Sunday, November 8, 2009

More on Our Gunshy Warriors: Learned Helplessness in the Military

Had Wednesday's serial murders at Ft Hood taken place just outside the Base in the City of Killeen, TX, the murder suspect would likely have been gunned-down immediately by several Texas CHL holders.

Tragically, the murders took place in a "gun-free zone" (aka "criminal empowerment zone"), because in America, among those claiming to be active members of the "Profession of Arms," no one is armed!

Reaction from the idiot Press were predictable:

They sought out anyone who would comment on the subject of personal weapons on base.  One representative fell into their trap and tried to defend Base rules that require  ". . . anyone on Base with a weapon must have it out-of-reach and unloaded."  However, as we all know, any gun that is  "perfectly safe" is "perfectly useless," and its owner is "perfectly useless."

Base commanders apparently believe everyone should be disarmed and always ready to be victimized, rather than (Heaven forbid!) armed, trained,  and prepared.

Interesting philosophy, and it obviously "worked" perfectly!  Curious that the murder suspect himself apparently didn't pay much attention to that particular rule.  Imagine that!

The fact is that the best, and only really effective, deterrent to criminal violence is good and decent people who are constantly armed and prepared. That practice has significantly discouraged all criminal activity every time it  has been tried.

It works.  Nothing else does!

Years ago, in all branches of the US Military, officers and staff NCOs were always armed with a pistol, on base, off base, in uniform, or not.  Being ever "armed and ready" was considered a point of honor!  To be unarmed was to be incapable of performing one's duty.  Such a thing would be dishonorable.  Back then, we didn't have mass murders on military  bases!

Under today's "enlightened" policy, even star-wearers are unarmed and helpless, foolishly relying upon some ill-defined "reactionary force" to protect  them, a force that will predictably arrive long after the damage has been  done.  Who own personal weapons, have local CCW permits, and acquire
training outside the "System," are now classified as "gun-enthusiasts" and are  thus highly suspect from that point forward, lumped in with lepers and child-molesters.

So long as professing practitioners of the "Profession of Arms" are pathologically frightened of guns and suspect of each other, we can look forward to more such mass murders of the defenseless.  And, I promise you, all will take place in "gun-free zones."

As always, the real villain here is arrogance, the kind of personal vanity the ever precludes us from sincerely admitting we're wrong and that we need to  change directions.

Learned helplessness?  Not a formula for victory!


The above is from John S. Farnam, one of America's preeminent defensive shooting, and personal and family safety/security instructors.

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