Turned on the news today as I was driving home, and heard the breaking news of yet another shooting. I was instantly saddened, as well as pissed off that someone would do something so heinous. Anyway, I got to thinking about what type of person would do such a thing. My conclusion was an evil person, who obviously thought out and planned such actions beforehand. My next thought was, ” Why didn’t anyone shoot back at him?” Answer was it happened in another gun-free-zone, where only the deranged, and the hopefully-in-right-spot-when-it-breaks-off police get to have firearms. Don’t get me wrong, I am a very big fan of our police, but we cannot expect them to be omnipresent, clairvoyant, and bullet-proof 100% of the time. Hmmm, I wonder what other solution there might be to these type of shootings? I know, how about our Constitution, and the Second Amendment! There are lots of ways this could have been different, had there been armed citizens in the airport, trained and motivated to stop this deviant. I do understand the argument against everyone carrying guns, as it would only take a very small minority to make that scenario bad as well (face it, not everyone should carry a gun).
Just spit-balling here, but how about a program where folks could sign up to be a civilian safety marshal – kind of like the Air Marshals that fly our skies undercover. Only these folks would be trained to respond to hostile shootings, and would not be subject to gun-free zone laws across the country. To keep the cost of such a program low, they could supply their own weapon(s), get insurance to cover personal damages, and even pay a fee (Let’s face it, if there is no cost barriers, we would have every X-Box wanna-be warrior still living with mom signing up). Anyway, as long as they could pass an FBI background check, maintain a certain level of training-hours per year, maintain insurance, and attend mandatory training and/or meetings with local LEOs, they could participate and be a great complement to our over-taxed police and security forces across the country. I could see soccer moms, taxi drivers, school teachers, retired military, and even college students all participating is such a program; helping make our soft target areas more safe against terrorists and disturbed individuals.
Because of the love I have for my country and fellow citizens, I for one would sign up for such an opportunity in a heartbeat – but only if I got a cool badge. What about you? Thoughts?
Stay safe in 2017.
MM: 2-STnD