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