Dear NRA: you always claim that more guns are always the answer to everything. School shootings? "More gunz!!!!" Massacres? "More gunz!!!"
I have seen firsthand how fucking wrong this claim is. More guns do not solve any problems whatsoever. More guns simply make the bloodshed worse.
I was stationed at Fort Hood in 2009 when Major Nidal Malik Hassan went on a rampage, killing thirteen of my battle buddies.
We thought that we would be safe from any attack, because of the weaponry we were carrying. When we first heard the gunshots, we were even excited, since we would get a chance to see some action.
The carnage that followed shattered all of our illusions about the almighty guns in our hands. We thought that our guns would save our lives, that since we had guns everywhere, that we would be safe from any attack. We were wrong. Dead wrong.
I remember locking and loading my M16, and my comrades doing the same, as we all ran towards the sound of the gunfire. And I watched in horror as, one by one, my battle buddies were gunned down. We tried to return fire, but Major Hassan already had the upper hand. Before we would even raise our rifles, some of us were already on the ground, dead or dying.
That day, I learned one important lesson. The only advantage in a gunfight is by shooting first. If you shoot first in a gunfight, you will always win.
And this is why arming teachers at schools or students at colleges is a dumb idea. In active shooter situations, the mass killer will always be the one firing first. Anybody who pulls out a gun will have no time to bring the gun up, aim, and fire, before he or she is killed by the mass shooter, who already has his gun out.
Another thing I learned is that "good guys with guns" cannot always be trusted. Major Hassan was a "good guy" up until the moment he started firing. When he first started loading his handgun, everybody thought he was just going to do some target practice. Up until the first guy was shot, nobody expected that Major Hassan was capable of such a thing. Now think about this: we could say the same thing about anybody with a concealed carry permit. We truly never know when a "good guy with a gun" is going to snap, just like Major Hassan.
I was awarded a purple heart that day, after being shot in the leg. The thing is, it wasn't Major Hassan who shot me. It was one of my comrades, who misaimed during the heat of the moment. Approximately ten of my comrades were also hit by friendly fire during the whole shishow, with soldiers firing willy0nilly in any direction they heard gunshots. It took months of intensive therapy and medical care just for me to be able to walk again.
But even worse are the nightmares, the visions of my comrades, my friends, who were shot before my eyes, fathers, brothers, sons who will never see their family ever again.
Please, if you think that "arming everybody" is a good solution, take it from a military veteran: it isn't. It will only lead to more casualties, more bloodshed, and will certainly not stop a mass shooter who already has the upper hand.
I have seen firsthand how fucking wrong this claim is. More guns do not solve any problems whatsoever. More guns simply make the bloodshed worse.
I was stationed at Fort Hood in 2009 when Major Nidal Malik Hassan went on a rampage, killing thirteen of my battle buddies.
We thought that we would be safe from any attack, because of the weaponry we were carrying. When we first heard the gunshots, we were even excited, since we would get a chance to see some action.
The carnage that followed shattered all of our illusions about the almighty guns in our hands. We thought that our guns would save our lives, that since we had guns everywhere, that we would be safe from any attack. We were wrong. Dead wrong.
I remember locking and loading my M16, and my comrades doing the same, as we all ran towards the sound of the gunfire. And I watched in horror as, one by one, my battle buddies were gunned down. We tried to return fire, but Major Hassan already had the upper hand. Before we would even raise our rifles, some of us were already on the ground, dead or dying.
That day, I learned one important lesson. The only advantage in a gunfight is by shooting first. If you shoot first in a gunfight, you will always win.
And this is why arming teachers at schools or students at colleges is a dumb idea. In active shooter situations, the mass killer will always be the one firing first. Anybody who pulls out a gun will have no time to bring the gun up, aim, and fire, before he or she is killed by the mass shooter, who already has his gun out.
Another thing I learned is that "good guys with guns" cannot always be trusted. Major Hassan was a "good guy" up until the moment he started firing. When he first started loading his handgun, everybody thought he was just going to do some target practice. Up until the first guy was shot, nobody expected that Major Hassan was capable of such a thing. Now think about this: we could say the same thing about anybody with a concealed carry permit. We truly never know when a "good guy with a gun" is going to snap, just like Major Hassan.
I was awarded a purple heart that day, after being shot in the leg. The thing is, it wasn't Major Hassan who shot me. It was one of my comrades, who misaimed during the heat of the moment. Approximately ten of my comrades were also hit by friendly fire during the whole shishow, with soldiers firing willy0nilly in any direction they heard gunshots. It took months of intensive therapy and medical care just for me to be able to walk again.
But even worse are the nightmares, the visions of my comrades, my friends, who were shot before my eyes, fathers, brothers, sons who will never see their family ever again.
Please, if you think that "arming everybody" is a good solution, take it from a military veteran: it isn't. It will only lead to more casualties, more bloodshed, and will certainly not stop a mass shooter who already has the upper hand.
