A few brief comments on the horrific attack in Vegas — brief because so early in a shooting like this, there is a lot of false reporting.
For example, it was initially reported that Vegas police broke through Paddock’s door just ten minutes into the shooting (amazing response time given he was on the 32nd Floor). Later, we learned that the shooting lasted ten minutes and the cops took 72 minutes to make it there. When they finally arrived, they found him dead. I’m guessing Paddock committed suicide out of boredom waiting for the cops to arrive.
This is not a knock on the cops. This is a knock on a society that expects too much from them. Attacks like this occur with much more frequency in other, far more controlled, countries around the globe.
In a free society, we can expect cunning ingenuity from criminals. The problem is, we are a free society only for criminals.
Bill O’Reilly and some security officials say we have to put up with these attacks in a free society.
Bullshit!
The police cannot be everywhere, that much is true, and even if they could be the criminals would shoot right over them. If there is a silver lining in what happened, it’s that we now realize the inefficacy of a police state.
The police cannot be everywhere, but WE CAN. Si, se puede!
We must again be a people trained to arms.
I’m not saying the people on the ground could have done anything. He was so far away, even with a rifle he was just spraying bullets. (Liberal mass shooters seem to like the shotgun approach more than accuracy, for some reason.) But armed people in the hotel, especially on the same floor, might have made a big difference here, even with handguns. Better yet, store battle rifles securely for quick access throughout the hotel.
No other way, folks. In self-defense, as with estate planning, the easy quick solution someone is trying to sell you is probably not going to protect your family. Only training will do that.
