The ‘Average Citizen As John Wayne Myth’ Is Laid To Rest By The NYPD
on August 25, 2012 at 6:21 pmSo it turns out that all of the wounded civilians in the Empire State Building incident were wounded by the police, not the shooter. Via Addictinginfo:
It appears from the reports that the officers, despite being listed as veterans of the force, have never fired their weapons in the line of duty. In a city like New York, it is strange to think that two officers on patrol together had not had either one of them discharged a weapon in the line of duty.
As a resident of NYC, I actually find this annoying. The days where New York was a violent mess are long behind us. According to Wikipedia: “Among the 182 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000, New York City ranked 136th in overall crime.” And considering that we’re the single largest city in the country by more than double the next city on the list, that’s saying something.
Regardless, I’m not going to blame the NYPD for opening fire in a crowd. The guy had a gun and was possibly about to start firing. I’d rather have trained officers shooting on a crowded street than a panicked murderer even if those officers had been fortunate enough to have had the need to fire their weapons in the line of duty.
It does demonstrate, however, that even highly trained professionals can hit bystanders. What would a trigger happy cowboy with delusions of John Wayne heroics do in a dark movie theater? Or a bar filled with drunken idiots? It would be a bloody massacre. If there is the slightest doubt about this anymore, it’s because the childlike mentality of the NRA zombies refuses to grow up and accept reality.
Well said!
The NRA sucks. [Justin, enjoy one of my favorite artists doing a song called “John Wayne.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu444rkY8nQ
I agree. An untrained fool with a weapon is a fool with a weapon. However, you, in your rush to judge the NRA and gun owners, have failed to notice one simple, little bitty truth. Not all persons who own weapons are untrained, and the prime motives of the NRA, even now, with its right wing fear mongering, are gun safety and marksmanship. I am not an NRA member, nor will I ever be, because of their ultra right wing stance on every issue. I am also an active member of the Democratic party, yes, a liberal, not a blue dog. I merely wish all persons who would denigrate gun ownership and usage, would think, first, before they begin spewing nonsense programed by the Brady Campaign, which is just as bad as the right wing garbage of the NRA. Please, learn your facts, first.
The vast majority of gun owners are not trained to open fire in a life or death situation. Shooting on the range and hunting are not the same. Cops, soldiers, FBI agents, etc. people who HAVE had training to fire in those kinds of situations comprise a minority. Thank you for your input.
I am a liberal gun owner…yes, we DO exist! I am also a Range Safety Officer at our local shooting range and in that capacity have the opportunity to see a lot of people “training” for the unthinkable… The day they may have to defend themselves and/or their family against some assailant. I also have the opportunity to observe many military and police marksmen in their training evolutions. My experience has shown that most civilians who carry and practice with their weapons are much better controlled and far better marksmen than the military or police who shoot at our range. If there is ever a need for me to intervene in a situation and point out some safety violation, it is more than likely the policeman/woman first and the military person second who has performed the violation. Most civilian gun owners are responsible and take that seriously, so they practice to be able to act appropriately in stressful situations. I would much rather have a well-armed and well-trained militia on my side than most police officers
Very good Steve. As to Justin’s point, NYC police, like most police in the USA, are not very good in shoot out situations. You might want to read something on police(including the fbi) shoot outs before making a comment like that!
I worked a a police dispatcher through most of the 1980s. If you knew tha amount of paperwork and hearings that an officer gets involved in for firing his/her weapon on duty, you would know why they don’t if they can help it!
After the theater shootings it was scary how many idiots thought that if they had been there with a weapon, well, they would have saved the day!!!
You know what you do if you’re in a movie theatre with a pistol in your purse or pocket, and a guy walks in and opens fire with an automatic rifle? You run like hell, of course. You’re outgunned and your weapons isn’t out. And the whole thing is over in 30 seconds. The idea that even an expert marksman is going to calmly pull out his pistol and shoot the guy in the back of the head is idiocy.