“So great is the wickedness of some men, and the stupid servility of others, that one would be almost inclined to conclude that communities cannot be free.” Samuel Adams (1787)

Monday, we observed Memorial Day by honoring those who died in the uniformed service of our nation. My association with the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center includes the blessing of personal relationships with those who have received our nation’s highest military award for valor — for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of their lives “above and beyond the call of duty.”

With that as a backdrop, let’s consider questions about the controversial law enforcement officer (LEO) response to the assault in Uvalde, Texas.

Having profiled the evil lurking on the fringe of our society — in this case, resulting in the murder of 21 people, including 19 third and fourth grade children — before the blood had dried, legitimate questions were raised about the inaction of Uvalde LEOs.

It was almost 80 minutes after the sociopathic assailant entered through an unlocked door at the rear of the school (the first line of defense) and started his murderous assault — despite parents pleading with local police to enter the building and stop the attack, and 911 calls from children in the room where the assailant had barricaded himself — that the assailant was finally killed.

He was shot by a Border Patrol tactical unit officer who was working nearby when the call for help came. Several BP agents defied orders from the local police chief not to enter the classroom in a timeline that raises many questions about the failure to engage the assailant — failures at many levels before the assailant stepped on school grounds. The officer who shot the assailant was wounded but is in stable condition.

To be clear, the protocol for active shooter incidents in any setting is for LEOs to engage the assailant and shoot until he is dead. In this case, seven officers arrived on the scene within minutes of the assailant entering the building but retreated when fired upon.

Distinct from an active shooter scenario, the LEO protocol for a barricaded hostage situation, where hostages are not at imminent threat of being killed, is generally to secure the area, hold position, and wait for special tactical units. In this case, it is not understood why the Uvalde police commander believed this was a barricaded suspect rather than active shooter incident.

But Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw was unequivocal in his condemnation of that decision: “From the benefit of hindsight, where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision, it was the wrong decision. Period. There was no excuse for that.”

Among our readers are thousands of combat veterans and those from law enforcement and other professions, whose lives have been, at some point, subject to imminent lethal threat. And among them are Medal of Honor recipients whose valorous acts I know well. They can fully appreciate the words of former Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis: “There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It’s really great.”

I weigh their opinions about this case, and especially those of my career LEO colleagues, with the gravitas due. I know from my own years as a uniformed officer, and from the countless anecdotes of others, that it can be difficult to press forward in the face of danger. The “fight or flight” instincts are always at play, but for those who are well-trained, both in terms of their physical offensive capabilities and their mental sense of moral obligation to protect the innocent, retreat is not an option.

On the other hand, the flood of armchair punditry about the LEO actions in Uvalde carries no weight. At this point, there is still much that is NOT known about what justified the change in protocols, and in the coming days that will be fully investigated.

There can be a lot of “fog” under fire, and this was a deadly close-quarters fire scenario.

On top of that, over the last three years, given the vilification of police by leftist politicians, which the Biden administration continues to fuel, resulting in a 59% increase in LEOs murdered in 2021, that fog has gotten even thicker.

For context, LEOs risk their lives (and careers) countless times every day with every traffic stop and every response to a 911 call. They save countless lives every day, but there are few headlines acknowledging that.

Beyond the timeline questions, the critical question is deterrence — how do we stop future mass assaults?

Within hours of the Uvalde assault, predictably, leftist politicos, with Joe Biden leading the charge, paused their advocacy for the killing of the most innocent among us, roughly 2,200 children before birth every day, and did what they always do — used the blood of innocents as political fodder in their relentless assault on the Second Amendment, which assures the First Civil Right required to defend all others.

Recall that in 1990, then Sen. Joe Biden was a primary backer of the Gun-Free School Zones Act. Today, 94% of mass assaults occur in so-called gun-free zones.“

For the record, violent crimes are almost exclusively committed by sociopathic thug, drug and gang-bangers battling on city streets. Furthermore, it is also clear that 96% of all so-called ”mass shootings“ since records first began being kept in 1950 occurred in so-called ”gun-free zones.“ In other words, people were killed in places where the victims were most likely unable to defend themselves. And 90% of those firearms were obtained illegally.

Sidebar: Anyone who asserts the public or private space they manage is safe by posting signs and/or establishing regulations prohibiting (gun-free zones), should thus be liable for any assault that occurs in that public or private space, because in effect they advertised it was safe from any firearm assault – and advertised to criminals that the space is full of people who are unable to defend them selves.

Oh, and recall that in 2020, Demo Sens. Chris Murphy (CT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA), and Reps. Ayanna Pressley (MA) and Ilhan Omar (MN), introduced legislation to get cops out of schools. According to Murphy: "Police shouldn’t be in schools. … If we are going to tackle racial inequities in our education system, getting police out of schools is a necessary first step.”

In his initial remarks on the assault, Biden complained, “When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”

Answer: When Democrats focus on the actual problem, cultural entropy, rather than reflexively regurgitating political talking points about “gun control.” They no longer invoke “God’s name” other than for rhetorical effect.

Biden went to Uvalde Monday, where he and his “do something” chorus promoted their political agenda. They reflexively insisted this assault was the result of “gun violence” while avoiding any suggestion that, first and foremost, violence is a cultural problem.

But the harsh reality is that this violence, and that which claimed the lives of more than 21,000 other Americans in 2020 and about 20,000 in 2022, is primarily the result of generationally failed Democrat Party policies, resulting in cultural disintegration since the 1960s. We see this most acutely on Democrat-controlled urban poverty plantations — but it spills over in small towns like Uvalde.

Biden will spend the next week using this tragedy to advance his political agenda.

But here is what is now, and has always been at the core of that agenda: American gun owners aren’t hoping to use firearms to overthrow the government. But possessing that self defense capability is rooted in a spirit of self reliance and a love of Liberty that has its origin in the American Revolution. What the Left is really trying to break is that spirit, and our devotion to Liberty.

So, what additional regulatory solutions might actually help to stop mass attacks?

Beyond the boilerplate anti-2A rhetoric, first up on the “do something” list would be promoting so-called “red flag” laws, which might slightly increase the possibility of identifying sociopaths before the exceedingly rare attacks on schools.

These attacks are exceedingly rare now, but before the Demos’ “Great Society” institutionalization of poverty and the cultural devolution that followed, they were virtually nonexistent.

But concerns about government abuse of such “interpretive regulations” is the primary obstacle, and that concern is wholly justified.

Consider the fact that Hillary Clinton’s lawyer was just acquitted for lying to the FBI about the connection between the fabricated Trump/Russia dossier and Clinton. Everyone knows that Clinton conspired with the highest level cadres in the FBI and CIA to take down a president. And yet there is no justice.

So, you ask, what does that have to do with “red flag” and other laws ostensibly designed to prohibit crimes committed with firearms?

Answer: If there is no accountability for the now-thoroughly documented collusion between Clinton and key FBI/CIA brass to take down Trump, I can assure you there will be no accountability for expanding or diverting a bureaucratic regulation designed to accomplish the political objectives of the Democrat Party.

Thus, Biden and his leftist ilk will use whatever means to incrementally reach their goal of deconstruction and repeal of the Second Amendment.

Indeed, using the Texas assault as fodder, Biden’s buddy, Canadian PM Justin “Blackface” Trudeau, just took a giant leap toward outlawing weapons. (No word if Trudeau will be asking his private protection detail to give up their firearms.)

Additionally, regarding red flag laws now on the books in 19 states, those laws allow the firearms of an individual to be confiscated, without due process, but do nothing further to prevent the individual from acquiring other methods for harming others. Recall that the most violent attack on a school occurred in 1927 when a Bath, Michigan, school board member murdered 45 people, including 38 elementary students — with a bomb.

Regarding such laws, political analyst David French notes, “In every one of the deadliest school shootings, the shooter exhibited behavior before the shooting that could have triggered a well-drafted red flag law.” He noted further that “well-drafted” means, “The law should contain abundant procedural safeguards, including imposing a burden of proof on the petitioner, hearing requirements, and a default expiration date unless the order is renewed through a clear showing of continued need.”

That’s nice in theory, but he completely discounts the systemic Beltway corruption that defies any accountability, as noted above.

And on the subject of the politicization of red flag laws, in California, the state Senate just voted to end mandatory reporting on students who threaten schools because it is racially insensitive. This, in effect, empowers school assailants.

However, I do think there are regulatory measures that should be implemented.

Let me toss in this grenade: The sociopath in Uvalde purchased his rifle the day after he turned 18. There have been objections to increasing the legal age for the purchase of such rifles to 21 — the same age requirement for a handgun or a six-pack of beer. Like most Americans, I do not object to this age increase — not that it would have stopped anyone from illegally obtaining a firearm, particularly in Texas, where deadly weapons regularly flow across the southern border. But it would have been a considerable speed bump in this case. But I would retain age 18 for purchases by military personnel. While we are at it, let’s raise the voting age to 21!

That being said, passing more laws, when existing laws are not enforced (despite the fact that criminals and sociopaths don’t obey laws), is much more convenient and politically expedient than formulating meaningful social solutions. Real solutions will address the core cultural issues that produce violent offenders — no amount of firearm regulation will prevent violence.

And, Biden wants more gun laws? Start by enforcing current gun laws, and prosecute Hunter Biden for his weapons violation.

Allow me to offer a few more things to consider in the coming heated debates over “gun control.”

Two days after the Uvalde assault, a violent black assailant with an extensive criminal history fired an AR-15 at a crowded birthday party outside an apartment in in Charleston, WV. He was shot dead by a woman legally carrying a handgun. According to CPD detective Tony Hazelett, “Instead of running from the threat, she engaged with the threat and saved several lives last night.” Apparently, it was not a “gun-free zone.” End of story.

More people are bludgeoned to death with hammers annually than killed with AR-15 “assault rifles,” those semiautomatic sporting rifles that Demos and their Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes refer to as “weapons of war.”

Consider that 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, and a lot of those drugs, and the criminal thugs muling and selling them, crossed Biden’s open border. The U.S. murder rate is almost 80% less than the overdose rate.

In addition, there are more than 10,000 drunk-driver deaths annually, but that rate is at its lowest since 1982 because DUI laws are actually enforced — as Nancy Pelosi’s husband found out last weekend.

And here’s a reality check on both the violent assailants who use firearms and their victims: As we have documented consistently, if you don’t have a violent criminal record, and are not associated with the violent sociopathic thug, drug, or gang subcultures that commit the vast majority of crimes in America, your chances of being shot or killed by an assailant are extraordinarily low — as low as in most Western European nations, where handgun ownership is outlawed.

Thus, if you’re a law-abiding citizen, your statistical probability of being killed by a drunk driver is substantially higher than being murdered by an assailant with a firearm. (Oddly, no one is demanding we ban automobiles (unless they use petroleum) or ask for a federal background check before purchasing a beer.)

Oh, and regarding the NRA annual meeting in Houston last week: Guns are allowed at those massive gatherings, yet no shootings ever occur. And outside those venues, for years, police agencies have reported a drop in crime when thousands of concealed-carry permit holders are in town. Further, no NRA member has ever been arrested for a mass shooting.

Guns are not the problem. only law-abiding citizens abide by laws, and making lawful citizens helpless clearly does not make outlaws harmless. Remember: The vast majority of mass assaults occur in “gun-free zones.”

Thirty-five years ago, when Joe Biden had cognitive capacity in the normal range, he declared: “I have never believed that additional gun control or federal registration of guns would reduce crime. I am convinced that a criminal who wants a firearm can get one through illegal, nontraceable, unregistered sources, with or without gun control. In my opinion a national register or ban of handguns would be impossible to carry out and may not result in reductions in crime.”

Finally, I’ll leave you with this observation from Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears of Virginia, a Republican woman who is also black, which is to say she terrorizes the Demo status quo: “America is in a battle for her children. We weep for the breakdown of the family. We weep for fatherless homes. We weep for the lack of respect for fellow men. We weep over the countless Black men murdering each other. We weep at the onslaught against the liberty of thought and expression. Indeed we have left goodness, gentleness, and kindness behind, only to be left loathing, crudeness, greed, and sloth.”

Footnote: Regarding the demand that schools be more secure, Biden’s White House parrot Karine Jean Pierre responded: “I know there has been a conversation about hardening schools, that is not something [Biden] believes in.”

(Updated)

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NOTES:

The First Civil Right is To Keep and Bear Arms. It is, as James Madison’s Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, rightly defined it, “the palladium of the liberties of the republic,” the ultimate assurance of all other rights.

What follows are a few key notes that all defenders of American Liberty and its foundational guarantor, the Second Amendment, should be prepared to articulate, in order to refute the rhetorical gun control agenda disinformation propagated by Democrats and their Leftmedia publicists.

While some of this data is based on annual findings, most of that data does not vary significantly year over year.

FOOTNOTE 1: Regarding so-called “gun violence,” there were approximately 19,600 homicides involving firearms in the U.S. in the latest year of record, which you can view state by state. Fortunately, there are indications that homicides may be declining after the significant surge of violence unleashed by Biden and his Democrat agitators in 2020. The 2022 homicide rate was 30% higher than in 2019.

The Demos ubiquitously and falsely label the generational murderous contagion they have seeded as “gun violence,” and they focus exclusively on the infrequent high-profile “mass shootings,” which account for only a tiny fraction of all homicides. More than 99% of murders in the U.S. are not the result of mass attacks. (Notably, guns don’t commit violence, thugs and sociopaths commit violence.) The oft-cited Gun Violence Archive defines a “mass shooting” as any incident that involves a “minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed.” The vast majority of those violent attacks are the result of drug and gang violence committed in Democrat-controlled urban centers.

In a country and culture that ignores the rising generation of sociopathic murderers — mostly thugs in violent urban centers who are saturated with cultural violence and indoctrinated with mass-media glorification of violence — it is fortunate that the incidence of mass murder is not 10 times higher. Arguably, the only thing keeping that number from being higher is that 125 million Americans are legal and responsible gun owners.

Democrats don’t focus on the vast majority of murders, particularly the epidemic of black-on-black murders on their decaying urban poverty plantations, because they want to avoid the “inconvenient truth” about race and violence, which is the direct result of failed Democrat social programs. In fact, black people (13% of the population), are 12 times more likely to be murdered, per capita, than white people (62% of the population).

That gross racial disparity in murder rates isn’t useful for the gun control narrative Democrats invoke to evoke emotional reaction from mostly wealthy white suburban women, who form the Demos’ largest voter constituency.

FOOTNOTE 2: Regarding so-called “mass shootings,” for the record, murders of multiple people by one assailant are very rare in our nation of 335 million people. Less than 1% of all murders nationwide are classified as “mass shootings” and high-profile attacks, such as the 2017 mass murder in Las Vegas, are extremely rare.

The FBI defines “active shooter incidents” as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” In 2022, the FBI reported 50 incidents resulting in 313 casualties (100 killed and 213 wounded). That number was up significantly from 2020 when the FBI reported 40 incidents resulting in 164 casualties (38 killed and 126 wounded).

A broader record of “mass shooting” data is maintained by the Associated Press and Northeastern University, which uses the Department of Justice definition of mass public shooting: “A multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms.” These numbers fluctuate significantly year over year, and they range between 20 and 40 incidents. But notably, over the last 30 years, the number of black mass assailants is almost as high as the number of white assailants.

Democrats focus on these rare instances of multiple murders because these high-profile tragedies are political fodder to foment fear — most notably when they can toss out their oft-repeated but erroneous claim that “gun violence is the leading cause of death for children.” If by “children” they mean gang and drug-associated murders of those primarily between the ages of 16 and 21, then yes. Democrats are experts at fomenting fear and division.

The fear and angst Demos intentionally propagate are taking a toll on Americans’ mental health. Psychological researcher Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson observes: “Watching it time and time again on your phone or on the headlines can really impact you in ways that I don’t think we knew before to be as impactful. It’s so ‘in our face’ all the time and we have access to so much footage, so many pictures, so many videos, so many accounts that we’re ingesting it in ways that’s really unhealthy for us.” The result for many mothers, in particular, is an irrational fear that their children will be shot. That is precisely the fabricated fear Democrats want to perpetuate, especially among their female constituents, in order to advance their gun control agenda.

But here is a fact Democrats and their mainstream media platforms will not tell you about those rare high-profile shootings on school campuses: Young people between the ages of 6 and 22 are far safer on a campus than they are off campus.

(Notably, the deadliest school assault in American history did not involve a firearm. A sociopathic school board member in Bath, Michigan detonated a bomb outside an elementary school, murdering 38 children and six adults.)

FOOTNOTE 3: Regarding what Democrats and their Leftmedia publicists ubiquitously and falsely label “assault weapons,” an actual assault weapon, commonly known as a “machine gun,” is select-fire and can rapidly cycle rounds in fully automatic sequence. Very few select-fire weapons are in civilian hands, and only then subject to stringent licensing requirements.

In fact, civilian firearms in common use, like the AR-15 and other semiautomatic sporting and hunting rifles, are not “assault rifles.”

For much the same reason the Demo/Media talkingheads focus only on rare high-profile “mass shootings” to generate fear and angst, they also call semi-automatic rifles sometimes used in those attacks, “assault weapons.” Predictably, Demos then call for what Hillary Clinton framed decades ago as “common sense gun laws,” inevitably followed by calls for an “assault weapons ban.”

In 1994, Bill Clinton banned the sale of “military-style assault weapons,” but that ban was not renewed 10 years later because it was determined the ban had no effect on crime reduction. According to Rand Research, “We found no qualifying studies showing that bans on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines decreased any of the eight outcomes we investigated.”

The fact is, rifles and shotguns combined are used in less than 3% of all homicides, but Democrats never let facts get in the way of their “assault weapon ban” political agenda.

Both the Clintons were prolific prevaricators, masterful obfuscators of the truth. And Joe Biden has followed their template, establishing himself as the standard bearer of the “lying dog-faced pony soldier” cavalry.

FOOTNOTE 4: Regarding firearms and violent crime, researcher John Lott reports, “Over 92% of violent crimes in America do not involve firearms.” Again, the only thing keeping that number from being much higher is that 125 million Americans are legal and responsible gun owners.

FOOTNOTE 5: Regarding firearms and suicide, almost 60% of all deaths involving firearms are suicide, most also involving drug or alcohol abuse. But the big numbers promoted in “gun violence” reports do not distinguish between murder and suicide, thus implying that homicide rates are much higher. And does this mean that Demo support for assisted suicide is in conflict with their support for gun control?

FOOTNOTE 6: Regarding alcohol versus firearm deaths, if Democrats are serious about protecting Americans, they should outlaw alcohol. Alcohol abuse is far more deadly than firearm abuse. More than 178,000 people died from alcohol abuse last year — that’s NINE times the number of homicides associated with firearms. Drunk drivers are responsible for 37 deaths per day. And notably, it is estimated that alcohol is a key factor in at least 30% of homicides where the assailant uses a firearm. (Include drug dealing or use as a factor and that number jumps to about 60%.)

Of course, the vast majority of alcohol users possess and use it legally and responsibly. Likewise, the vast majority of firearm owners possess and use them legally and responsibly. Enacting a prohibition on firearms is tantamount to enacting a prohibition on alcohol. In both cases, only law-abiding users obey the laws.

BOTTOM LINE: Let me restate this point — only law-abiding citizens abide by the law. Only outlaws perpetrate acts of violence. Making good people helpless won’t make bad people harmless.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

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