Tragedy was again in the news today as a mass murder killed 10, and injured 7 more. Our prayers are with those who have been affected by this heinous act. I will not give the murders name, as I refuse to propagate his desire for fame. At this time, motive is unknown. The shooting took place on 2 Oct 2015 at Umpqua Community College.
This shooting happened in a gun free zone. A quick study of mass murders, when firearms are used, will reveal this is the rule not the exception. These psychopaths are intelligent enough to know where the odds are in their favor, where law abiding citizens cannot take a proper defense tool. Learn and know the laws in your area! In Kentucky, those with a CCDW permit can carry practically anywhere, including some “gun free” zones! In short, if the facility is privately owned: you can probably carry, if it is a government facility: there may be legal ramifications. Do your homework and know the laws! By definition, criminals do not care about rules and laws, these will not protect you.
Soft targets is an industry term, used by security and law enforcement. This simply means a target has little to no defense. On the other end of the spectrum, we have “hard target”, this is just the opposite. A hard target is a target that is capable of, and presents, a rigid defense. As an individual, we determine our own level of defense. Horrifically, this school, as do most, prevented those on site from being capable of defending themselves effectively, making them all soft targets. Becoming a hard target is a straightforward process as an individual. Keep reading The Sharpening Stone and we will help you with this process.
What can we learn from this?
Gun free zones don’t work, gun free zones keep people from defending themselves effectively, soft targets can get people killed, and gun free zones are all around terrible… There are times that you cannot carry a firearm, are you prepared to make anything a weapon? Our defense is entirely up to us. Men and women of law enforcement, and even security, do their best, but they can’t be everywhere all the time. A great response time for law enforcement is a couple of minutes, just the time most mass shooters are finishing up…
Stay sharp,
Adam
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