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Fort Hood shooting reveals shortcomings of institutionalized political correctness

November 6, 9:55 AMSeattle Gun Rights ExaminerDave Workman
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   Out of the carnage committed by a lone gunman armed with two handguns at Fort Hood on Thursday, there was one refreshing moment of total candor, if not downright common sense.
   An observation to a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Staff Sgt. Jacob Dorisca of Dallas suggests why it is that many people consider the Army to be run by sergeants, and rightly so. According to the newspaper, “Dorisca wondered whether the slayings would lead Fort Hood’s commanding general to rethink the policy of requiring soldiers to remain unarmed while on post.”
   What occurred at Fort Hood is not a “tragedy” as it is being portrayed in the politically-correct media and political arenas. What happened at Fort Hood is an outrage, and while politicians and the press, and even some (not all) members of The High Road gun rights forum are dancing around the issue of the suspect’s religion, others are not so shy.
 
Dorisca wondered whether the slayings would lead Fort Hood’s commanding general to rethink the policy of requiring soldiers to remain unarmed while on post. Only military police are allowed to carry firearms.
 
   How the fundamentalist Islamic religious beliefs of alleged shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan may have played a role in the crime must be examined, and they are certainly open to discussion. It should be really no different, or any more off-limits, than a discussion about the disputes between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland a generation ago. (Broadcast and print reports were quick to note that at least one of the guns used in this attack was "a semiautomatic," but they were rather reluctant to mention the suspect's religious background.)
   However, Staff Sgt. Dorisca’s observation also deserves some scrutiny, and the subject can only be underscored by what seemed a rather odd question posed by reporters to various Fort Hood spokesmen: How did Major Hasan get firearms onto a military base?
   Take a moment to think about the absurdity of such a question. Fort Hood is, after all, a huge military installation with tens of thousands of soldiers. The place is full of guns; tightly-regulated, perhaps, but there is no shortage of small arms firepower on any military post. For a reporter to wonder about this is perhaps as mind-numbing as asking how a rogue doctor got some pills in a hospital. Only among people to whom the notion of firearms possession and ownership is an alien concept would such a question seem relevant.
 
An investigation will determine how the shooter brought guns onto the base, where, like at all U.S. military installations, firearms are kept secured unless they are needed for training or security work.-- Washington Post 
 
   At this writing, it is not clear whether the handguns used were Hasan’s personal sidearms, or whether at least one of them was not an Army-issued pistol.
   Col. John Rossi told the Washington Post that Army personnel are permitted to keep privately-owned firearms ‘in accordance with local gun laws.” Those firearms must be registered with the post authorities. To his lasting credit, he was candid and matter-of-fact about this. (He should be applauded for not head-slapping a reporter and saying something like: "Look around, dummy. This is an Army post. There's at least one gun for every soldier here.")
   My colleagues David Codrea and Daniel White both write about the Fort Hood attack today, and their observations are worth reading.
   Equally compelling are my colleague Howard Nemerov’s observations this morning. His take on Fort Hood: Death by gun control, and St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner Kurt Hofmann weighs in here as well.
   Staff Sgt. Dorisca’s remarks to the Star-Telegram were underscored by a remark attributed to Spc. Jerry Richard in the Washington Times, who noted, “Overseas you are ready for it. But here you can’t even defend yourself.”
   It took the quick reaction of a civilian police officer identified as Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley. She reportedly shot Hasan four times before he wounded her, but it apparently brought his rampage to a halt.
 
Overseas you are ready for it. But here you can't even defend yourself."-- Spc. Jerry Richard
 
   On America’s largest military post, with thousands of soldiers, perhaps the real question here should be how was it that Hasan was only shot four times, rather than 40 or maybe even 400 times? During press briefings, Col. Rossi and post commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone both seem like tough, honest, no-nonsense men who lead legions of warriors; people with the skill and training to fight back, so long as they have the tools for the job.
   Eighteen years ago in nearby Killeen, a raving lunatic named George Hennard opened fire at Luby’s cafeteria with a pair of 9mm pistols, killing 22 people and wounding 17 others before taking his own life. Texas changed its concealed carry laws because of that massacre.
   There may be a lesson in that.
 
More from Gun Rights Examiners 

Atlanta: Ed Stone |  Austin: Howard Nemerov |  Boston: Ron Bokleman |  Charlotte: Paul Valone |  Cheyenne: Anthony Bouchard | Chicago: Don Gwinn |  Cleveland: Daniel White |  DC: Mike Stollenwerk |  Denver: Dan Bidstrup |  Grand Rapids: Skip Coryel |  Los Angeles: John Longenecker |  Minneapolis: John Pierce |  National: David Codrea |  Phoenix: Douglas Little | Seattle: Dave Workman |  St. Louis: Kurt Hofmann |  Wisconsin: Gene German
 
 
And Don’t forget to visit:
 
 
 
 
 

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