Active shooters

In the recent shooting in Washington, DC, we see that a recurring theme is again repeated.

It started out as a normal day. Dozens of visitors, including school groups, were passing through the museum as the beginning of the summer tourist season began in earnest. Then, police said, a red Hyundai driven by von Brunn double parked on 14th Street outside the museum's entrance. When he got to the museum's door, Stephen T. Johns, who had been posted at the museum for six years, opened the door, police say.

Von Brunn then lifted his rifle and shot Johns in the chest at close range, officials said. Two officers immediately returned fire, hitting Brunn in the face, and he fell backward out the door, police said.

All of the officers were employees of Wackenhut Services, a large private security firm that provides protection for several government buildings, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At the museum, the guards look just like police officers, with crisp uniforms, .38-caliber revolvers on their hips and silver badges with an image of a lion on a scale on their chests.

Again and again, we see these active shooter scenarios repeated throughout the country. Nearly impossible to predict, once the shooting begins, the only way it will end is for someone to confront the shooter and meet deadly force with their own deadly force. The only difference is whether the gun used to stop the rampage is already there, or will be brought to the scene in the holster of a police officer 15 to 30 minutes later.

A defender with a firearm at the scene of one of these massacres in the making can reduce the death toll and save lives. This is just another example of that. Since not every place has armed security, since we cannot all afford armed private bodyguards, and since we cannot predict when or where we will become the target of some whack-job's homicidal rage, our best defense is to become proficient in using a firearm for self defense, and carry a firearm daily. The life you save may be your own, as well as the lives of those around you.

To you anti-gunners who complain that you don't want someone with a gun around your kids, remember this: Even if firearms were made illegal thi afternoon, criminals would have them anyway. I feel better knowing that I can defend the lives of my children, and I will not hesitate to protect yours, either.

I have significantly more training than the security officers in the link above, I have been through an FBI background check, and statistics show that I am less likely to commit a crime with a firearm than your average police officer.