USA – -(AmmoLand.com)-
“Before all else, be armed!” ~ Niccolo Machiavelli
Less than a month after three Parisians were murdered and three others seriously injured when a terrorist started shooting randomly at a local Kurdish cultural center, another terrorist, this time using a “homemade bladed weapon,” precipitously attacked innocent Parisians at a busy Paris train station.
Six innocents were seriously injured this time!
Many more would doubtlessly have been wounded/murdered were it not for incisive action by an armed, off-watch French police officer who just happened to be returning home from his shift.
Seeing what was going on, this heroic officer immediately drew his pistol and gunned down the terrorist without hesitation! The terrorist was transported to a local hospital but was not expected to survive.
The officer was not injured.
Over the past year, French police officers have been allowed to go armed at all times, on-watch and off. Heretofore, they were not, but the current (obvious) terrorist situation prompted the French Interior Minister to change the rules, just in time, as it turns out, for all those innocent Parisians at the train station today!
My comment: For today’s LEO, here or there, there is no such status as “off-duty!”
In 2023, with violent criminals/terrorists/extremists popping up like jacks-in-boxes, our stark choice is to carry constantly or be carried (one last time)!
We may be “off-watch,” but we’re never “off-duty!”
“The Art of War teaches us to rely, not on the calculated likelihood of an enemy’s coming or not, but on our continual readiness to receive him, no matter what he does.” ~ Sun Tzu
/John
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor, John Farnam will urge you, based on your beliefs, to make up your mind about what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance if any. Defense Training International wants to ensure that its students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
The trouble with your suggestion, medical personnel cannot separate the good guys from the bad, nor should they. Too, wounded bad guys could be a source of intelligence for police and military.
I wasn’t referring to cops, who, of course, use deadly force against baddies if needed, but to med personnel. They aren’t charged with parsing the good from the bad.
If you sit by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.
Routing out enemy personnel that attack and operate in civilian clothes is the hardest thing anybody will ever do. Because avoiding killing innocent people practically requires a miracle. And please note that attacking military forces in civilian clothes is of the worst kind of war crime! And the US charges nobody.
Hence, that old T-shirt proverb ‘Kill ’em all; let God sort ’em out.