nobody's_hero
12-17-2012, 01:14 PM
One of the first criticisms (which isn't really a criticism as much as it is a fear-tactic) we hear from supporters of 'gun-free' zones is, "If everyone is armed, it'll be like the wild west." Yes. It would be like one deranged shooter versus a whole pissed off town.
I'm placing a snippet from the article 96 Minutes featured in a magazine called Texas Monthly. It's basically a compilation of eye-witness accounts of the 1966 University of Texas clocktower shooting.
Bolded a few things I thought were interesting. Put a few of my own comments in brackets.
“IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY OTHER GUY HAD A RIFLE.”
Students waited and waited for the police to arrive. The shootings would spur the creation of SWAT teams across the country, but at that time, the Austin Police Department had no tactical unit to deploy. Its officers had only service revolvers and shotguns, which were useless against a sniper whose perch was hundreds of yards away. Communication with headquarters was difficult, with few handheld radios, and the phone system was jammed across the city. Some officers went home to get their rifles; others directed traffic away from campus. In the absence of any visible police presence, students decided to defend themselves.
JAMES DAMON was a graduate student in comparative literature. A retired real estate investor, he lives in Austin.
My wife was six months pregnant, and she was stuck on the fourth floor of the Tower, in the stacks. I looked around and didn’t see any police, so I went home and got my gun. It was an M1 carbine, which I’d bought for $15 when I was discharged from the Army. [In 2010, President Obama banned the importation of 850,000 surplus M1 carbines and M1 Garands from South Korea]. I went to the top of the new Academic Center and tried to keep out of sight. That was the closest I could get. I only saw him once, long enough to take aim, but from time to time I would shoot over the ledge of the observation deck and try to hit him.
CLIF DRUMMOND was a senior and the student body president. He is a high-tech executive in Austin.
Students with deer rifles were leaning up against telephone poles, using the pole, which is rather narrow, as their shield. And they were firing like crazy back at the Tower.
FORREST PREECE was a junior. A retired advertising executive, he lives in Austin.
I saw two guys in white shirts and slacks running across the lawn of the Pi Phi house, hustling up to its porch with rifles at the ready. Someone was yelling, “Keep down, man. Keep down!”
BRENDA BELL: I don’t know where these vigilantes came from, but they took over Parlin Hall and were crashing around, firing guns. There was massive testosterone. [not like the castrated wussies that men are today]
J. M. COETZEE was a Ph.D. candidate in English literature and linguistics. A novelist who won the 2003 Nobel Prize for literature, he lives in Adelaide, Australia. I hadn’t fully comprehended that lots of people around me in Austin not only owned guns but had them close at hand and regarded themselves as free to use them. [don't worry, we're catching up with Australia, soon everyone in the world will be defenseless]
BILL HELMER: I remember thinking, “All we need is a bunch of idiots running around with rifles.” But what they did turned out to be brilliant. Once he could no longer lean over the edge and fire, he was much more limited in what he could do. He had to shoot through those drain spouts, or he had to pop up real fast and then dive down again. That’s why he did most of his damage in the first twenty minutes.
JOHN PIPKIN: I’d left Scholz’s and was sitting across the street from the Chi Omega house when this Texas Ranger walked up carrying a pair of binoculars and a rifle with a scope on it. For some reason, he picked me out of the group of kids sitting on the curb. He said, “Son, you ever done any hunting?” And I said, “Yes, sir, I’ve been hunting all my life.” He said, “Well, take these binoculars. I need for you to calibrate me.” And I said, “Okay.” Whitman would stick his rifle out through one of these drainpipes on the observation deck every once in a while and shoot at someone. The ranger would shoot back, and I’d say, “You’re an inch too high,” or “Bring it over to the left a couple inches.” [no comment here except that Texas Rangers sound pretty bad-ass compared to the jerks we have in law enforcement these days]
BILL HELMER: A friend of mine was glued to the TV at the San Jacinto Cafe, near campus, when a guy with a deer rifle ran in, grabbed a six-pack of beer, and ran back out. [I shoot straighter after a few beers myself, but there's a cutoff point where I start sucking again, lol]
ANN MAJOR: It seemed like every other guy had a rifle. There was a sort of cowboy atmosphere, this “Let’s get him” spirit.
JOHN PIPKIN: I was looking through the binoculars when all of a sudden I thought to myself, “Gosh, he’s pointing that rifle at me.” It was like I could see up inside the barrel of the rifle, from four hundred yards away. The next thing I knew, I could feel bullets grazing the top of the hair on my head. The ranger said, “Boy, we got his attention now.” I was absolutely terrified. I dropped the binoculars and scrambled around behind a tree, and then a car. I sat there and panted, thinking how close I’d come to being shot. The ranger said, “You okay, son?” I said, “I guess. I’m alive.” He said, “Yeah, that was pretty close.” And I said, “Yes, sir, it was too close. I think I’m done with my spotting.”
Damn it, America! You used to be so awesome.
Is what liberals refer to as "wild west" really such a bad thing? Yeah, there's a lot of bullets whizzing around. But once law-abiding gun owners figured out what was going on, most of the bullets started flying towards the shooter Charles Whitman. Armed civilians with "High powered rifles" were credited by law enforcement with keeping the shooter pinned down long enough for 2 officers and a retired Air Force tail-gunner to storm in on Whitman and surprise him.
Handguns were no match for a shooter high in a tower with a 6mm hunting rifle and an 8-round, M1 Garand.
Contrary to liberal talking points,High powered rifles and surplus military "assault" weapons were not only needed that day— they were the only real option for fighting back.
Link to the full article, published on 8/1/2006: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2006-08-01/feature-3.php
I'm placing a snippet from the article 96 Minutes featured in a magazine called Texas Monthly. It's basically a compilation of eye-witness accounts of the 1966 University of Texas clocktower shooting.
Bolded a few things I thought were interesting. Put a few of my own comments in brackets.
“IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY OTHER GUY HAD A RIFLE.”
Students waited and waited for the police to arrive. The shootings would spur the creation of SWAT teams across the country, but at that time, the Austin Police Department had no tactical unit to deploy. Its officers had only service revolvers and shotguns, which were useless against a sniper whose perch was hundreds of yards away. Communication with headquarters was difficult, with few handheld radios, and the phone system was jammed across the city. Some officers went home to get their rifles; others directed traffic away from campus. In the absence of any visible police presence, students decided to defend themselves.
JAMES DAMON was a graduate student in comparative literature. A retired real estate investor, he lives in Austin.
My wife was six months pregnant, and she was stuck on the fourth floor of the Tower, in the stacks. I looked around and didn’t see any police, so I went home and got my gun. It was an M1 carbine, which I’d bought for $15 when I was discharged from the Army. [In 2010, President Obama banned the importation of 850,000 surplus M1 carbines and M1 Garands from South Korea]. I went to the top of the new Academic Center and tried to keep out of sight. That was the closest I could get. I only saw him once, long enough to take aim, but from time to time I would shoot over the ledge of the observation deck and try to hit him.
CLIF DRUMMOND was a senior and the student body president. He is a high-tech executive in Austin.
Students with deer rifles were leaning up against telephone poles, using the pole, which is rather narrow, as their shield. And they were firing like crazy back at the Tower.
FORREST PREECE was a junior. A retired advertising executive, he lives in Austin.
I saw two guys in white shirts and slacks running across the lawn of the Pi Phi house, hustling up to its porch with rifles at the ready. Someone was yelling, “Keep down, man. Keep down!”
BRENDA BELL: I don’t know where these vigilantes came from, but they took over Parlin Hall and were crashing around, firing guns. There was massive testosterone. [not like the castrated wussies that men are today]
J. M. COETZEE was a Ph.D. candidate in English literature and linguistics. A novelist who won the 2003 Nobel Prize for literature, he lives in Adelaide, Australia. I hadn’t fully comprehended that lots of people around me in Austin not only owned guns but had them close at hand and regarded themselves as free to use them. [don't worry, we're catching up with Australia, soon everyone in the world will be defenseless]
BILL HELMER: I remember thinking, “All we need is a bunch of idiots running around with rifles.” But what they did turned out to be brilliant. Once he could no longer lean over the edge and fire, he was much more limited in what he could do. He had to shoot through those drain spouts, or he had to pop up real fast and then dive down again. That’s why he did most of his damage in the first twenty minutes.
JOHN PIPKIN: I’d left Scholz’s and was sitting across the street from the Chi Omega house when this Texas Ranger walked up carrying a pair of binoculars and a rifle with a scope on it. For some reason, he picked me out of the group of kids sitting on the curb. He said, “Son, you ever done any hunting?” And I said, “Yes, sir, I’ve been hunting all my life.” He said, “Well, take these binoculars. I need for you to calibrate me.” And I said, “Okay.” Whitman would stick his rifle out through one of these drainpipes on the observation deck every once in a while and shoot at someone. The ranger would shoot back, and I’d say, “You’re an inch too high,” or “Bring it over to the left a couple inches.” [no comment here except that Texas Rangers sound pretty bad-ass compared to the jerks we have in law enforcement these days]
BILL HELMER: A friend of mine was glued to the TV at the San Jacinto Cafe, near campus, when a guy with a deer rifle ran in, grabbed a six-pack of beer, and ran back out. [I shoot straighter after a few beers myself, but there's a cutoff point where I start sucking again, lol]
ANN MAJOR: It seemed like every other guy had a rifle. There was a sort of cowboy atmosphere, this “Let’s get him” spirit.
JOHN PIPKIN: I was looking through the binoculars when all of a sudden I thought to myself, “Gosh, he’s pointing that rifle at me.” It was like I could see up inside the barrel of the rifle, from four hundred yards away. The next thing I knew, I could feel bullets grazing the top of the hair on my head. The ranger said, “Boy, we got his attention now.” I was absolutely terrified. I dropped the binoculars and scrambled around behind a tree, and then a car. I sat there and panted, thinking how close I’d come to being shot. The ranger said, “You okay, son?” I said, “I guess. I’m alive.” He said, “Yeah, that was pretty close.” And I said, “Yes, sir, it was too close. I think I’m done with my spotting.”
Damn it, America! You used to be so awesome.
Is what liberals refer to as "wild west" really such a bad thing? Yeah, there's a lot of bullets whizzing around. But once law-abiding gun owners figured out what was going on, most of the bullets started flying towards the shooter Charles Whitman. Armed civilians with "High powered rifles" were credited by law enforcement with keeping the shooter pinned down long enough for 2 officers and a retired Air Force tail-gunner to storm in on Whitman and surprise him.
Handguns were no match for a shooter high in a tower with a 6mm hunting rifle and an 8-round, M1 Garand.
Contrary to liberal talking points,High powered rifles and surplus military "assault" weapons were not only needed that day— they were the only real option for fighting back.
Link to the full article, published on 8/1/2006: http://www.texasmonthly.com/2006-08-01/feature-3.php