More Norway Thoughts

Marshal Halloway produced this timeline of events in Norway:

All times PM
3:26: The bomb went off in downtown Oslo
5.27: First 911 call about the shooting on Utoya
5.30: Second 911 call about the shooting on Utoya
5.38: Oslo Politi District receives a request for assistance/backup from Buskerud Police Distrikt.
5.52: First police unit arrives to closest point on the mainland and are waiting for what is called a suitable boat.
6.03: The police are notified that a boat is under way.
6.09: A SWAT team from Oslo arrived to closest point on the mainland.
6.25: The SWAT team lands on the island.
6.27: Coward Breivik is apprehended without resistance.
The coward had over an hour to operate. Extended Gun Free Zone, what a paradise the so called modern western civilization is for a predator.

There are already questions being raised in Europe whether the Norway shooter could have killed as many people if he didn't have a semiauto rifle (a Ruger Mini-14). Based on this timeline, he could have accomplished the same number of deaths with anything, including a hammer or a machete.

And yet we have the apparently endless meme of, "well, they couldn't have done anything anyway and would have probably made things worse." Here's one of the many rehasings of the meme, this one from E. D. Kain at Forbes:

First of all, it is very unlikely in a situation like this that a vigilante will stop a shooter. In fact, it’s quite likely that more people shooting guns in such a scenario would lead to more confusion and possibly more deaths, some of which might be accidental. Police also have a harder time identifying who the shooter is and who the vigilantes are. Besides this, the killer is much more likely to kill the surprised gun owner since they are already prepared.

Let's get past his misuse of the word "vigilante" [vigilantes are civilians who punish after the fact; there is a huge difference between a vigilante and a civilian who chooses to protect him- or herself. Vigilante, of course, has a negative connotation, which is why he used the word here]. The rest of his comments are breathtaking nonsense. "Lead to more confusion?" Damn, I pretty much think a crazed killer running loose pegs the old "confusion" meter.

Secondly, let's look at an armed society at war — Israel — where armed civilians have routinely stopped terrorist attacks on civilians. Seems the Israeli police have no trouble figuring out the good guys from the bad guys...the bad guy is one lying dead on the ground with the good guys pointing guns at him.

There is also the mindset of the armed civilian. When armed civilians choose to carry guns, it is in acknowledgement that such events as Norway are possible. One of the main thrusts of training is to minimize the duration of the "startle" response and allow us to quickly respond. People like Mr. Kain, who apparently gains all his insights on firearms from Hollywood, has a vision of armed civilians trying to "quick draw" an armed terrorist, which is pretty much a guaranteed lose. This is based on their premise that anyone who wants to take responsibility for his or her own safety must be some kind of moron, so of course they're going to stand out in the open and try to Hollywood out-draw the bad guys!

I think that one of the things driving this meme some element of projection. Folks such as Mr. Kain imagines himself in that situation — frozen in place with urine running down his leg, begging some madman not to kill him — and imagines that everyone caught in that situation must respond the same way. Hmmmm...doesn't seem to happen that way in Israel. Maybe it's something in the water there.

But it doesn't even happen that way in the United States. Go back to the 2005 Tyler, TX, shootings, where a madman in body armor with an AK-47 decided to teach his ex-wife and anyone else he could find a permanent lesson. He killed his ex-wife and a bystander who tried to intervene and was looking for his next victim, their son. But instead he ran into an armed civilian, Mark Alan Wilson, a competition shooter and CCW carrier, who instead of freezing in place, begging for mercy and peeing down his leg, grabbed his handgun and engaged the shooter. Wilson scored repeated hits, but the bullets were all stopped by the flak jacket. Mark Alan Wilson died for his efforts, but police credited him with saving the life of the son and giving police time to arrive.

Mark Alan Wilson was a shooter. I believe that knew exactly what he was facing; he knew he was outgunned and I believe he knew the likely outcome. But he engaged anyway. That must seem like sheer insanity in E.D. Kain's world, where people wallow in their helplessness and wait to die, as if the bullet or knife or bludgeon were preordained by some malevolent god.

You might also note, Mr. Kain, that there are some things worse then death. Ask Colin Goddard, who's now "Living for 32" and "making a difference," because on the one day of his life when he could have made a difference, he didn't...all the speakers' fees and Oprah appearances in the world will never change that fact. I would not want to be Colin Goddard when he turns off the lights at night.

Finally, let's say that there was an armed civilian on that island, and in the ensuing melee 2 or 3 innocents were "accidentally" killed before the crazy man died or threw down his gun out of cowardice. Even in your sad sad world, Mr. Kain, would not 2 or 3 killed be better than 68 killed?

Just some thoughts...