Gun Free Zone

Mumbai photographer: I wish I’d had a gun, not a camera. Armed police would not fire back

This a headline and pictures that are been published around the world. Terrorist attacking the  Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, doing their deed completely unchallenged and the the sad lament of the photographer who realized he could do nothing more than being a good witness instead of stopping the massacre.

Although we hope an attack like this never happens in the US, the sad truth is that we cannot depend on hope and wishful thinking. And we cannot depend on government to save our lives. The terrorists in Mumbai initially targeted anything that was uniformed or visibly carried a weapon and then started on the civilians so the government sponsored “protection” was neutralized at the beginning of the attack. The rest was just a literal excursion into finding the most appropriate/desirable/random victim to be executed on the spot.

When I saw the first picture, my first reaction was of surprise at how nonchalant the terrorist were behaving. But it makes sense when you realize that they were unopposed in a target-rich environment. The second thought that went through my mind was: “Shooter, Do you understand the Course of Fire? Shooter ready, Stand By! (beep).”

For the benefits of those who got lost in the last sentence, that expression is the final questions & warnings that an IDPA shooters hears at competitions just before engaging targets.  And although we shoot paper targets that do not shoot back and these idiots were carrying & shooting AKs, they were easy prey for any IDPA, IPSC, ICORE, SASS or any competition shooter with barely six matches under his or her belt.  Somebody with a basic training in sidearms could have stopped two islamofacist in their unholy tracks.

Yet we hear that our leaders want to make all areas of mass transportation Gun Free Zones and not just those deemed sterile by federal law. In other words, they want to increase the tract of unprotected, target-rich environment for terrorists under the pretense on making us safer. If they have not figured out with Mumbai that those regulations beacons that attarct the criminal and the derranged, we will be facing many more of these government-sponosred massacres in the future.

Let me make this clear: I will never Open Carry out on the street. I think from a self defense standpoint is dumb as wet crackers for caulking and I open carry only in 2 places: At the range and at home.  That out of the way I want to address the issue within the gun community known as Open Carry = Stupidity. If Open Carry is legal in your state and you want to do it, fine with me since it is your right, God Bless and you will have my support 100% because it is your right. What is royally pissing me off is the name-calling and infighting of some in the Concealed Carry against Open Carry bands and the obvious responses from the Open crowd.

Let’s be clear about Open Carry. It is not the question of tactically sound practices but of Civil Rights and to oppose Open Carry just because it makes your inner Black Nylon Ninja cringe is not reason enough to oppose it. Actually you are no better than Chuck Schummer or Sarah Brady when you voice your “tactical” concern. If you oppose Open Carry you are just pulling a Jim Zumbo by badmouthing on our right.

The Chicken Littles are eager to point out that Open carry is scaring normal people and that results in police interventions and bad press for the cause. That sounds pretty much like people complaining about niggers interloping with the withe folks in common areas exclusively reserved for Whites. Yes I make it sound bad because it is that bad and this is no time to be pulling punches about it. We must support all Law Abiding Citizens’ choice of weapon and methods of carrying just as we must support the First Amendment rights of every Che, Barrack and Pelosi out there no matter how disgusted we could become.

That is not to say that some in the Open Carry crowd are without sin. I have seen in forums the glee which some OC people have in confronting Law Enforcement and making them look bad in their ignorance of the law. This is very counterproductive for us too and I believe it will erode the confidence of the rank & file police officer that was either with us from the beginning or came around after realizing that CCW was not such a dumb idea and figured out that those citizens were not only the least of their problems but supporters of LEOs.

So boy and girls on both sides of the carrying issue, CHILL!