Thursday, December 3, 2015

Sudden Jihad Syndrome comes to California


I deliberately withheld comment on yesterday's tragic mass shooting in California until the facts were more clear.  Now that they are, the conclusions to be drawn from them are precisely the same as those to be drawn from other, similar incidents elsewhere (both in the USA and overseas).

  1. You can't predict when, where or how the threat may arise.  The latest attackers were "living the American dream", according to family and friends.  Clearly, their version of that dream was more like a nightmare to the rest of us.
  2. Your only chance of survival is to be equipped and prepared to evade and/or escape and/or resist, whichever is most appropriate under the circumstances in which you find yourself.  Simply standing or lying around like sheep waiting to be slaughtered is going to get you precisely that - and halal, too.
  3. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.  When the proverbial brown substance hits the rotary air impeller, you are the first responder for yourself, your family and your friends.  No-one else is likely to do it for you.

Ignore all the talking heads trying to portray yesterday's events as 'workplace violence'.  It wasn't.  It was a classic example of Sudden Jihad Syndrome.  Anyone trying to massage the facts to fit another political, social or ideological agenda instantly identifies themselves as a liar.  Most of the mass media talking heads are already branded as such, out of their own mouths, but it's surprising how many of them still rush to confirm the judgment.

Furthermore, the left-wing/progressive call for those on terror watch lists - individuals who have not been convicted of any crime - to have their right to legally buy firearms suspended, is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.  Was either of the perpetrators yesterday on a terror watch list?  Obviously not . . . at least, judging by the fact they were allowed to fly back to the USA from Saudi Arabia, and the male terrorist's new wife was allowed to stay in this country.  A no-fly-list ban on legal arms purchases wouldn't have inconvenienced them at all - so why do their actions suddenly justify more pressure for such an unconstitutional measure?  "Never mind the facts!  We've got to DO something!" just about sums it up.

(Also, please note that suspending individuals' right to legally buy firearms will do nothing whatsoever to prevent them getting their hands on them anyway.  America is awash with firearms, and private sales - with no background checks - are the order of the day.  I daresay I've bought half a dozen firearms this year from or through dealers, with a background check.  I've bought and sold at least three times as many privately, in deals with complete strangers, all of us quite happy to do business with each other with no background check whatsoever.  To try to ban such private transactions would be pointless.  Who's going to enforce the ban, and how?  Millions upon millions of Americans would lift a finger to Big Brother and retort, "Who asked you to butt in?"  Mass civil disobedience instantly became the order of the day in New York and Connecticut when oppressive, unconstitutional firearms laws and regulations were passed in those states.  What makes the moonbats think it wouldn't spread from coast to coast if they tried to pursue such measures nationwide?

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of yesterday's tragedy . . . particularly because they lived in a State with some of the most oppressive, ridiculously restrictive firearms laws in the nation, and those laws did nothing whatsoever to protect them or save their lives.  In fact, those laws probably prevented them from having the ability to defend themselves in the only effective way possible.  Against a gun, you need another gun - and you need it now.  There's no time to go home and get it out of your safe, load it, and bring it back to work.  It's now or never - or, in this case, now or death.

If we take any lessons from yesterday's attack, let it be those I highlighted at the beginning of this article.  If you live in a city or state that interferes with your right and ability to defend yourself against such an attack, you need to begin organizing right now to have those restrictive laws and regulations removed or amended . . . because if you don't, you or a loved one might find yourself on some Sudden Jihadi's target list.

Finally, assuming laws and regulations in your area allow you to defend yourself, you need to purchase the means to do so and get training and ongoing practice in how to use it effectively, efficiently and legally.  As the late, great Jeff Cooper pointed out, "Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician."  Words of wisdom.  Heed them.

Peter

11 comments:

Bruce said...

Amen, brother.

raven said...

It sounds like the murderers were fairly well prepared, as if they had been getting ready for a while for an attack of this nature.

Guffaw in AZ said...

Bruce beat me to it.
Regardless, AMEN!

gfa

graylady said...

I believe we were lucky. From the explosives/bomb making materials found in their home, this couple was obviously preparing for a much larger, more comprehensive series of terror attacks. The husband lost his temper/control with his co-workers and went jihadi before those controlling and supplying them had planned. We are lucky we only lost 14 people, and not 1,400 or 14,000.

Old NFO said...

I would only disagree on one point Peter, this was not 'sudden'. This was well planned in advance, probably MONTHS in advance... I don't know many folks that have spare pipe bombs just lying around...

Eric Wilner said...

Well... it was 'sudden' in the sense of not having blatant advance warning. He was always such a nice boy!
I perceive an anomaly here. There's a suggestion that he was part of a larger network - lots of suspicious characters coming and going before the event. So, perhaps he was supposed to be part of a coordinated attack later on. But: according to some accounts, when he left the gathering in a huff (insert Groucho quote here), his wife was already on the way, primed for battle. This doesn't sound like he just lost his temper and went off half-cocked on the spur of the moment. Something here just doesn't add up. Was the attack tentatively planned before he lost his temper?
Not only was he not on the no-fly list, he was apparently a government employee (though the information making the rounds seems contradictory, and there may be two similarly-named individuals in that county).
Self-defense reform in California ain't happening any time soon, regardless of court rulings. The political culture and the Deep State won't allow it.

Uncle Lar said...

Peter,

I've been busy today making a few points anywhere the anti gun crowd is posting their mantra of a few "sensible" gun laws,

Here's the gist of it:

This happened in San Bernadino California where they already have most of the strict gun control measures the gun banners lust after inflicting on the rest of us.

The state of California requires:
Universal background checks
a ten day waiting period on all purchases
a ban on large capacity magazines
severe restrictions on a number of assault type weapons
handguns must be on an approved list for purchase
And a host of other laws, none of which did squat to prevent this latest shooting.
But then neither did all the laws and regulations in Paris which are even stricter on civilian ownership.

Confront the gun banners with these simple truths.
At the very least you'll get them to admit that total confiscation is their true ultimate goal.

VSteven said...

Thanks for your usual insight. Please pardon me but I plagiarized a paragraph since I could not have said it better. As far as I'm concerned, your comments must be understood by the voting electorate or the San Bernardino incident will be the spark for similar tragedies. It will give similar radical Islamists an incentive to do likewise.

Jon said...

I've already laid down the law to my wife and children. No theaters, no malls, especially no gun free zones.

We are over due for the concealed carry class. We're getting that fixed in January after we move.

Larry Correia has some good insights at his site. Even if all I am is a speed bump to these guys, if that means survival for my family, then Yippee-kay-yay. :)

Stu Garfath. Toukley, Australia. said...

On November 23, here in Sydney Australia, a very disturbing event occurred.
Four youths were on a train running from the major terminus in Sydney, Central Railway Station. Screen monitors at Central saw passengers getting off the train holding items of clothing over their mouths and faces, and at least one passenger slumped to the ground, as shown on cctv.
It was fairly quickly established that an unknown (at the time) chemical substance was affecting passengers, but that was pretty much all.
As the news reporter said on camera, within two (2) hours, Police were able to apprehend the group of four as they were resting on a railway platform.
I have no idea of what the outcomes are, but, note the words of the reporter.
'WITHIN TWO HOURS".....
Good God Almighty!, TWO HOURS!, it is beyond imagination what the results would have been had they been armed, because NO CITIZEN, can go about armed, with a gun, can of hairspray, stick or whatever, here in Australia, and the laws regarding the carrying of offensive weapons, instruments, sprays etc, are so convoluted that it would be prohibitively expensive to argue your case to do so here in our legal system, it is way, way beyond the affordability of the average taxpayer.
Finally, except in a known threat situation, there are NO armed guards on New South Wales trains, and what guards there DO NOT have any defensive/offensive capability, NO pepper spray, no batons, NOTHING!.
The Guards are not allowed to leave their small cubicle in the train, pretty much no matter what.
If ít' happens on a packed suburban Sydney train, ít' will make Paris look like a small rehearsal before the main event.

Stu Garfath. Australia. said...

I neglected to say that the four IDIOTS were spraying Capsicum/Pepper spray as they walked up and down the carriage aisles.

They said it was 'just a harmless prank'!.
I wonder what the outcome might've been had they done this in New York, Chicago or any other large and populous American city's train system, no prizes for guessing the answer to that one!.