The Good, The Bad, and The Profoundly Stupid

[elaw555]

A virtual trifecta of news stories today:

Fort Hood rampage tests VT’s “active shooter” legacy

The Virginia Tech Review Panel never faulted the police response in the wake of the VT shootings, writing that police responded quickly and used “appropriate active shooter procedures.”
But the official response from the Virginia State Police after Cho’s attack — sending officers into an “active shooter” situation without a plan or backup is counterproductive — has since been largely discredited in the law enforcement community.
After a disgruntled Army Major opened fire at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, officials credited lessons learned from the Virginia Tech shooting for ending the rampage when a civilian police officer shot and injured Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged attacker.
“The lesson from Virginia Tech was, don’t wait for backup but move to the target and eliminate the shooter,” Chuck Medley, chief of Fort Hood’s emergency services, told the Monitor. “It requires courage and it requires skill.”
As part of the post-Virginia Tech “active shooter” response scenario, Officer Kimberly Munley was shot, and may never work a beat again because of her injuries. Officials credit her with saving “countless lives.”

Even though the LE community should have been learning this lesson since Columbine, it appears that we continue to learn something from these attacks.

Target: Illegal guns
Smart proposals that could deny weapons to possible terrorists


Sunday, December 6, 2009

MAYORS AGAINST Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of roughly 500 U.S. mayors, has been pushing for smart and sensible law enforcement solutions to reduce the number of illegal guns obtained by criminals or would-be criminals. Last month the mayors renewed their call for adoption of two relatively modest but potentially powerful proposals.
The first aims to close the so-called "terror gap" in existing gun laws by prohibiting any one on the country's "no fly" list from being allowed to purchase a gun. Such a prohibition would allow the FBI to stop "people who are too dangerous to get on a plane from buying guns and explosives," said New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a co-founder of the mayors group. This proposal is a no-brainer.
A 2009 report by the General Accountability Office found 865 instances between 2004 and February 2009 where those on the terrorist watch list were able to buy a gun. The law currently bars convicted felons and immigrants who are in this country illegally, among others, from purchasing guns, but no mention is made of a suspected terrorist. Legislation to close this loophole, introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), has stalled.
The mayors are also arguing for elimination of a provision that forces the FBI to destroy within 24 hours any record of a background check performed on someone who passes the screening. The provision is part of the Tiahrt Amendment, a series of measures that place high hurdles in the way of law enforcement officials trying to discern where and when guns used in crimes were sold. Before the Tiahrt Amendment was passed, the FBI would routinely keep records of background checks on file for six months. Had this remained the practice, law enforcement agents who were tracking the activities of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the alleged gunman in the Fort Hood massacre, would have had the opportunity to see that he had purchased a weapon in August.
No one will ever know if knowledge of that purchase would have triggered an intervention that could have thwarted the Fort Hood attack. There should be no doubt, however, about the need for law enforcement officials to have access to this information.

First off, I know many people are on the no-fly list because of irresponsible things they have done that have nothing to do with violence. It isn't a terrorist list. Like this guy, Most Wanted Terrorist - Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz Al-Turki

is hanging around PSS thinking about wether or not the Glock grip is too fat for his hands. (I say it is)

The second part is particularly Brady-esque. How convienient for the .gov to have a nice record of all the addresses where guns are located so they can [strike]enforce the law[/strike] [strike]protect us[/strike] confiscate them easily.

Arrest in theft that sent photo

Police yesterday announced the arrest of Kadeem Cook, 18, of the 200 block of West Champlost Street in Olney, who authorities say robbed a woman at gunpoint on October 7 as she was walking along the 1000 block of Nedro Avenue, taking her purse and cell phone.

Police said the robber then used the woman's cell phone to take photos of himself holding the gun used in the robbery.
But the woman had rigged her phone to automatically transmit images to her home computer. She contacted police, who gave reporters a photo of Cook mugging with the gun in the robbery, pointing it at his head.
After seeing the photo widely disseminated, Cook thought it best to surrender to police, which he did about 11:30 p.m. Thursday at Northwest Detectives.
He was charged with armed robbery and other offenses. Police said he is believed to have committed another robbery in the same area.
By the way, the gun used in the robbery turned out to be a pellet gun. - Inquirer Staff

This is the photo he took.

Fill in the caption on your own.

 

[Dryden]

Fill in the caption on your own.


"Is it loaded? Hang on, I'll let you know in a second."

 

[.30 Cal Al]

Hi

[rant][mode='sarcasm(bitter)']
Wow. Pass a law prohibiting people on the terrorist watch from buying guns or explosives. Why didn't we think of that before!

Why: We could prohibit things like murder, rape, child molestation, theft, mugging, home invasions, and... oh... all kinds of cruel and terrible things!

After all, no one would ever think about violating the prohibition! That would make them... I dunno... criminals or something....
[/mode]

Sorry. I guess I'm too old-fashioned. I still have that whole, "innocent until proven guilty," thing going on. If I'm too dangerous to let on a plane or buy a gun, arrest me, charge me, and try me. Otherwise, let me get on with my life.

People are too hung up on things that might happen to take any action against the things that are happening.

The thing that stopped the killing at Ft. Hood was an armed citizen, carrying a firearm in a venue where trained soldiers are not permitted to carry firearms; ONE person with the training and the tools to get the job done on a base full of persons with the training, but where most are forbidden to possess the tools.

The government's response to this whole debacle is to buck up the police who are at least thirty minutes away, and make it even more difficult for the law-abiding people whose names are on the watch-list to do what they want to do, and to do so without due process.

The persons on the list who intend to break the laws about killing people or blowing up buildings won't even be slowed down by a new law... because they are going to break the law anyhow!

What do these flatheads think is going to happen?

[conversation]
Abdul: "Ahmed, you get the handguns. Ismael, you get the explosives...."

Ahmed: "Abdul... I can't get the handguns! It would be against the law!!"

Abdul: "Oh, Gracious Allah! I hadn't thought about that!! How ever will be manage to blow up an entire building full of men, women and children if buying the guns we need is illegal! We just have to scrap the whole plan."
[/conversation]

People who think guns are magic think that they can do magic things with them. Prohibition magically becomes prevention, and everyone bundles back into their imaginary safety to await the next revelation that you don't stop criminals by passing laws that tells them they can't do things because it'd be illegal!

DOING ILLEGAL STUFF IS THEIR CHOSEN CAREER PATH!!

I dunno - do you suppose passing a law prohibiting people who know nothing about firearms from formulating laws about firearms would help?

("It's the shoulder thing that goes up," indeed!)
[/rant]