Hey, you John Wayne wannabes! An armed sailor…a professional fighting man…trained for war and totally familiar with the use of weapons…was on sentry duty when he was disarmed by a civilian who then used the gun to kill another sailor. And you think you’ve got a chance to protect you and yours? Your dreams will be your worst nightmares.
A civilian approaching a Navy destroyer at the world’s largest naval base late at night took a weapon from a sailor who was standing watch and used it to shoot and kill another sailor who was trying to help his embattled colleague, Navy officials said Tuesday.
Navy security forces then killed the man, who was authorized to be on Naval Station Norfolk and did not bring his own weapon on base, according to Capt. Robert Clark, the base’s commanding officer.
Dream on MacDuff…
Ed, I read the story and the blog. What is your point?
Why would a civilian with a 2 hour class and a couple of visits to a range think that their concealed weapon will save the day…when a highly trained professional can’t even keep control of his weapon?
Ed. You are seriously misinformed and it shows. I can assure you with 20 years in the USN, the sailor that was disarmed is not “highly trained”. In fact that sailor probably had less training than is required for a concealed carry permit in Wisconsin. I actually had the training. I qualified on a 9MM handgun and a pump shotgun in about 1 hour alongside 20 others at the same time. The sailors that typically stand the watch that the disarmed sailor was standing are typically some of the most junior people on board the ship, and it is not common for the vast majority of navy enlisted men to be highly trained in firearms. It just isn’t necessary for the vast majority of sailors to be firearms trained. I was not qualified until I had 17 years in service simply because my typical duties didn’t require it.
I won’t argue about the weapons training that a Navy recruit receives…you are correct that it is far more limited than the Marines or Army…but I still hold that a sailor who I do expect is fit and on a security post is far better equipped to handle this situation that the average civilian who has no training, discipline, etc.
Ok, thanks Ed.
I agree there are certainly great risks involved and I respect that. I do not have hard data, but would venture to guess that a civilian vs. armed guard would fail many many times more than succeed. A civilian vs. armed citizen would fail more too, but I suspect not as much as the armed guard. I get it, there is risk, damage and death involved in either case. There aren’t too many sure things in life.
I wish there were no bad guys, mental illness, criminals, etc. in our free society, but that’s just not reality. And it boils down to one’s ability to defend themselves if confronted. Sadly, this leads us to the crime, criminals, gun control, mental illness issues that Americans seem to move slowly on. Let’s continue to hope we get better.