So, what went wrong here? There were armed police in the area, but as it usually happens in these cases, they're unable to help unless they just happen to be in the right place at the right time.Two U.S. airmen were killed and two others were wounded at Frankfurt airport when a man opened fire on them at close range with a handgun, the first such attack on American forces in Germany in a quarter century.
President Barack Obama called the Wednesday shooting an "outrageous act."
The alleged assailant, identified as a 21-year-old Kosovo man, was taken immediately into custody and was being questioned by authorities, said Frankfurt police spokesman Manfred Fuellhardt.
Family members in Kosovo described the suspect as a devout Muslim, who was born and raised in Germany and worked at the airport.
Was it that the airmen were not armed themselves or the bus driver? Would they have been able to intervene before the attacker got off his shots?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
First of all this can't be true because Europe is a gun free Utopian paradise.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, you nailed it when you said this:
"There were armed police in the area, but as it usually happens in these cases, they're unable to help unless they just happen to be in the right place at the right time."
The police cannot protect us. Their job is to draw a chalk outline of you and take pictures. Everyone is responsible for their own defense and the real crime is anytime a government would deny someone the means to protect themselves.
There aren't enough details of the incident to even know if an armed citizen (or cop) COULD have been in the right place to change the outcome. How many shots were fired over how many seconds? If the shooter just fired several shots in a span of a few seconds, it would have been over before anyone could have even drawn a gun.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone can honestly claim that allowing citizens to carry firearms for personal protection will prevent or be able to change the outcome of EVERY violent criminal attack, but it certainly can make a difference in a substantial number of of them.
...Orygunner...
Missing interestingly in this story is that the assailant yelled out Allah Akbar just as he opened fire.
ReplyDeleteAren't guns banned in Germany?
Orygunner: "I don't think anyone can honestly claim that allowing citizens to carry firearms for personal protection will prevent or be able to change the outcome of EVERY violent criminal attack, but it certainly can make a difference in a substantial number of of them."
ReplyDelete"Substantial?" I doubt that. And don't let me fail to mention this is something you're just guessing about and using your common sense on. When I do that, you demand proof.
@Mikeb, the proof you requested:
ReplyDeleteDefensive gun uses from several different studies:
http://www.guncite.com/kleckandgertztable1.html
Examples of Defensive gun uses (Note that this is ONLY the reported ones and/or ones reported to the media):
http://thearmedcitizen.com/
(That one appears to be a newer blog, there's others out there reporting similar stories).
This certainly seems significant enough for me. If you disagree, please provide some sort of explanation why you think that a dozen different studies each showing over hundreds of thousands of defensive gun uses are wrong, or why dozens of stories a month aren't worth considering.
...Orygunner...