[Tim1]

Thought I'd share this article with the forum.

The Mumbai attacks were one of the events that encouraged me to get my carry license. Decided that I wanted some choice besides "Hide in my hotel room and wait to be murdered" if I was ever unfortunate enough to wind up in a similar situation.

How do you think our law enforcement agencies would handle such an attack? I'm sure we'd do better than the Indian LEOs (numerous news articles suggested that the Indian LEOs weren't even returning fire) but are we really prepared for this? Would such an attack be that different from the active shooter scenarios that most American agencies train for? You'd be dealing with shooters that had more training and potentially heavier weapons (the Mumbai attackers had grenades) but it seems that the training for dealing with active shooters would still be relevant here.

Food for thought at the end of that article:

So in all likelihood, the terrorists will continue preparing to mount small-scale swarming assaults along the lines of the Mumbai model. We can't count on detecting or pre-empting all of them. In the wake of such an event, it should be expected that networks of armed Americans would spring up on their own to deter or counter terrorist swarms. Indeed, many in the Tea Party are already calling for the passage of enabling "firearms freedom" acts.

Tea Party favorites would probably sympathize with this self-help view as well. For example, Sen.-elect Rand Paul stated during his campaign that he intended to "fight all attempts at gun control." Sarah Palin's protege in the Alaska Senate race, Joe Miller, had a campaign event last July in which his supporters marched behind a Hummer openly carrying assault weapons.

All of which suggests that the American people are likely to act on their own if government doesn't protect them against the kind of threat that is so clearly looming.

Bet you'd see a whole lot of people embracing their 2nd amendment rights if such an attack occurred on American soil. This article still sticks in my mind from those attacks, particularly the photographer wishing that he had a gun instead of a camera. At least we live in a country where we have that option. Not very many of those left in the world.

 

[Jeff]

How do you think our law enforcement agencies would handle such an attack? I'm sure we'd do better than the Indian LEOs (numerous news articles suggested that the Indian LEOs weren't even returning fire) but are we really prepared for this?

I talked to a LEO a while ago. He said their policies about how to handle an active shooter changed a lot after the Colmnbine shootings. Basically they wait until there is at least two officers and then actively seek out the shooter. Of course that discussion wasn't about a larger scale, multiple gunmen event like Mumbai but I think they do learn from things that happen elsewhere and discuss how to best handle it if it happened here.

 

[av8r]

The part that bothers me is how so many have the option, yet won't act to get a CCW until after something like this happens here.

 

[Tim1]

darkvibe:

My friend in NOLA works security and most of her friends are current or ex LEOs. One of them that went out with us when we did the Bourbon street thing is a firearms instructor for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. Had an interesting conversation with him about the tactics they would use for an active shooter scenario. Same gist as what you got, only difference was he said they wait for three officers before they respond. He was a lot of fun to talk to -- very pro 2A and very much in favor of civilian CCW.

If he is any indication I think our LEOs would be prepared to deal with this on an individual level. The thing that would worry me would be the fog of war -- having a few different teams running around a city engaging in hit and run attacks would have the potential to tie up a lot of manpower clearing buildings where the attackers no longer are. By the time you get your two or three officers they've already moved onto another target. You don't realize it until the radio starts squawking and even then you aren't sure if it's a different team or the one you are looking for.

I take some comfort in the fact that we have armed civilians in our country. What's the percentage of CCW in the general public? How many people did the attackers in Mumbai come across during their rampage? If that had happened in an American city what would the odds be that they came across one or more armed citizens during their attacks?

av8r:

That's just human nature. People don't think something is real until it happens to them or someone close to them. It's not limited to criminal violence. How many people wait until a loved one dies from cancer to try and quit smoking?

 

[av8r]

darkvibe:
av8r:

That's just human nature. People don't think something is real until it happens to them or someone close to them. It's not limited to criminal violence. How many people wait until a loved one dies from cancer to try and quit smoking?

Yup...my point exactly....we all know better, yet we seem to have this self destructive bent....myself included!