That's why I've always shot for the vital areas (chest-center and head) even
when on the range as an AF law enforcement cop. None of this "minimal force
required to subdue" crap. If they have a 2 ft machete or a 9mm Ruger they'll
likely not be around to try it again. Of course I give them the benefit of
the doubt and try to cover as much as possible until it is clear of the
intent of the perp. If he or she is out to do me in then it's my duty to the
public and (especially) myself to end this for good. Luckily I never had
occasion to get into a situation mike that in the AF while I was in as an LE
but nearly had a problem when I was assigned as a missile tech assigned as
sentry while we opened a nuke storage building to find an unknown source
firing .223 (M16 rounds essentially) at us from the woods surrounding the
area. Luckily the security police that handled the area also had both .223
and grenade launchers (where i had a 12 gauge shotgun with OO buck) were
able to stop the firing by seting a few non-lethal gas grenades into the
woods where the firing was coming from (this was in 1984 in upstate NY, not
Vietnam) and no one was ever found or suspected. Any of us on the crew could
have easily been tken out by whatever idiot was playing "scare the GI" that
day.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of John Lawson
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 11:29 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: OT (guns) Delete now; don't read...
To further the response of Chris Kennedy: I too lived for many years in a
very rural area, where response time of any emergency organization was
seldom under 10 minutes average. many times more like 1/2 hour. That's
just the way it was.
On a very US/California centric note... five years ago my friend and his
wife were awakened at 2:30 am by a person in their bedroom. When my friend
switched on the light, this person immediately attacked him with a 2'
long machete, luckily the first swing missed and it embedded itself in the
furniture. My friend pulled out his 9mm from the bedstand and fired once,
striking the individual in the right thigh, dropping him. Wife had called
911 (the American universal emergency number) and in under two minutes,
police were there. There very first thing the officer said to my
completely traumatized and shocked friend was "You shoulda plugged this
joker. If he lives, it's gonna get ugly."
The 'joker' was/is a Guatemalan national, in this country
illegally,with a long string of arrests and deportations for drugs, theft,
and armed assaults, including one suspected murder which lacked conclusive
evidence. The individual was duly tried and convicted for attempted
muder, breaking and entering, and possession of narcotics in 'for sale'
quantities, and is now in the California correction system doing 25 years
minimum, more likey 40.
He is also suing my friend for $5.5 Million dollars for shooting him and
shortening his leg by two inches. This individual is represented gratis
by a huge legal organization run by 'immigrant' lawyers who specialize in
aid to Hispanics. My friend is on the hook for hundreds of thousands of
dollars, just to *defend himself*, which he will never recover, and the
legal prognosis is very poor for him. The guy who tried to kill my friend
for PCP money is undoubdtedly going to win the judgement against the
'defendant', and even if he gets out of jail in California, and gets sent
back to Guatemala... I guess you could say he 'won'. 5 Mil goes a long
way in Central America.
I hold all life sacred, and it's not up to me to judge another's life or
conduct. But I have also been in life-threatening situations, and a few of
those threats came directly from other humans who did not wish me well at
that particular moment. Those of you who decry the ownership of handguns
quite possible will feel differently, should (Ghod forbid!) you ever find
yourself in that horrible position.
obClassiccmp: maybe thieves will break in to steal that Apple I you've
been advertising on eBay.... then what will you do?
;}
Cheerz
Sheriff John