The armed man who allegedly interceded in behalf of a woman being accosted by a man in a subway tunnel on November 8th was labeled a “vigilante” by the liberal media and a “Samaritan” by conservative media. Neither label is accurate. Without investigating the legalities, they do what they always do – magnify minutia to create hysteria for their agendas.
As a life long supporter of the Second Amendment, a former Marine, former cop, former Green Beret weapons specialist and retired federal law enforcement officer I was amused by the polarized, fictionalizing of an armed fool. I knew from extensive training and experience – including how and when to use them – the shooter was far out of bounds.
A woman was being accosted by a (possibly) deranged / drugged bum begging or demanding money for his next drink or fix. This is something that – thanks to Democrat mayors across the country- happens thousands of times a day in our country. The armed citizen saw this and decided to unnecessarily escalate the situation from a simple aggravation to a potential homicide. He wasn’t a chivalrous gentleman saving her from serious bodily harm. He chose to be a self-righteous crusader.
I’ve experienced such armed, bloated egos on several occasions:
- Exiting my vehicle in my city’s public library parking lot I heard shouting about thirty feet away. I looked and saw a young man yelling through the open doorway of a community bus. He was threatening to kill the bus driver and everyone inside. I was armed. I approached this man as he continued to threaten them until he turned and saw me watching him. He then started threatening me. I continued watching him as he walked toward the front door of the library. I called 911 and told the dispatcher there was a very angry man uttering threats and heading toward the library. I followed him toward the door to prevent him from drawing a weapon and shooting anyone. He saw me, turned around and started walking toward me threatening me again. The 911 dispatcher “suggested” I back away. I told her I was but I was not going to let him board the bus and shoot me or anyone else. I backed myself up into the bus doorway and stopped. He had not shown a weapon but was intent on hurting someone. My plan was to plant my boot in his chest to prevent him from boarding the bus. Three local police officers arrived before he could climb the steps. The first officer approached the maggot. He stopped in his tracks and a second officer engaged him in conversation while the first officer asked me and the bus driver what had happened. While we were explaining it to him, the maggot assaulted the other officer. It took all three officers to subdue the maggot.
- I enjoy sitting in the corner booth of my go-to fast food joint on the main drag watching the Huachuca Mountains towering over our town. A monster truck pulled up in the handicapped space near the front door. Out jumped Yosemite Sam. My first thought was this short shit has serious Napoleonic issues. He strutted into the restaurant and I went back to looking at the mountains. I heard him loudly berating the girl behind the register, grab his sack (of food) and march out. I noticed a large, holstered pistol hanging off his belt on his right hip. He climbed up into his monster truck and reached for the ignition when he saw me staring at him – or he interpreted my gaze as staring at him. I was staring at him but when he started mouthing “What are you looking at?” I pretended I was looking through him. He mouthed that question twice. When I didn’t take note of it, Yosemite Sam climbed down from his monster truck, reentered the restaurant and walked right up to me – danger close. He was defiantly standing well within my space looking down at me demanding to know what I was looking at – with his hand on his weapon. I asked him what he was talking about. He shouted “Why are you looking at me?” I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about – but, if I was, I could look at anyone and anything I wanted to – it was still a free country. He put both hands on his hips and started to berate me some more but I stood up. As I stood up to my six-foot height, this five-foot something’s face went from John Wayne to Barney Fife. I told him just because he was armed, he shouldn’t assume no one else was (especially in Arizona) and that I could take that weapon from him and shove it up his ass before he could draw it. His lips started quivering and he stuttered something about “I thought maybe we knew each other from work – or something.”
- I sit in a high bench seat at my other fast-food joint south of town cuz I can see the mountains and there is an American flag waving in the parking lot across the street. I was heading to the bathroom to wash my hands when a young man wearing a motorcycle helmet entered and walked right in front of me. His black helmet had a “Mohawk” strip glued to the top and the words “FUCK YOU” in bold white block lettering on the back. When I came out of the restroom, he was standing sort of in the way of me leaving. The invisible angel on my right shoulder told me “DON’T SAY ANYTHING!” I walked another step or two and stopped. I ride motorcycles myself. One of my five bikes was parked outside. I decided to try and reason with this young moron as a fellow rider. I approached him and in a low voice I asked “Don’t you think having that on the back of your helmet just pisses people off unnecessarily – in addition to drivers who already dislike motorcyclists?” This maggot exploded like detcord. “FUCK YOU! I OUGHTA TAKE MY GUN OUT AND SHOOT YOU RIGHT NOW!” . . . My first instinct was to draw and fire. I would have been legally justified in doing so (if I had articulated the circumstances appropriately). I quickly looked to see if he was reaching for a gun and he wasn’t. I leaned in toward him and told him the same thing I told Yosemite Sam adding “don’t assume no one else is armed and has a lot more experience using it.”
- I had a good friend who went into a pre-orgasmic trance when he described engraving his gun collection. It was during that conversation that he said the Holocaust never happened. That was the last time I hung out with him.
There are too many armed wackos out there carrying guns. From casual observation, I see too many males carrying guns exposed on their hips as an ego trip – not to mention tactically unsound. They look like they carry a gun exposed prominently on their hip as a substitute for being physically or mentally unable to protect themselves in a fist fight – or simply to feel like a man (without actually being one).
Watching the video of the subway shooter angered me. The “crusader” didn’t even get within proximity of the woman or the bum. From a safe distance he fired rounds within a closed space of concrete. He didn’t have the courage, the physique or the sense to approach and, by voice command, tell the bum to bugger off. That’s not vigilantism or being a Samaritan. That’s cowardice and a greater threat to the public than the bum was to the woman. He deserves the charges he got.
I hope – and I believe – wackos like the subway shooter and the wackos I encountered are the rare exception to the tens of millions of gun owners in America. I believe the 2nd Amendment “shall not be infringed.” But I believe a self-imposed moral rule that gun buyers should go through the same escalation of force training that every police officer in the nation goes through would save a lot of lives and a lot of litigation.
Instead of declaring guys like that instantaneous saints or villains, Newsmax and CNN should call in legal experts to explain escalation of force instead of inciting mobocracy.
