US AG Holder at IACP conference (courtesy officer.com)

Just before the head of Interpol told the world that arming citizens is the best way to protect against terrorist attacks on “soft targets” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder assured cops attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference that they’re The Man when it comes to spree killings. “In order to prevent additional casualties, it is often patrol officers — not necessarily SWAT teams — who serve as the tip of the spear in responding to these incidents,” he said. “That’s why all law enforcement officers must have the best equipment and most up-to-date training to confront these situations. We owe these officers nothing less.” Maybe so, but it’s not like cops are exactly hurting for gear. Or that the real first responders—armed Americans—are welcome in schools, stadia and other areas where spree killings tend to occur. Anyway, some interesting news from officer.com‘s report re: law enforcement “interventions” . . .

The FBI’s Behavioral Threat Assessment Center works with local law enforcement to assess individuals who susceptible to committing acts of violence. Since 2011, the Center has reported hundreds of successful disruptions — including an anticipated 150 this year.

Holder said that in such cases, during both the intervention process and when responding to active shooter incidents, local law enforcement officers have saved innocent lives.

Again, how many innocent lives would be saved if we eliminated gun free zones at a cost of, well, nothing. Or stopped infringing on open carry nationwide at the cost of, well, nothing. If terrorist or spree killer attacks escalate in either scope or scale, look for these bans to disappear. Or increase.

“As we move forward with these efforts, I want to assure you that leaders at every level of the Justice Department and the FBI are determined to continue working with the IACP to make sure your members have the tools, training, and guidance they need to respond to active shooter incidents — and other threats — whenever and wherever they arise,” he said. “We will never stop fighting for the tools and resources you need.”

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35 COMMENTS

  1. Holder is obviously a liar or ignorant. Name a spree shooter that was shut down early or later that was done by LEO. The Navy Yard and Ft. Hood are all I can think of going all the way back to the Texas Tower. Even then like at the Peach House Shoot out, there was citizen involvement to stop it. Aurora Clown stopped himself. He told them about the incendiary devices which took bomb squads 3 days to get through.

    • Texas tower was heavily influenced by armed citizens using arms to keep the guy fairly well pinned down.

    • There was a nursing home shooting in Carthage North Carolina that was stopped by a patrol cop. The only one I can remember. But the shooter had shot 10 people before he was stopped.

      • In MI a nursing home is a gun free zone, and most states too considering a lot of nursing homes are attached to rural hospitals.

    • You beat me to the punch. Or punched me to the beat. I’d love to see someone challenge Holder to name ONE mass shooting that was stopped by a patrol officer.

    • No kidding. Acting like you are the boss of all justice departments because you are the US AG doesn’t just magically make the 10th amendment disappear. Those PDs are local and I will take every opportunity to reinforce that fact at my locality.

  3. What the hell does this mean: “The FBI’s Behavioral Threat Assessment Center works with local law enforcement to assess individuals who susceptible to committing acts of violence. Since 2011, the Center has reported hundreds of successful disruptions — including an anticipated 150 this year.”

    Are they somehow intervening before a crime is being committed? That’s what it seems to say. What is the nature of this ‘intervention?’ Does anyone know???

  4. Sounds like holder is trying to buy votes with tax payers money by providing useles toys, that right toys, to the police. Toys like apc’s full auto M16 and so on.

  5. It’s one of the few promises the administration is making good on, to create a domestic force as strong as our military. It’s for your own good, citizen.

    • From am online newspaper…

      National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1997, the “1033 program” was born. It allows the Defense Department to donate surplus military equipment to local police forces.

      Check it out. We don’t need SWAT to respond because the whole force is SWAT.

  7. A well armed constabulary, being necessary to the security of the ruling class, the wealth of the people shall be confiscated so as to purchase arms.

  9. As a deputy sheriff, I’ll chime in. Armed citizens are indeed the tip of the spear when it comes public shootings. You won’t find a more pro 2nd amendment cop than me but in reality we should want law enforcement to be prepared and equipped for the task they are assigned. If police did not prepare and equip themselves to handle these situations they would get criticized for that as well. “Why were they police unprepared? What didn’t they stop him?” Circa 1999 Columbine High School. I live in a free state where the right to carry and defend yourself is highly regarded but think about the states like New York where the likely hood of an armed citizen being present is slim. When law enforcement gets involved patrol officers need to be trained and equipped to handle to situation. This is why you see the “militarization” of patrol. Obviously, some agencies/officers go overboard and think they are God. However, for those like Holder who think the police will get there on time to save everyone….I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona I’ll sell you.

  10. “… We owe these officers nothing less. …”

    Who in the hell is ‘we’? I don’t owe officers Jack shit. I pay them to do a job by having money taken away from by force.

    Police, fire fighters, teachers. Doing God’s work.

  11. The difficulty I’m experiencing is how to differentiate between a beat cop and an armed citizen taking on an active shooter. Both have a gun, both known the threat and both want to end it desperately. One swore an oath and another is acting in such a way as to make oaths meaningless. Their oath is their willingness to engage.

    The latest drill I’ve set up is a tone (the shots), run to cover while drawing from concealment, then engage from behind cover a target 50 yards distance with the concealment piece. I litter the field with no shoot targets and leave only a narrow angle to the target (shooter). One must work out how to shoot from the cover to be successful and in the highest levels I put no shoots behind the target so that there is a single safe vector to fire on it.

    All that is meant to replicate an active shooter in a crowd. It’s designed to give the participant incite into the problems they may encounter if engaging an active shooter including; range beyond what they are used to in defensive training (due to the likelihood of being badly outgunned) use of cover (also due to being outgunned and because they must wait until a clear shot is available), not shooting innocents, and considering the backstop.

    What I’d really like to do is have access to our local malls, stadiums etc to train on specific cover and engagement (dry or even sans weapons) so that my students have ‘home field advantage’ in the places they go.

    Since that isn’t practical we do walk throughs and take pictures to help familiarize with particular locations and the conditions found there.

    The active shooters worst nightmare is an armed citizen with skills and a plan.

  12. I don’t have any problems with millitirization of the local police forces, (after all, theoretically they would provide many of the squad leaders and heavy weapons squads if we, the unorganized militia were ever called up,) so long as ordinary citizens were allowed to buy the same equipment. The thing is, that we, as gun owning citizens, need to go out of our way to engage members of local police forces outside of professional occasions as approachable, respectable citizens. Rightly or wrongly, police officers are the target of a lot of hate, regardless of what they’ve actually done, and that that, coupled with dealing almost exclusively with criminals and nuts is not a good combination. A police officer is much less likely to question orders, and much more likely to shoot first, when ordered to “apprehend suspected terrorist, armed and dangerous”, than they are for “Kick down the door of Joe Anybody, the guy who’s kids go to the same school mine do, who likes to hunt, and who brings a haunch of venison by the police station every season.” MOST cops, like most soldiers, most firefighters, and most patriots, are simply ordinary people who have to deal with extraordinary circumstances. No better. No worse.

    • I cannot fathom in what world the police would provide ‘squad leaders’ or form the heavy weapons squads of any militia. First off, they largely lack anything resembling squad level infantry training and completely lack guerrilla training. If anything they represent a pool from which to obtain arms and manpower, to then be placed under command of those who do understand militia warfare and who are trustworthy. In some jurisdictions the first battles would have to be fought with the local PD, in others they are sure to surrender or desert in the face of the militia.

      In the mean time the continued militarization of the police contributes to abuse of power, a widening gap in police/community relations and a dangerous situation in which their force is so great that they are difficult to resist when they become tyrannical.

      The very concept that police militarization is beneficial to the citizenry specifically or liberty generally is counter to any rational understanding of the situation.

      Surely either you jest, or are else an LE attempting to anonymously defend the indefensible militarization of the police. That is: Either misinformed or an agent provocateur, for surely no one could both know the score and have come up with what you said.

  13. «No one grew suspicious of his rifle until it was too late, as it was hunting season and thus the sight of rifles outside not unexpected»

    Open carrying frenchie Éric Borel (16) killed 15 people in 1995 in the village of Cuers, France. He used a Anschütz .22 lr bolt action rifle. He killed himself with the gun when police arrived 1 hour after he started his rampage.

    Conundrum.

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