Combat Vets Destroy the NRA’s Heroic Gunslinger Fantasy

[kpete]

Combat Vets Destroy the NRA’s Heroic Gunslinger Fantasy
The last thing a chaotic crime scene needs is more untrained civilians carrying guns.
By Joshua Holland OCTOBER 5, 2015

“I think there’s this fantasy world of gunplay in the movies, but it doesn’t really happen that way.” —Retired Army Sargeant Rafael Noboa y Rivera

Those who have carried weapons into combat or to make an arrest scoff at the very idea.“It’s insane,” says Stephen Benson. He recalls an anecdote from his first pistol class in basic training. “We put on our issue .45s, and our instructor said, ‘Gentlemen, the first and most important thing you’ve done by putting on that weapon is you’ve increased your chances of being in a gunfight by 100 percent.’ That’s a lesson that a lot of people don’t get. More guns means more gunfights. And the idea that in a chaotic, pressurized, terrifying situation, they’re going to do the right thing is ridiculous.” He adds: “The NRA and the gun manufacturers have been able to lie about this without being confronted.”

Rafael Noboa y Rivera agreed, adding that he’s personally wary of
“untrained yahoos” who “think they’re Wyatt Earp.”

A firearm makes a person almost twice as likely to become the victim of a homicide and three times more likely to commit suicide.

“Despite what we see on TV, the presence of a firearm is a greater risk, especially in the hands of an untrained person,” says David Chipman, the former ATF agent. “Someone can always say, ‘If your mother is being raped by 5 people, wouldn’t you want her to have a gun?’ Well, OK, if you put it that way, I’d say yes, but that’s not a likely scenario. The question is: If you see someone running out of a gas station with a gun in their hand, do you want an untrained person jumping out and opening fire. For me, the answer is clearly ‘no.’


More:
http://www.thenation.com/article/combat-vets-destroy-the-nras-heroic-gunslinger-fantasy/

[louis-t]

1. I would like to add to one part of the statement....

"If you see someone running out of a gas station with a gun in their hand, do you want an untrained person jumping out and opening fire. For me, the answer is clearly ‘no.’ "

A local woman saw a guy leaving a Home Depot in Auburn Hills, MI. He was suspected of shoplifting and store security was following the person. The woman pulled out her licensed, concealed weapon and started shooting at the suspect's car. The shoplifter was not armed. So, let's insert the words "Home Depot" and "without a gun" in that sentence and it gets even worse.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. What about combat vets who are RKBA advocates?

[Krytan11c]

5. We don't count apparently n/t

N/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. According to the OP title your opinion is DESTROYED!

Like BOOM! even.

[linuxman]

7. OH NO!!!

Mine too?

Damnit.

Combat vet here. Gun owner, carrier, and ardent gun rights supporter.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. I'm not a vet, I just married one so I could make his dog tags jingle.

[pinboy3niner]

11. LOL!

We may disagree on gun safety policy, but I gotta give you props for this one.

[ileus]

8. Those don't count...they're suffering PTSD

Or they'd hate the 2A also.

[Maedhros]

3. In my opinion, concealed carry permits should be restricted to trained professionals

with a demonstrated need. Armed, untrained citizens are a public safety risk, as the Home Depot example demonstrates.

[cry baby]

4. k&r

[UTUSN]

9. I can relate

My military ribbons/decorations are not heroic. You get one ribbon/medal for volunteering (signing your name); another one for setting foot in Vietnam (without carrying a weapon, just stepping off the plane); another one for my unit (ship) having participated in some kind of exercise that we crew didn’t even know was happening; two others from the Republic of South Vietnam that doesn’t even exist anymore; then one for having been on active duty for 4 years without infractions. The one that is somewhat hazardous was for being shot at from a distance and firing back (the ship as a whole).

Anyway, at the Happy Hour places, are all these civilians who watch tons of movies. So when they see me, my hat with my little ribbons, my VFW emblem or whatever, my dogtag – they FLASH into their MOVIE mode. One of these jerks in his 30s would get SIX INCHES in my FACE and MAN-SCREAM, “SIR!1 Yes, SIR!1” This happened several incidents when I arrived, until I quietly said to the peanut gallery, “This guy has been watching a lot of movies."

Another one was the father of an active duty kid. The first time he met me he was gushing to me that his son was in the military RIGHT NOW just like whatever I had been. Fine. I said that's great. So the next time, he gushed AGAIN. Fine. Then he began to be UPSET for a reason not known to me. Like, I was supposed to gush back about something. I said, “What do you WANT from me?! I’m just here to have a beer!” He never talked to me again. Thank goodness.


ON EDIT: Now. This (the o.p.'s point) applies as well to the veterans who underwent *extreme* danger and death, vis a vis the movie fans and fanticizers. I'm proud of my little decorations for being mine.