The latest news (the Portland commuter train) has kicked off new internet chatter about how "This could've been stopped if people had been armed" vs. "Thank goodness nobody had a gun that day!".
I'm curious to get an LE perspective, if we have any who are here on these forums.
I'm trying to imagine being in a crowded, sardine can-like environment where nobody is sure what's happening, people are screaming, someone is bleeding, nobody's sure what's happening next--and then someone pulls out their CCW.
Knowing how easy it can be to miss a target even under good conditions, without real stress, it seems the odds of the CCW leading to even more unintended injury are high. Trying to aim at someone who's surrounded by bystanders, while everyone is shoving and you're probably being jostled around?
If an officer were present, what would he/she do? What are they trained to do? And how much of that (legally and practically) could carry over to a civilian?
I'm an advocate for carrying, and for training to be as prepared as possible. But I'm trying really hard to imagine the scenario in which being armed here would have caused less injury, and not more...
Even if it all worked perfectly, one shot, the crazed knifer is dead--and now everyone's ears are ringing and people start stampeding because they think "Oh my God now the crazy guy has a gun."
What a tragedy
I'm curious to get an LE perspective, if we have any who are here on these forums.
I'm trying to imagine being in a crowded, sardine can-like environment where nobody is sure what's happening, people are screaming, someone is bleeding, nobody's sure what's happening next--and then someone pulls out their CCW.
Knowing how easy it can be to miss a target even under good conditions, without real stress, it seems the odds of the CCW leading to even more unintended injury are high. Trying to aim at someone who's surrounded by bystanders, while everyone is shoving and you're probably being jostled around?
If an officer were present, what would he/she do? What are they trained to do? And how much of that (legally and practically) could carry over to a civilian?
I'm an advocate for carrying, and for training to be as prepared as possible. But I'm trying really hard to imagine the scenario in which being armed here would have caused less injury, and not more...
Even if it all worked perfectly, one shot, the crazed knifer is dead--and now everyone's ears are ringing and people start stampeding because they think "Oh my God now the crazy guy has a gun."
What a tragedy