We Shoot Back!

14 June 17

“The first five seconds are more important than the next five hours”

This morning’s shooting incident in VA:

I won’t comment on motive of the single shooting suspect (now deceased), as these facts have not yet been reported.

I will comment on tactics:

Representative Mike Bishop (R-MI), who was there, said this morning in a radio interview:

“The only reason any of us walked out of this thing, by the grace of God, one of the folks here had a weapon to fire back and gave us a moment to find cover. We were inside the backstop, and if we didn’t have that cover by a brave person who stood up and took a shot themselves, we would not have gotten out of there, and every one of us would have been hit, every single one of us.”

Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) added:

“… would have been a lot worse without Steve Scalise’s (security) detail. They immediately began returning fire. They were the true heroes. They fired back”

Scalise’s bodyguards where apparently the ones to which Mike Bishop (above) was referring.

Uniformed Capitol Police were on the scene, and apparently also fired at the suspect. Uniformed APD officers arrived within minutes and may have fired at the suspect too.

In any event, the suspect was fatally wounded at some point, but perhaps dissuaded (maybe wounded too) by return fire at a much earlier point, as Mike Bishop indicated.

Points everyone needs to take away from this:

1) Decisive and IMMEDIATE return fire doubtless prevented a much larger massacre.

2) Who go armed routinely, and have IMMEDIATE access to guns, are the only ones who can possibly influence these kinds of terrorist incidents in any meaningful way.

3) Competent training is the only way through which one can adequately prepare to deliver precise, war-winning fire on pernicious threats, at the moment it is required. Simply “giving guns” to the incompetent accomplished nothing!

4) “Armed and well trained,” is the solution to terrorist attacks, whether you’re protecting a dignitary, your family, or just yourself.

5) “Helplessly waiting to be rescued” holds out scant hope!

This morning’s incident has changed our political climate already! Many politicians and bureaucrats, who rarely thought about the subject before, will be carrying guns tomorrow morning. Many others will be clamoring for bodyguards!

This is America, and we shoot back!

/John