WTF is the deal with these flash mobs?

No because there has been a huge surge in random violence in the last few weeks in cities all over the country. Look, I live in Chicago OK. I can't remember the last time someone was attacked in the streeterville area which is a very nice part of downtown.

Englewood...sure. We have shootings everyday on the south and west sides of this city. The reason I posted this "particular" news item is that it really bothered me that these violent mobs are now moving into a very nice and safe neighborhoods. So yes, it concerns me deeply.

 

Well hells bells, let's just swallow the blue pill and call it a life then. The bad guys are always going get the drop on us. I give up. Calgon, take me away!

 

Guys, I responded to a "man with gun" call standing outside of a bar when I was in my second year of Police work. When I received the next radio update (no, we didn't have computers in our cruisers like ALL do these days), the dispatcher said, the "suspect is saying he wants police to shoot him."

That second update made my heart pound as I was two miles out, and was the closest unit responding. (I had the worst luck doing that job back then.

When I arrived, the suspect started screaming and yelling at me to shoot him. I had my dept. issued Glock 21 .45 out of my holster, but was holding it at my side as I tried to reason with the drunk who was angry over a woman in the bar. I had tunnel vision, my palms were sweating so bad I kept thinking, "don't let your grip slip," and my a** was PUCKERED I was so scared. He raised his .32 caliber piece of junk, and pointed it at me. I shot him twice in the chest, and he died on the scene...

I re-live this very often, and I can see it like it was yesterday. I was placed on paid admin leave for eight days, handed over my gun to the shift Sergeant, and had to go through mandatory counseling which the department paid for.

BELIEVE me, this is NOT something you EVER want to live through. However, had I not acted when I did, I very well may not be here today as his .32 (as junky as it was), was loaded, and ready to go.

My heart pounds as I type this... None the less, my point is you probably won't be in a situation like I was in anytime in your life. However, you could very well be in a situation where someone wants to rob you, beat your brains out of your ears, or whatever. You don't shoot to kill, you shoot to live... You shoot to stop the aggression. I wish he hadn't wheezed, bled like hell, and died in front of me as a crowd gathered. I truly wish he hadn't died! All I wanted was to shoot to stop him, and couldn't help the fact that he died. I pray none of you ever get in a situation where you have to shoot to stop an aggressor. But know that if you do, and they die as a result, you have no control over that.

 

so far i have not heard a good argument that would convince me that as person who will unlikely carry a gun himself i will be safer with more lenient gun laws.

i am the person who needs to be convinced in the benefits of the law change. i could change my mind, but i need to hear better arguments.

i think stricter gun laws are needed. for example if a kid brings a gun to school, his parent gets a mandatory jail sentence. with possession come certain responsibilities.

 

It's stories like this that I think should help explain that no one, unless they are high on drugs or inebriated, wants to go around shooting people. I really believe that. This is one of the reasons why I think if more people had guns they wouldn't run around shooting people for fun. Pulling the trigger is probably one of the hardest things any one of us could ever do in our lives.

 

I'm not saying that we shouldn't have the right to carry, only that an "arms race" is always a possibility. Hack at the branches, by all means, but someone should be chopping at the root, too.

 

I bet those kids at Columbine wish one of their fellow students had a gun that day and knew how to use it. What a shame.

 

Wow, you are clueless!

 

It's a true nightmare seeing the blood spatter (it almost flies out, trust me), as those rounds hit, the wheezing sounds, blood everywhere, and a crowd of people looking at me, and me drenched in a sweat like I had just come out of the Ocean. Truly a nightmare! BUT, I do have three Sons I have been able to see into High School, and a Wife I've been able to help buy more clothes and shoes for (lol) j/k. She does like shoes though. Expensive ones... Help!

Had I not shot to stop him, people in the crowd gave written statements that he said, "I'm coming back inside the bar, and going to kill that bitch, and anyone else I feel like killing." He also may have killed me, and my Sons would have grown up without having any real memories of their Dad, and a Wife in her early 20's (then) would have buried a Husband.

Yes, most of the police-related shootings I have seen, heard of, and sadly, this one, involved alcohol use and/or drugs. Typically the person with the gun is out of their "normal" mind, and anyone with no means to protect themselves from a person in that state of mind WILL get hurt, and quickly imo.

I don't wish any of you to walk in my shoes from back then! However, I DO wish that you guys can understand that if you are a level-headed guy, law-abiding, and if ever unfortunate enough to run into a life/death situation, at least you can protect yourself, so that you can live, and shoot to stop those who are out of their "normal" minds on booze/drugs, or just plain mean/evil.

Whether they live or die is not up to you. That's in God's hands, and medical professionals. Well, that's what the dept. paid counselor told me back then, and I do agree.