The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
Quote of the Day
Hat tip to LabRat for this one. The post it comes from is short, but you do need to read the whole thing for context:
The real problem for the women of our society isn’t a lack of self-esteem. It’s a lack of weapons.
And no, I’m not kidding. — The Last Psychiatrist, The APA is Saying the Media is Making Women Really Hot
A Gun and the Willingness to Use It
Vanderleun has the sound track of a 911 call from a woman in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. Donna Jackson had a home intruder who would not stop trying to get in. Listen to the whole thing.
She had a gun. She was willing to use it to defend herself – “I have a shotgun, and I will use it.”
“He’s breaking the window, I’m going to kill him.”
“He looks like an older man. I don’t want to kill him.”
She was calm, clear and collected until after she pulled the trigger.
Having a gun doesn’t mean you’re safe. As Col. Cooper put it, owning a guitar doesn’t make you a musician, either. You need to be willing and able. Donna Jackson met all three conditions. She survived the confrontation. Too many don’t.
The perp was Billy Dean Riley, and was apparently high or drunk. He had a fairly long record of drug and alcohol abuse.
Remember this tape the next time someone tells you that people don’t need guns for self defense and can depend on the State to save them.
. . . when you can’t carry a gun.
I live in Arizona. It tends to be a bit warm here nine months out of the year. And (to put it mildly) I’m on the husky side. My preferred carry piece is a 1911, but it’s tough (for me) to wear clothes that will adequately conceal such a piece, whether it’s my full-sized Kimber Classic, my Para USA Commander-sized Gunblog 45, or my Kimber Ultra CDPII.
Well, conceal it and still give me reasonable access to it.
Recently I’ve been toting a S&W Model 60 2″ snubbie .38 revolver in the front pocket of my jeans, but it’s just a little bit lumpy. My (ex-)boss purchased a Kel-Tec PF9 a while back, and I found that I really liked it – 7+1 rounds of full-house 9mm (+P rated, but not as a steady diet) in a pretty tiny package that still offered reasonable sights.
I picked one up a couple of days ago. I still need to do a “fluff & buff” on it, then run a couple hundred rounds through it, but I think this will easily fill the bill for the gun I carry when I can’t carry a gun. Mine looks just like this one:
The slide is hard-chromed on mine.
Armed Suspect Shot By Upper Darby Delivery Decoy
Upper Darby, PA – An armed suspected was shot in Delaware County after attempting to rob an undercover detective posing as a pizza deliveryman Wednesday night.
Verona Pizza on W. Chester Pike in Upper Darby contacted police after receiving a suspicious delivery order at about 11 p.m.
Delivery drivers at the business have been held up at least three times in recent weeks.
An undercover detective stood in as a decoy, making the delivery near Delaware and South Harwood Avenues. Once at the address, a masked suspect armed with a gun jumped out from the bushes and rushed towards the officer.
Despite a warning, the suspect continued to rush forwards, forcing the detective to fire once shot which struck the suspect in the torso.
The wounded suspect was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in serious, but stable condition. The detective was not injured in the incident.
Following the shooting, police began pursuit of an apparent getaway vehicle. One female suspect was apprehended as she attempted to flee the vehicle. A second male suspect is still on the loose.
The incident remains under investigation.
So in Upper Darby they have a cop dress up as a pizza delivery driver, but in other places the drivers manage to defend themselves.
In Greenville, NC.
In Lexington, SC.
In Des Moines, Iowa. (Interesting follow-up here.)
In Augusta, GA.
In Charlotte, NC.
In Lufkin, TX.
In Irmo, SC.
Damn, gun-toting pizza delivery guys seem to be the rule in the Carolinas!
That’s just a short list I found while using the Violence Policy Center’s greatest research tool, Google. Of those seven incidents (Plus the Upper Darby one), only two would be considered “defensive gun uses” by Arthur Kellermann because in only two of those incidents did the assailant die. Apparently frightening off or wounding doesn’t qualify as a “defensive gun use” to most anti-gunners, someone’s got to die.
Police: Woman In Home Kills Intruder
Mother Of 3 Children Opens Fire On Alleged Robber
ORLANDO, Fla. — Investigators said a mother of three children shot and killed an intruder who was trying to get into her home Tuesday night.
Image by Oleg Volk
And I guess she was compensating for something, too?
(h/t to Zendo Deb for this one, again.)
Another 80 Year-Old Man With Compensation Issues
No charges for man, 80, who shot, killed burglar
GREENSBORO (NC) — An 80-year-old man who shot an intruder inside his apartment will not face criminal charges.
The Guilford County District Attorney’s Office will not charge Charles Haithcock , who fatally shot Michael Lamont Medley Jr. on Oct. 14 .
Haithcock was inside his apartment on 1125 Walnut St. before dawn that morning when Medley, 19, broke in through a window carrying a weapon. Haithcock shot Medley with a handgun while Medley was inside the residence. Medley later died at Moses Cone Hospital.
““The law says that Mr. Haithcock had the right to use deadly force against an intruder that’s in his home when he believes that his own life is in risk, which that belief is pretty reasonable,” said Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann .
Even if Haithcock hadn’t seen a weapon in the suspect’s hand, Neumann said, Haithcock could have used deadly force if he believed that the intruder was about to commit a felony. In this case, Medley was suspected of attempting to commit burglary.
Neumann gathered from evidence that Haithcock was in his bedroom when Medley removed an air conditioning unit from a window and broke into the home. Haithcock heard a noise inside the home near his bedroom. Armed with a .25-caliber handgun, he opened the bedroom door and saw a man holding a weapon. Neumann said Medley had a BB gun.
The elderly man tried to slam the door to his bedroom as the intruder tried to open it. Haithcock blindly fired three times through the door. Medley was shot twice in the torso and once in the head, Neumann said.
No more jokes about .25’s, OK? As with real-estate, defensive shooting is all about location, location, location. Even a .25 to the noggin tends to take the fight out of your opponent.
Thanks to Zendo Deb for the pointer.
I went out to lunch today, planning on visiting a restaurant I haven’t been to in a while, Thunder Canyon Brewery. I don’t drink, but they’ve got pretty decent burgers.
I was stopped by the sign on the door informing me that handguns were not welcome inside, pursuant to the passage of a law that went into effect on Sept. 30 that allows CCW permit holders to carry their firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol, as long as said restaurant does not prohibit such, and as long as the carrier does not consume alcohol.
I started to turn away, but thought better of it. As I’ve noted previously, I carry in my wallet some cards just for incidents of this type:
I went inside and asked for the manager. When he arrived, I introduced myself and handed him a card. “I appreciate your right to put up your sign, but I just wanted you to know that you wouldn’t be getting my business, and I’ll do what I can to make sure others will avoid your business as well,” I said. We exchanged a few more words (pleasantly), and I went on my way.
While waiting for the manager, I noted that there were business cards at the hostess’ desk, so I’d picked one up. His name and email address were on it, so after I got back from lunch – having eaten elsewhere – I dropped him this note:
My name is Kevin Baker. We met this morning when I gave you a small “business card” protesting the posting of a “no guns” sign on the front door of your establishment. Thank you for your time.
If you have an additional moment, I’d like to expand a bit on the short discussion we had before I left. You noted that several of managers of (I assume) other facilities were gun owners, many were CCW permit holders, and “about half” were NRA members, but that you all shared a belief that “guns and alcohol don’t mix.” We agree on that point. I noted that those people who jump through the necessary hoops to get a CCW permit are not the kind of people who are likely to violate the law by drinking while armed. This is one of the points I’d like to expand on.
Can I assume that you are a gun owner? Possibly even the possessor of a CCW permit?
Would you drink while carrying?
Here is my problem with denying me (and others) the ability to carry in your restaurant: I carry a firearm for the protection of myself and (if necessary) others. Like you, I believe that guns and alcohol don’t mix. In order for me to eat in your restaurant, you oblige me to remove my firearm and leave it in my vehicle, not only disarming me but making my firearm vulnerable to being stolen. And you do this because you fear that I might violate the law by drinking alcohol – while armed – in your establishment.
This doesn’t strike you as illogical? It’s OK for me to enter your establishment disarmed, drink, and then go climb into my 3,000lb pickup truck and drive? I’m to be trusted to operate a motor vehicle safely after drinking, but I’m not to be trusted to carry a firearm and not drink?
As I noted this morning, people who are willing to carry a firearm and drink aren’t going to be dissuaded by your sign, they’re going to break the law anyway. But you’ve decided it’s better to disarm me, require me to leave my firearm in my vehicle while I have a burger and fries with friends because, well, I won’t break the law by carrying in a restaurant that has the proper signs displayed.
The argument is ludicrous on its face.
What your sign says is “WE DON’T TRUST YOU, OUR CUSTOMERS.” And it says it to the tiny fraction of the population – those of us with CCW permits – who have been proven to be the most trustworthy.
And for that reason, I won’t give you my business and I’ll encourage others not to either.
Thank you for your attention.
Kevin Baker
Tucson, AZ
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com
We’ll see if he gives me any response.
UPDATE 10/30: I did get a reply.
Kevin,
Thanks for your input, but really it’s a moot point. What I wish I would have said to you is this….The entire Foothills Mall property has not allowed firearms for quite sometime, so this new gun law hasn’t really changed anything as far as Thunder Canyon Brewery is concerned.
We’ve had a couple complaints from gun owners like yourself. We’ve also had people tell us they really appreciate the sign being there.
The reason I put the sign up in the first place was because some guy called me on the phone pissed off that we were even thinking about putting a sign up. He sounded out of his mind and promised me he was going to rush over for lunch, armed, and exercise his right because he wasn’t breaking any laws. Honestly, he sounded nuts. I put the sign up. If he did come in for lunch that day, before I put the sign up, he DID break the law. The Foothills Mall doesn’t allow firmarms(sic) on their property. We’ve decided to leave the signs up for the time being so there would not be confusion or contradiction between the Foothills Mall policy and our own.
I actually think that you and I agree on most things regarding all the issues being brought up. There are a couple of points I would disagree with however, the first being the “jumping through the necessary hoops to get a CCW”. There aren’t really many hoops. Take a class (the test is easy), hit a target 7 out of 10 times (hopefully easy if you’re a gun owner), and pass a backround(sic) check (should be easy). Everyone I’ve ever talked to has said there were people in their CCW class that they felt shouldn’t get a CCW based soley on the weird(sic) questions and situations they brought up. To say that EVERYONE who has a CCW “has proven to be the most trustworthy” is a little optimistic at least.
But it is statistically proven that CCW carriers are more law-abiding as a group than (*gasp!*) police officers.
Next, I’d like you to put yourself in my situation. I’ll give you some backround(sic). TCB is an independent business. We’re not corperate(sic). We lose a lawsuit, we’re through. 75 people lose there(sic) jobs. Let’s say someone is sitting at the bar. They have their CCW and are carrying a firearm, not drinking. A dangerous situation arises and they feel that someone elses(sic) life is in danger so they draw there(sic) weapon. A number of things could happen:
1. They shoot and kill the suspect…..they’re a hero
2. They shoot and kill the suspect but the bullet exits the suspect and hits someone else (if we don’t have a “No Firearms Sign” up, we get sued)
3. They miss the suspect and hit someone else (we get sued)
4. The suspect sees the CCW owner draw his weapon and begins shooting (we get sued)
5. The suspect starts shooting up your (unarmed) clientele. You get sued for disarming them and not providing other security.
It’s a no-win situation.
You see where I’m going? Sure, I’d love to have plain clothes police officers (we actually quite often do, a number of them are regulars) in the restaurant all the time protecting me, our employees, and our guests from dangerous situations. Do I want civilians playing the same role? The simple answer is no.
Ah, yes. Somehow drawing a .gov paycheck imbues the recipient with magical powers far beyond those of mere mortals! (Actually, it does – it’s called sovereign immunity.)
And as far as you needing to be armed while you dine at TCB? I’ve been there 12 years and never felt un-safe. If you feel it’s so un-safe that you can’t dine there unarmed, then don’t dine there. I wouldn’t dine anywhere (or work for that matter) I felt unsafe either.
You feel safe walking to your car at the end of the day? Possibly carrying the day’s receipts for night deposit? Can you tell me, honestly, where I will never need to carry? It would make my life easier. It’s far simpler just to carry everywhere than it is to put it on, take it off, put it on, take it off . . . .
And, a Breda puts it, “Carry your gun. It’s a lot lighter burden than regret.”
I won’t be carrying it to your restaurant.
Another Sign We’re Winning
Another incident that makes Paul Helmke a Sad Panda. Verbatim from Instapundit:
SCENES FROM A NEW AMERICA: So I dropped the girls off at a movie, and — since the Insta-wife was lunching with her mom — stopped at a Sonny’s Barbecue for lunch. A man — late 40s, big, with a wife and a daughter — came in with an empty holster on his belt. As he sat down at the booth next to mine, the manager came by and asked him if he’d left his gun in the car. Yes, said the man, who had a permit but thought he wasn’t allowed to carry in restaurants in Tennessee.. Well, they’ve changed the law, said the manager, and if you want to go get it that’s fine with us. It’s legal now, and I’m happy to have you carrying — if somebody tries to rob me, it’s two against one.
The man stepped outside and returned with a Springfield XD in the holster, chatted with the manager for a bit about guns, and then sat down and had lunch with his family.
Note that no children, homeless persons, nor other innocents were harmed by this customer.
During the Apollo 13 “event” when an oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded, the microphones in the capsule were on VOX – they were voice-activated, and every word spoken in the capsule went out live over the air. The language got a little bit salty, as the crew attempted to determine what the problem was, how badly they were damaged, and how they should respond to the situation.
It was 1970. Some people complained.
Once the astronauts were returned safely to the Earth, they received a reprimand for their language. As I recall, during a speech the mission commander, James Lovell, told the crowd about this and dismissed the complaint with the explanation, “It was not a ‘gosh darn’ situation.”
Unix-Jedi sent me an email this evening of a story out of (formerly) Great Britain. It could only have come from there:
A man who threatened to stab four police officers in the heart and held a two-hour stand-off is launching legal action because a police sergeant swore at him.
The sergeant has been sent to a Management Advice course and Northumbria Police face the threat of a civil action from the 35-year-old thug, who had to be subdued with a Taser gun.
When officers arrived at Glen Francis’ home to arrest his girlfriend, he erupted in rage and targeted a female officer who was standing guard in his hallway.
He hurled a bowl of pasta at her before officers claim he held her captive in his house and threatened to shoot her with a handgun he hid in a cupboard.
She escaped, but when back-up arrived, Francis lunged at the officers with a six-inch knife, before the 35-year-old was shot twice with a Taser gun.
But he simply pulled the metal barbs from his skin and continued his savage attack.
Then he barricaded himself into a room at the address in Ambassador’s Way, North Shields, where he used a hammer to smash the walls, and screamed: ‘The first copper in here is getting f****** killed, come on, I only want one of you.’
After a two-hour stand-off with trained negotiators, armed officers stormed his kitchen and Tasered him a further three times before he was eventually arrested and taken into custody.
Un-fucking-believable. (Sue me.)
But that’s not the best part!
Francis claimed he was stripped of his clothes and handcuffed on a cell floor.
Those allegations have been thrown-out following an investigation by the Northumbria Police Professional Standards Department (PSD).
But they substantiated his claim a sergeant was guilty of misconduct because he swore at Francis, and he was ordered to undergo a Management Advice course.
Why do people want to be police officers in the UK? I can’t think of a more thankless job. But wait! There’s more!
Francis, now of Wallsend, North Tyneside, said he was discussing legal action with his solicitor and planned to lodge a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
He said: ‘I was a toe-rag when I was younger, but I’m trying to go straight.
Aren’t they always?
‘I’m really scared of the police now – I’m like a bag of nerves.
You should have been afraid of them before you threatened to stab them, but given the restrictions they operate under, I can understand why you weren’t. Don’t try to convince us now that just because they tasered you, bro, that they frighten you now.
‘I want to take legal action because they just get a telling off for what they did.
‘It was an insult when I heard how the officer who swore at me got off – it upset me to hear someone say that.
No, you want to sue them because you think it will get you some free money you can use to buy more drugs and another knife, or maybe this time you’ll actually move up to a gun.
‘I’ve got a hole in my heart and they used a Taser, which could have killed me.’
Awwww. Too bad it didn’t.
Documents from the PSD state the sergeant was pushed into making an ‘inappropriate comment’ following Francis’ tirade of abuse.
It states: ‘The police officer openly admits he made the inappropriate comment about Mr Francis after the strip search had been conducted.
‘He admits this was unprofessional, although it was never his intention for Mr Francis to hear this comment.
‘He stipulates this comment was a result of the violence and abuse from Mr Francis.’
Gee, ya THINK? I’m actually surprised that Mr Francis was the recipient of only harsh language, myself.
Following the incident in February 2008, Francis was charged with offences of false imprisonment, threats to kill and affray.
During a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in September he was found guilty of affray and received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
In other words, he walked.
Way to go Crown Prosecution Service. Let me re-quote Theodore Dalrymple:
(British police are) a nearly defeated occupying colonial force that, while mayhem reigns everywhere else, has retreated to safe enclaves, there to shuffle paper and produce bogus information to propitiate its political masters. Their first line of defense is to refuse to record half the crime that comes to their attention, which itself is less than half the crime committed. Then they refuse to investigate recorded crime, or to arrest the culprits even when it is easy to do so and the evidence against them is overwhelming, because the prosecuting authorities will either decline to prosecute, or else the resultant sentence will be so trivial as to make the whole procedure (at least nineteen forms to fill in after a single arrest) pointless.
And here you have a classic example.
Francis underwent an operation in January to repair his heart, which was defective since birth.
So he waited 35 years for heart surgery in England’s much-vaunted “free” healthcare system?
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: ‘Francis was convicted of affray in court. If any civil action is received it will be considered in the usual manner.’
Read: “Ignored.”
Simon Reed, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the case ‘typifies the bureaucratic nonsense police officers have to contend with.’
Which may be the understatement of the Century, but the Century is yet young.
AND, linked in that story, comes this heartwarmer:
I was just trying to protect my family: Man arrested after yobs attack stepson speaks out
A businessman arrested for attempted murder after confronting yobs who were attacking his stepson yesterday said he had to act to protect his family.
Colin Philpott, 58, said he reacted instinctively when he allegedly stabbed one of the youths with a letter opener.
He had picked up the opener as he raced outside to help Alex Lee, 25, who was being kicked on the ground.
Uh-oh – that’s premeditation!
Speaking to the Daily Mail yesterday, just hours after he was released by police, Mr Philpott said: ‘I don’t think I had any option but to do what I did. I was trying to protect my family.’
You didn’t even have that option. The society you live in cannot differentiate between “violent and predatory” and “violent but protective,” so they make you an unwilling, unarmed victim and punish you for transgressing.
Teenager Josh Hasler ended up in hospital after suffering five stab wounds – one of which punctured his lung. He will spend his 17th birthday in hospital today after having surgery on Saturday night.
Mr Philpott, who runs a contract cleaning company, was released on bail pending inquiries and will have to return to police in September to learn his fate.
Well, if he gets Judge Shirley Anwyl he’s in deep trouble. She’s the one who sentenced Brett Osborne to five years for a similar stabbing, only the drug-crazed intruder in that incident died. Barrister Harry Potter (who I’m sure regrets the popularity of the books with that hero as the leading character) explained the law back in 2004:
“The law,” explains Harry Potter, the barrister who, with Charles Bott, would defend Osborn, “does not require the intention to kill for a prosecution for murder to succeed. All that is required is an intention to cause serious bodily harm. That intention can be fleeting and momentary. But if it is there in any form at all for just a second – that is, if the blow you struck was deliberate rather than accidental – you can be guilty of murder and spend the rest of your life in prison.
“Moreover,” Mr Potter continues, “while self-defence is a complete defence to a charge of murder, the Court of Appeal has ruled that if the force you use is not judged to have been reasonable – if a jury, that is, decides it was disproportionate – then you are guilty of murder. A conviction for murder automatically triggers the mandatory life sentence. There are no exceptions.”
Mr. Philpott deliberately picked up that letter-opener and deliberately stabbed “Teenager Josh Hasler” at least five times.
Mr. Philpott is fooked.
If he is charged with attempted murder he could face a lengthy jail term.
Like five years, if he fears the jury would find him guilty and his lawyer convinces him to cop a plea.
Last night Mr Philpott and his wife Susanne, 51, told how his upmarket neighbourhood in Crowthorne, Berkshire, had been plagued by gangs of drunk teenagers.
He said that in the last few months both he and his neighbours had had to call police several times to make complaints.
Mr Philpott said: ‘There has been a number of incidents in the street with drunk groups of teenagers being noisy and generally a nuisance. They have caused some acts of minor vandalism too. Two years ago my stepdaughter had her car window smashed.
‘I and some other neighbours have called the police before to report problems. I assume the police reacted to those complaints although they never got back in touch.’
See the Theodore Dalrymple quote above.
Late on Friday night, while in bed, his stepson Mr Lee heard a disturbance outside in the cul-de-sac.
Along with his mother, he opened the front door to discover a gang of five 16 and 17-year-old males kicking his stepfather’s work van on the road.
‘He had gone out to confront them,’ said Mr Philpott. ‘He tried to speak to them and they attacked him, punching and kicking him to the ground.
He suffered a broken nose and concussion. I was asleep in bed but I was woken up by the noise. I came downstairs and went outside.
‘When I appeared on the scene they set about me and I reacted. One of the youths suffered stab wounds.
Note the passive voice. Not “I stabbed one of the youths” but “it just magically happened.”
I asked my wife to call the police and ambulance. The group continued being abusive towards me and making threats.
But after one of them got stabbed they stopped assaulting him and his stepson.
‘As soon as the police arrived I was arrested. I was treated very well by the police, I have no complaints. It was very traumatic at the time but I am calmer now.’
And facing jail time.
Mother-of-two Mrs Philpott, a training consultant, spoke of the horror she had witnessed outside her £500,000 five-bedroom home.
Envy, anyone?
‘One of them said that he would kill me and burn down my house,’ she said. ‘I was terrified and when Alex tried to calm him down, the other four got worked up and they all attacked him.
‘Alex ended up on the ground with all five of them on him, kicking him in the head and stomach. I was so frightened for him I screamed for Colin, who was in bed.
‘He came running out – still barefoot and half asleep – and saw the mess Alex was in so ran back into the house. He grabbed the first thing he saw, which was a letter-opener, and confronted the boys.
There was the mistake – nobody should confront criminals. It might encourage them.
Anthony Burgess was a prophet.
I was in such a state of panic that I couldn’t do anything to help. I was glued to the spot in terror.
In the blink of an eye, the lads attacked Colin and I saw one stumble into the road as Colin screamed for me to call the police and ambulance. It was all so surreal.
‘When the police arrived and arrested Colin, I was gobsmacked. It was heartbreaking to see him handcuffed and carted off like a common criminal.
Why? He’d violated the social contract by resisting! What else would you expect?
‘He is a hardworking, honest family man and was only trying to protect us.’
He’s not qualified! And he’ll submit to punishment!
Five local youths, aged 16 and 17, were arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage. All have been released on bail.
And face, at best, the dreaded ASBO. (Again, see the Dalrymple quote.)
Yesterday at Josh Hasler’s home on an estate in nearby Ascot, a female relative said the teenager was ‘doing OK’ in hospital.
‘His worst injury was a punctured lung but that has been repaired,’ she added.
It is not clear whether the teenager has been in trouble with police before but on his Bebo social networking webpage, he admits being involved in an array of anti-social behaviours.
In a question and answer section it states:
* Ever beaten someone up? Answer: Yep
* Ever shoplifted? Yep
* Do you drink: Always
But he’s trying to get straight!
Thames Valley Police Superintendent Steve Kirk said: ‘We believe there was some kind of assault and criminal damage offences before the incident took place involving a group of youths which left a 25-year-old man with a broken nose.’
He appealed for anyone with information to contact police.
Yeah, like that’ll happen. Especially when any potential witnesses know that their homes might unfortunately burn down in the middle of the night under suspicious circumstances that won’t be solved.
Quote of the Day
Thirty-two people were murdered and more wounded by one s.o.b. at Virginia Tech, because of the hundreds of people who saw Seung-Ho Cho walk by them no one, not one, fought back.
Holing up in the room waiting for the door to be kicked in so you can stand unarmed between a gunman and your family is a senseless and cowardly way to die. Frankly. It is pathetic that your entire life (and that of your family) led up to the moment of being slaughtered because you (and they) did nothing to prevent it.
I would rather my life end in a fight in the hall or doorway with an empty and dented fire extinguisher than found in pieces on a blood smattered hotel wall and bed with my wife, while the gunman walked to the next room and did it again.
— Straight Forward in a Crooked World, Dark Arts for Good Guys Series: Fight & Flight, Pt. II