And another...

Sent to KFBK radio after listening to a discussion between the hosts and CA Senator Darrel Steinberg:


Amy and Ed,

I was listening to your show this morning on my way to work when you spoke with Darrell Steinberg. The subject of the horrific events atAurora, Colorado and Oak Creek, Wisconsin came up leading into a discussion on gun control. Everyone is understandably looking for some sort of solution to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future, and the topics of better mental health screening and treatment along with gun control are the standard conversations that occur.

I am a 29 year law enforcement veteran, still serving with an agency just east of Sacramento. I began my career with a large S. California Sheriff’s Office in 1980, then moved my family to N. California for a better quality of life. I am currently the lead trainer and lethal force instructor at my current agency. I only mention this as I want you to understand that I speak from a long time street cop and use of force instructor perspective. I spend much of the training time at our agency training our officers how to respond to these types of incidents.

By and far, the large majority of law enforcement officers do not support the type of gun control that people like Mr. Steinberg would like to enact, regardless of what their chiefs of police might say. It’s a proven fact that in states where there are more concealed weapon carriers that there are less crimes of violence. The facts are there… please don’t take my word for it, do the research yourselves. It has been said that “An armed society is a polite society”. I think everybody would wish that we had evolved beyond the need to be armed and have to defend ourselves, but it is simply not the way of reality. Even one situation like Aurora, the Sikh temple shooting, or a Columbine is one too many, but what Mr. Steinberg proposes will not stop these events from occurring. There is nothing I wish more than I could be at the scene at the moment that some perverted monster decides to make war on innocent civilians so I could do my best to stop them. But the reality is that we are very rarely on scene as horrible things happen.

I agree with some limited registration, which we already have. Most states have the Federal “Insta-check” program in place, where a background can be completed in moments on a firearms purchaser. What Mr.Steinberg was proposing this morning, which you agreed to, was in essence a ban on all semi-automatic firearms (all “clip fed” weapons was what he said).  AK-47’s are already illegal without a Federal permit and licensing process as they are fully automatic machine guns. So called “assault rifles” are simply semi-automatic look alike civilian versions of military rifles, and are already heavily regulated. As a peace officer I have no trouble with firearms, including the so-called “assault weapons” in the hands of reasonable, responsible, law abiding citizens.

The argument often put forward by gun-control proponents is that they support the Second Amendment, but that the Founders never envisioned semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines. So that means that we should still be relegated to muskets? Fortunately or unfortunately, technology has progressed. That does not mean I think that just anyone should be able to own a belt-fed heavy machine gun without some stringent background checks and a permit process.

When we recognize as a society, that, One: We need to stop spoon feeding media violence to our children, and teach them that there are serious consequences for committing violent acts. Two: We need to improve on our handling of persons with mental health issues, especially those that show some inclination towards acting out their violent fantasies. Three: There are already enough laws on the books, and enough controls. Instead of taking away rights from the rest of us, put some teeth back into the justice system. When a shooter is apprehended committing an act as horrible as the Aurora or Oak Creek shooting, a speedy trial should ensue. If found guilty, one speedy appeal. If the conviction is upheld, their lives are forfeit and they should be immediately destroyed just as we would destroy a rabid hyena.

When there are real deterrents in place and actually being used, we will begin to see a difference. When we actually call things what they are and act instead of being frozen due to “political correctness” then we will see a change. Unfortunately some people only understand brute force or the “big stick”. Those are truisms of human nature, whether some progressive minded folks want to believe it or not.  If youcould wave a magic wand and make all the guns disappear, the people that are inclined to will still find some other means to carry out mass murder.

Thank you for your show! You two do a great job and I always enjoy listening to you.

Best,

Steve Morrill

A Letter to Tom Sullivan...

Today I was coming back from an appointment and happened to catch part of Tom Sullivan's radio show on KFBK. There were a lot of calls coming in about the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. I felt the need to pitch in my two-bits worth but couldn't call the show. I sent him this email when I had a few minutes to sit down...

Tom,

I was able to listen to part of your show today and some of the comments made by various callers. I am a 29-year law enforcement veteran, still working at a sheriff’s office in N. California and originally coming from a large sheriff’s office in S. California. I currently work as the lead lethal force instructor/trainer for my agency.

A couple of points:

Some of the callers wanted to talk about ballistics and bullets and so on. The bottom line is this… in one of these situations, what will save the day is if there is someone in the crowd who has the warrior mindset and heart (read: courage) to attack the shooter. Since the Columbine massacre law enforcement has learned some hard lessons and we have adjusted our tactics and training accordingly. I train my people to attack and draw the shooter’s attention off of his intended victims. Whether they will or not depends on a lot on the circumstances and the individual officer involved. It could likely be an armed or even unarmed citizen that stops or at least slows down the attack. At Virginia Tech one of the teachers saved many lives by blocking his classroom door, ultimately with his body, thereby denying entry to Cho.

In one recent law enforcement study done on active shooter events, it was calculated that once the shooter begins his killing rampage, a victim is injured or killed approximately every eight seconds. Even with Aurora PD being as close as they were, and with their rapid, outstanding response,  there was still enough time for the killer to amass an awful body count. And as is so typical with these cowards who would make war on innocents who cannot fight back, he surrendered to law enforcement instead of taking on the guys with guns. (They generally surrender or kill themselves when law enforcement arrives on scene.)

We have become an almost Godless society. Until we, as a nation and a society, stop feeding our kids a steady diet of murder and violence in the various media, these incidents will continue. As each of these horrific events occurs, it appears the more well-planned attacks are designed to outdo the prior murder spree with an even bigger body count. Until our society puts real deterrents in place, these attacks will continue. If the attacker is captured alive, their trial should be speedy and fair. If found guilty, one speedy appeal. If their conviction is upheld, their lives are forfeit and they should be immediately destroyed.

The politicians will wring their hands and clamor for more gun control, instead of working to enforce the overwhelming number of laws we already have in place. The pundits will blather on and our nation slips further into the abyss because our political correctness and lack of courage has hamstrung our resolve to do the right thing.

And every warrior I know was thinking this morning “If only, if only I could have been there… maybe I could have made a difference.”

I am sick at heart for the victims, their families, and our Country.

Thank you for your time, Tom. Please keep up the good work!

Memorial Day 2012

The Fallen...

Remember them.
Honor them.
Earn what they gave you, and thank God for such men and women. Enjoy your day, your time with your loved ones, your freedom, and at some point raise your glass and say "Thank you".

Photo credit: The Boston

As always, get on over to Blackfive for some excellent Memorial Day commentary, remembrances and postings.

Almost done!

The latest project is almost complete... a Remington 700 LTR which started life as a stock PSS DM. It's now in a Bell & Carlson stock, with Surgeon Precision bottom metal, a Timney trigger and a 5 X 20 X 50 Trijicon scope. I still need to change out the base, going to a 20 MOA steel from the existing 30 MOA. Once I get the base changed out, it'll get a new paint job.

Shoots like a dream. Almost ready for Snipercraft...

Peace Officers Memorial Day

Today, May 15th, 2012, is Peace Officers Memorial Day.. Please take a moment to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and those families they left behind. Rest in Peace, Brothers and Sisters.

Here's a link to a video at Police One... Warning! It'll make your eyes get wet.

Quality time!

Got to spend some quality time the other evening with the good folks from US Night Vision Corp. They brought lots of good stuff to the range to get some video in the IR spectrum. It was a great time for a couple of us to get some hands-on with new equipment. USNV Corp. is a top-notch company supplying night vision gear to our war fighters and law enforcement. As soon as the video is up I'll provide a link. Their new PVS 14 / iPhone adapter is pretty slick.

A great time and some good training! Thanks guys!

Training is winding down... for the moment!

The first training cycle of the year is winding down with one more session to go. There'll be a break while we try to get caught up on some projects, assess training needs department wide, while still teaching training & qualification ranges (those never stop!) plus all the other things that go along with running a training unit. In the fall, we'll be off and up the hill for a repeat of the training cycle for another station.

Were we successful this year? Time will tell. We've gone back to foundational work in the weaponless defense side of the house... fewer techniques and many more repetitions. Seems to be working.

The patrol rifle training courses will be starting up again soon.

Trying to Get Back to It...

At least once in a while, I'll try to write something! Life keeps intervening...