidentally" shot with guns in their own home
Here's an example of a good class, which I linked so that you can see what it covers.
I am glad you added this video of Suzanna Hupp to your blog.
I had seen it several times before, but I am still strongly moved by it. This is the essence of "speaking truth to power". This is what our country is all about.
May I suggest that many of your readers would find it helpful if you told more about her backround and her efforts in the Texas legislature.
This is a very fitting response to the the 20/20 program.
Xavier, How can I download that "clip" of testimony?
I was drawn by the mis-leading title to watch. Totally anti-gun. What a shame. Just more fuel against handguns. They did not even show the brave 25 year old cop that stopped a mass shooting with 1 COM shot on the perp. No surprise to me.
OBSERVATION: The glaring absence of John Stossel in any of these "reports". Heeh heeh.
OBSERVATION: after each of their active shooter experiments, the missing "death toll" after each instance- the headline number they love to get in big print. And Even though it was not scientific, they could have show three more scenarios: one where there was NO student to shoot back, another where the student shooter is one of the trained professionals, and lastly where the student was the assailant, and the trainer the shooter.
How did the presence or absence of the gun effect the death toll? The skill of the shooter in both cases? The experiements were VERY one-sided, and thus simply showcases.
OBSERVATION: in the story of th elittle kid from the bad Florida town, the assumption is that once guns have vanished, so will the drugs and the crime.
I'm sorry his friend's father was gunned down, but the officer their interviewed said the solution right there: they KNOW who is was the shot the father, they have witnesses. But none that will testify. THAT is what's wrong, when good people will not stand up nor stand together. The people from the neighborhood are the ones that should be chastised, not you and I as gun owners.
Dr Hupp is definitely a tireless defender of the 2A. I have spoken with her at length on the issue of CC on campus, shortly after the VT shooting. And I am proud to call her a friend, if not a close one. But in a way, she is the friend of all of us. We should thank her every chance we get. It was Dr. Hupp who was the mother of concealed carry in Texas. It was on her watch and at her insistence that CC was passed in the Texas Legislature. Dr. Hupp is no longer in the Legislature. She retired from state politics because she simply could no longer afford to ignore her patients and her practice to work, virtually for free (Texas Legislators are paid a pittance, far less than minimum wage, and far less than what it costs to even live in Austin.). So she had to retire just to keep a roof over her head. It is unfortunate that we pay our legislators so little that people like Dr. Hupp can not afford to go, or not afford to stay in Austin to work for us.
We also pay our legislators in Nebraska very little, but I don't think that elected office should ever pay enough to make a career out of it, nor should it ever provide a retirement pension. When it does, you don't get Cincinnatus fighting one war, and then going back to the plow - you instead get a California State Assembly and the US Congress. Maybe most initially come to do good, but instead they often do right well (hat tip to Michener's Hawaii).
Reps like Dr. Hupp are an exception, but you can't make a rule based on that; we had to enact term limits here in Nebraska, in order to get rid of a bunch of fossils that were being re-elected by their "if it still breathes, re-elect it" sheep every time.
My own rep (Sen. Tony Fulton) is a treasure, and an eloquent gun rights champion, but as much as I'd love to see him stay forever, the plow rightly awaits his return in a couple of terms.
I was dismayed by two glaring points Sawyer COULD have made but didn't.
First would have been to stress that practice and proper "real world" shooting exercises on a regular basis are NEEDED to successfully defend yourself in the situation presented.
Second would have been to stress that PARENTAL responsibility is needed to prevent children having access to handguns. I would have added that teaching the 4 rules of gun safety to children at an early age and continuing to educate them about gun safety, beyond ONE Eddie Eagle class is key to insuring their understanding and obedience to the 4 Rules.
It was filled with some crap, some very unfortunate circumstances (V-Tech) where someone was legally able to equip himself with the tools needed to carry out a massacre, and some shoddy weapons-dealers.
Really important point was that gun owners really need active shooter training...
This is actually the reason I haven't bought a handgun. I enjoy my shotgun and all, but the truth is that a gun drawn is faster than a gun holstered.
Oh, and I don't have $2,000 or 4 days for one of Front Sight's defensive handgun courses.
It's sad to think how many people own guns, carry them (legally), and yet they're not equipped with the tools to defend themselves, or not hurt other people... really, why even carry a weapon on you if you fit that description?
And god forbid you actually hit the guy you're shooting at... if I have to deal with the barrage of police, possibly dying, and possibly killing both threats and innocent people, oh and court dates? Forget that, you can have the $20 in my wallet.
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