I Hate to Say I Told You So...

For my regular readers you might remember a few posts ago how I talked about the naive girls uptown in Charlotte who, after a sexual assault made the news, stated they'd carry mace, Taser and guns etc.

I pointed out that too many people place far too much confidence in their weapons and that bad guys are a) well aware some people carry them and b) work hard at disguising their approach so that when the ambush comes you won't have time to get your weapon to hand.

In other words weapons are only any good when you have them in your hand and they're ready to go. (and it's nice if they actually work when you need them to and do what they say on the tin)

The recent tragedy of the four law enforcement officers being ambushed and slain in Tacoma only confirms the point I made in the blog.

Here are four cops who, if they're anything like most of them in this country, had pistols, Tasers, O.C. spray, and batons. Count them. That's four different weapons to hand on their belts when the scumbag who killed them got the drop on them.

Now, if one of them had his weapon in his hand when the bad guy went to draw his, it would be an entirely different story but they didn't, and we all know how it ended.

These were cops folks. People who deal with the scum of the earth on a day to day basis and who train fairly regularly with their weapons. They also tend to have more street smarts than the average person does so, if their weapons didn't do them any good, what are yours going to do for you?

You need tons of awareness. Knowledge as to how the bad guys operate and scenario based training otherwise you are kidding yourself. Weapons on their own just don't cut it -- and that includes empty handed ones.

PS: I am very happy to say the skidmark who killed them was shot a day or so later. Good riddance...so glad we've been spared the expense of incarcerating him for 14 or so years while he exhausts his appeals and costs the taxpayers a small fortune.