As I watch the events unfolding in an Australian Lindt Chocolate shop, I immediately think of things that could have prevented –or slowed down– the progress of the bad guy. What is it that they would be afraid of while committing their crimes? It certainly isn’t the police response. They knew that was going to happen within a few minutes after taking hostages.
They would likely be more afraid of an armed employee or patron inside the establishment that they were attempting to take over. Reports first estimated around 50 hostages were inside the building with one or two bad guys, while more current reports place about 10-15 hostages and just one bad guy. If this were in the US, one of those hostages may have been armed. In Australia, none of them are. It’s against the law for a citizen to carry a firearm, even for self-defense purposes.
With this event, it is said that the bad guy have improvised explosives with them. This opens up a whole other discussion, I know. What if someone were armed and decided to take a shot at the bad guy? What if, in doing so, an explosive went off and killed everyone in the building?
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But then again, what if the bad guy decided to blow everyone up anyway? My point is, there is absolutely no way to determine how something like this will end. It’s completely unpredictable.
My point really is this; I’d rather have the chance to defend my life and the lives of others, than be the victim of a hostage situation and hand over my life to the bad guy until they decide what they’d like to do with it.
What if this happened in the US? Really, think about it. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities; it’s the reality of today’s world. If it happened in, say NYC… you know what, that’s just as bad of an example as Australia. Let’s start over.
If this happened in Texas or Virginia, or another state with large numbers of concealed-carrying citizens, the outcome would have a greater chance of being different. The situation would have a greater chance of allowing the playing field to be a little more level.
A reason why we may not see this happening here is because the majority of the world is aware that we have many people who are ready and willing to defend themselves on a 24-per-hour-a-day basis.
You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
I know in my heart that we’re doing something right, and that some of us are ready.
The major downfall of the US is the gun free zone, which is a great place for anyone to go that’s looking to do harm on others.
I hope that this current situation in Australia is looked at closely by the citizens of that country. The bad guys and the police are the only ones left with guns in public places. That, unfortunately, doesn’t help your average citizen while they’re inside a chocolate shop before heading to work.
