C.o.T.M.

This was forwarded to me from a JBS friend in my 912 group--also a vet--PastorFritz

There is a lot of information here!

Thought some of you might be interested in a CONSERVATIVE take on Fort Hood shootings by an enemy combatant!!!!!

--- On Mon, 11/9/09, Philip Van Cleave wrote:

Date: Monday, November 9, 2009, 9:40 AM

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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html

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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html

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VCDL Update 11/9/09

1. Fort Hood: more needless deaths in a gun-free zone

2. But for heroes, bloodbath could have been worse

3. Army to review gun policies for all bases

4. VCDL President on Armed American Radio rescheduled for Nov 15

5. Who needs a gun at a Culpeper grocery store?

6. Lynchburg's gun surrender event yields no guns

7. Who needs a gun at a Halloween party?

8. Anti-gun Brady Campaign wants 100 cosponsors by January

9. Time will only prove folly of new gun law for U.S. National Parks

10. A visit to the AAF Tank Museum

11. No charges in accidental death at Rampart Range firing range

12. VA-ALERT reader responds to safety of .357 Sig ammunition

13. Reminder: VCDL to address Portsmouth Mayor on Tuesday, November 10 at 7 PM

14. Richmond meeting - full house!

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1. Fort Hood: more needless deaths in a gun-free zone

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Dennis O'Connor wrote this about the massacre at Fort Hood. If you have not served in the military, this will come as a real shock:

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When many people think of an army fort, it conjures up images of a tightly defended military base secure from outside threats, maybe with platoons of stern-faced, disciplined, and experienced troopers on the parapets or at the gates with rifles at the ready.

Last week a lone terrorist with two handguns moved too easily among the soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, Texas, wreaking death and destruction. By the time he was done, thirteen were dead and forty-two injured. How could that happen on an army post full of trained combat veterans and marksmen?

The sad fact is that most military installations are soft targets, much as we think of nursing homes, hospitals, and schools. As a federal installation, most military forts generally prohibit guns to be carried around the post. Sure there are lots of military weapons, but they are all locked up tightly in company arms rooms. And while rifles and pistols are routinely issued and carried by soldiers during all sorts of training exercises and events, they are unloaded. The only time ammunition is usually issued is during scheduled firing range qualification, which for most soldiers in non-combat jobs or units has historically been one or two days a year.

Soldiers who want to purchase their own firearms with which to train or carry for self-defense are severely restricted. Those who live on post must register their firearms, and those who live in barracks must turn their guns over to be locked up in the unit arms room with the military arms.

What about drawing the firearm to take target shooting or go hunting? Fine, except it cannot be carried loaded or conveniently across the installation. Here is an excerpt from Fort Hood's policy, which is generally reflective of the policies of most military installations:

Transport of Weapons

a. Individuals must transport firearms unloaded and in a compartment separate from the ammunition. Only privately owned vehicles are authorized for the transport of privately owned weapons and ammunition.

b. Weapons in automobiles must be transported in the trunk or other area, such as the bed of a pickup truck covered by a cap, inaccessible to persons in the passenger compartment. Weapons and ammmunition will be transported separately.

So you can't use a taxi to buy ammo? Guess if you own a gun, you'd better own a car too! And forget about carrying for self-defense. Seems the army either isn't confident of the training it provides, or just doesn't trust the soldiers.

These restrictions are of the sort you routinely see in the most anti-gun cities.

Army forts are unarmed victim zones, just like schools and other venues where disarmed people have been made easy prey. As an army retiree, I think of this every time I have to disarm myself to use the facilities at nearby Fort Lee.

So it was sadly predictable and inevitable that our "armed" forces, their families and the people that support them would become mass murder victims, just like those at Columbine or Virginia Tech, where perfect models of gun control also failed.

[PVC: I also note that on a military base with tons of rifles (all locked up), this battle was fought and settled using only handguns. None of the good guys had a rifle handy.]

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Stephen P Wenger emailed me article:

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The top commander at Fort Hood is crediting a civilian police officer for stopping the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at the Texas post. Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said Friday that Fort Hood police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire Thursday afternoon. Cone said Munley shot the gunman four times despite being shot herself. Officials said Munley was in stable condition. Cone said, "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer." Cone also said he was inspired by a woman who helped carry a wounded victim and used her blouse as a tourniquet, then later realized she'd been shot in the hip. The suspected gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is hospitalized on a ventilator. (Military personnel are generally disarmed on their own bases unless they are participating in live-fire training. As in civilian life, such prohibitions do not affect committed criminals).

http://tinyurl.com/yco3gyr

www.washingtonpost.com

By JEFF CARLTON

The Associated Press

Friday, November 6, 2009 6:13 PM

Officer praised for taking down suspected gunman

KILLEEN, Texas -- A civilian police officer is being praised for taking down a man suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood when she shot him in the torso.

Police officials say after arriving at the scene of Thursday's gunfire, Sgt. Kimberly Munley saw the suspect and started firing at him.

Munley's boss, Chuck Medley, told The Associated Press on Friday that Hasan then spun around and charged at her with a gun in each hand.

Medley says Munley shot the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, in the upper torso, allowing officers to take him into custody. Medley says in the exchange of gunfire, Munley was shot in the thighs and wrist.

The 34-year-old Munley is from Pennsylvania, used to be in the Army and is married to a Fort Bragg, N.C. soldier.

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2. But for heroes, bloodbath could have been worse

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Many brave soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood risked their lives to save others from the cowardly acts of a deranged madman.

http://tinyurl.com/ydqeamu

www.google.com

Allen G Breed and Jeff Carlton

November 6, 2009

(SNIP)

FORT HOOD, Texas Pfc. Marquest Smith, on his way to Afghanistan in January, was completing routine paperwork about a bee-sting allergy when the sounds erupted.

A loud, popping noise. Moans. The sudden, urgent shout of "Gun!"

Smith poked his head over the cubicle's partition and saw an extraordinary sight: An Army officer with two guns, firing into the crowded room.

The 21-year-old Fort Worth native quickly grabbed the civilian worker who'd been helping with his paperwork and forced her under the desk. He lay low for several minutes, waiting for the shooter to run out of ammunition and wishing he, too, had a gun.

After the shooter stopped to reload, Smith made a run for it. Pushing two other soldiers in front of him, he made it out of the Soldier Readiness Processing center only to plunge into the building twice more to help the wounded.

Smith had survived the worst mass shooting on an American military base, a rampage that left 13 dead and 30 wounded, including the alleged shooter, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

It could have been much worse, but for the heroics of Smith and others like the 19-year-old private who ignored her own wounds, and the diminutive civilian police officer who single-handedly took down Hasan.

"Unfortunately over the past eight years, our Army has been no stranger to tragedy," said a somber Gen. George Casey, Army chief of staff. "But we are an Army that draws strength from adversity. And hearing the stories of courage and heroism that I heard today makes me proud to be the leader of this great Army."

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3. Army to review gun policies for all bases

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The tragic events at Fort Hood have forced the Army to examine their "Gun Free" policies at all bases worldwide.

http://tinyurl.com/yadnhrp

www.bnd.com

Anna M. Tinsley and Aman Batheja

November 7, 2009

One day after a shooter opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. ordered a review of all force protection policies at Army bases worldwide.

Thursday's shooting, he said during a briefing at Fort Hood, was a "kick in the gut."

Casey's announcement comes after questions were raised about base security and why soldiers couldn't protect themselves where they live and work.

"There will be an investigation, a look at the whole policy, but Congress should not step in and try to change the policy," said U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas.

Each branch of the military sets a policy on whether guns may be carried on bases. Private guns are not allowed on Army bases or at facilities such as the Naval Air Station Fort Worth.

Soldiers generally carry weapons on base only when there is a reason, such as a training exercise or a trip to the firing range. Personal weapons are registered with authorities on the base and stored until they are signed out.

"This base, and other bases, these are people's homes," Granger said. "So there are people who are armed on base - military police, security guards - but not in their homes, their schools or, in this case, the deployment area."

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, is among those wondering whether that is the right policy. "The investigation at Fort Hood is still ongoing, and Congressman Burgess believes that answers are needed before conclusions can be drawn and action can be taken on related issues," said Lauren Bean, a Burgess spokeswoman.

Thursday's shooting revived the debate about gun rules for military bases. Currently, concealed-handgun laws such as the one in Texas do not apply on military bases.

Suzanna Hupp, a former state representative whose parents were among the Killeen, Texas, Luby's massacre victims in 1991, said allowing soldiers on base to carry arms would not prevent attacks like Thursday's but would likely reduce the damage.

"Of course the element of surprise was a probably valuable tool for a creep like this," Hupp said. "You're not going to prevent somebody from killing those first couple of people ... but after that ... it could have ended much, much, much sooner."

Hupp said the issue wouldn't be addressed while the Obama administration is in power.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a gun rights advocate, said that the policies at military bases should be up to military officials but that a review makes sense.

"I'm not saying the policy should change ... but again we have an example of a shooter going to a target-rich environment where he knew that no one was there who could resist," he said.

Gun control groups quickly pointed to the Fort Hood shooting as a reason to stiffen gun control laws.

"This latest tragedy, at a heavily fortified Army base, ought to convince more Americans to reject the argument that the solution to gun violence is to arm more people with more guns in more places," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

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4. VCDL President on Armed American Radio rescheduled for Nov 15

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Due to illness, the show scheduled for November 2 will now be aired on November 15 from 8 PM to 9 PM.

http://tinyurl.com/yzq6hjt

armedamericanradio.com

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

(SNIP)

Phil Van Cleave of the Virgina Citizens Defense League (VCDL) will be back on Armed American Radio with me since not being able to join me on the 11-01-2009 broadcast. Phil will have a lot to discuss, especially on the heels of the Republican victories of Tuesday 11-3-2009.

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5. Who needs a gun at a Culpeper grocery store?

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Just give the bad guys what they want and you will be OK? That advice certainly didn't work in this case.

Carla and Dave Hicks emailed me this:

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So much for "Comply and be safe."

http://tinyurl.com/yk64x5g

www.wusa9.com

Peggy Fox and Bill Starks

November 4, 2009

A clerk was robbed and shot, some quick thinking by others on the scene may have saved his life, and the suspect was later apprehended.

CULPEPER, Va. (WUSA) - A suspect is in custody after a robbery and shooting at a Culpeper grocery store at 10:30 am on Wednesday. A witness who was buying a newspaper at the West Side Store says he heard, "This is a f___ hold up. I'm not joking. Give me you f_____ money!" Ricky Mullins told the clerk to just give him the money!" Police say the clerk did as he was told, but was shot anyway.

Wally Bunker, spokesman for the town of Culpeper tells 9NEWS NOW that the gunman used a sawed-off shot gun and severely wounded the clerk, a 49-year-old father of three. Mullins, trained in first aid, helped save the man by stopping the bleeding.

Bunker says the shooting victim was airlifted to the University of Virginia medical center in Charlottesville.

The suspect fled the store, a neighbor chased him but lost him. Police from the town of Culpeper, Culpeper county Sheriffs Department and Virginia State police tracked down the suspect a few blocks away.

The West Side Grocery is a "mom & pop" type store on Route 522 in the town of Culpeper located close to the main downtown area.

The clerk is expected to survive.

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