I have long struggled to understand why these lonely<\/a> losers<\/a> decide to arm themselves to the teeth and run rampant, killing as many random strangers as they can before someone finally kills them. I continue to fail to understand this viral meme, this outrageous behavior of murder\/suicide, alas. The act seems contagious. And here we are. Again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this shooting in Lewiston, Maine, along with the recent Hamas killings in southern Israel, has led me to reflect today at length. What kind of person in cold-blood plans an attack with a rifle against unarmed civilians, women and children among them, shooting at them as they flee in panic for their lives? <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are the types I can name off the top of my head: the deranged \u201clone wolf\u201d loser psychopaths such as the one from Lewiston, Maine last night (I will not say his name); drug cartel professional hit men (\u201csicarios\u201d<\/em>), and their bosses, who control approximately 20% of Mexico; or the godforsaken terrorists of Hamas, Al-Qaeda, or the Islamic State. If you find yourself in their crosshairs, nothing will save you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My dad evidently saw this latest tragic news from New England because at 8:52 am this morning (almost 14 hours after the shooting!) I got a strange text from him. It said, \u201cRun, hide, fight. Dad.\u201d<\/em> I figured he was referring to the idiot gunmen creating havoc in Maine last night. My dad is not great with technology, and as he ages<\/a> he increasingly does some things which are hard to understand \u2014 was my dad warning me via text to hide from a \u201cmass shooter\u201d half a day later? Did he think I was in danger? Was he trying to warn me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewiston, Maine is on the entire other end of the North American continent from where I am in Ventura, California. (Google informs me 3,150 miles separate the two places.) I know the police have not yet apprehended the guy, but I doubt he is anywhere near the Pacific Ocean. After I received my dad\u2019s text I wondered briefly if there was some kind of other violent event taking place near me. I didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chances of me getting involved in a dangerous situation like this are remote. But if such a tragic scenario is improbable, it isn\u2019t impossible. It might be \u201cunthinkable,\u201d as the clich\u00e9 goes, but that does not mean it can never happen. There is evil in the world, I am sure of it, and the response to evil cannot be only non-violent; a lifetime of reading and studying has convinced me of this, and I am still waiting to be persuaded otherwise. If such a drastic thing were to occur, if the wolf really did arrive at my doorstep, I might have to rely on myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought it was a powerfully poignant image of murderous Hamas gunmen with automatic rifles chasing down and slaughtering young Israelis dancing at a music festival dedicated to \u201cpeace and love.\u201d<\/a> Oh, the irony! But it reinforced what I remember learning from the LA Riots of 1992<\/a> and Thomas Fire of 2017<\/a>, both of which I found myself in the middle of, and that lesson is this: you cannot rely on the government when the shit hits the fan. Or, to put it more accurately, the government has enormous resources they can use to help you in an emergency. But the authorities can be taken by surprise and it might take them a few days to marshall and deploy that help to you. In the meantime, you are on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For maybe a few days, or even a few hours, you might have to rely on yourself. If we are talking about an armed and imminent violent threat in your immediate vicinity, even a few minutes can be too long. As the saying goes, \u201cWhen seconds count, the police are minutes away.\u201d<\/em> A few questions come to mind. Were there any CCW-carriers last night around near that shooter in Lewiston, Maine? Off duty cops? (On duty cops?) Business owners nearby who had firearms at their workplace? As that shitbird went on his senseless rampage, was there no one who could at least squeeze off a few rounds downrange at the guy and distract him? Maybe drive him away? Sometimes that makes all the difference. Was there nobody? I read one guy in the bowling alley went for the gunmen with a butcher knife that was lying nearby. It didn\u2019t work. But at least he tried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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