Law enforcement is dangerous. That’s why departments issue handguns, spare mags, Tasers, pepper spray, batons, shotguns, AR15 rifles and body armor, then spend millions of taxpayer dollars every year making sure their officers know how to use deadly force with some modicum of proficiency.
If you can’t accept the danger, do not apply.
Pinning on a badge once came with implied consent. It meant you were willing to risk your life to protect the lives of others, regardless of how the courts have ruled. Sadly, that is no longer the case, at least not in Uvalde, Texas.
More than 400 hundred law enforcement officers from multiple departments waited 77 minutes outside a classroom of Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, while an active shooter killed 19 children and two teachers inside. They allowed an 18-year-old madman to kill 21 people while they waited in a hallway outside the classroom, milling around, talking on their radios, and checking their cellphones.
Now, a report from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica shows how the officers involved in the worst active-shooter response in police history are attempting to shift the public’s focus away from their own cowardice. They didn’t make entry, they told investigators, because the suspect had an AR. In other words, instead of blaming themselves, they’re blaming a gun, even though police had hundreds of ARs on the scene.
“You knew that it was definitely an AR,” Uvalde Police Sgt. Donald Page told investigators after the shooting, according to the report. “There was no way of going in. We had no choice but to wait and try to get something that had better coverage where we could actually stand up to him.”
Sgt. Page was not alone in his excuse-making.
“We weren’t equipped to make entry into that room without several casualties,” Uvalde Police Department Detective Louis reportedly said, adding, “Once we found out it was a rifle he was using, it was a different game plan we would have had to come up with. It wasn’t just going in guns blazing, the Old West style, and take him out.”
So much for the simple but effective run-to-the-gun active-shooter response that’s ingrained into every single police officer in the country. Uvalde police reverted to the chill-out-and-wait-for-SWAT response that ended after the Columbine massacre.
And now they want you to believe that a rifle is responsible for their failure to act.
The country’s entire law enforcement community let out a collective groan of horror and disbelief once it was learned what happened in Uvalde, or more accurately, what didn’t happen. Sure, there were a few officers who tried like hell to get into the classroom and shoot the bad guy. However, they were waved off and held back by the feebleminded pussies who were running the show, who are still trying to justify the craven abdication of their sworn duty by blaming an inanimate object.
Officers had one job: They should have made entry immediately and engaged the shooter, regardless of how he was armed. He was killing children, after all. Each second could cost a precious life, and they gave him 77 minutes.
The gun-ban industry was already using Uvalde as a talking point in their war on our gun rights. Given this new report, their clamoring will only grow louder.
Nowadays, rather than investing in armored fighting vehicles and weapons that rival those of Tier One JSOC units, perhaps police departments should invest in better quality personnel. It’s been nearly a year since the Uvalde mass murder, and those responsible are still making excuses. But now, by blaming a gun rather than themselves, they’re putting our civil rights further at risk.
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About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
Police squeal about Americans having “guns” all the time. Especially in cases where they fail to be effective against crime. Organized police forces aren’t allies of the 2A. They were designed to replace it.
Violent criminals need to be engaged by officers with a spine , not monitored by cowards while they commit murder . DO YOUR JOB , EARN YOUR PAY !
There was an officer who had a rifle and saw the gunman before he entered the school. He didn’t shoot as he was waiting for permission. He actually saw a person walking towards a school with an AR and asked what he should do…the fact is many of our officers are so poorly trained and ready to do the job because of liberal teaching and policing doctrine. There are too many cops who want to have the job, but not do the job. Everyone of those cowards who say a rifle made them stay behind cover instead of helping children… Read more »
Doxx every officer who was there on that day and did nothing.
I’m sure there are enough records to indicate who was there and who was not.
For “The Cowards of Broward County”, publish their picture, name, address, email, phone number, car and license plate.
Make them feel unwelcome in their home territory. Shame them. Deny them services.
These are “The Only Ones” who allowed children to be murdered while they stood by and did nothing to prevent it.
I don’t know what I’d do if in that situation, but it sounds a lot like Broward Co.
They tell us we don’t need guns for protection because the police are there to protect us from criminals,and crazy people, but if the cops are afraid to brace them, and they allow the MURDER of innocent children what are they doing working in that field?
One of the problems is there seem to be no repercussions.
IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
“We weren’t equipped to make entry into that room …”
They are correct in that none of them possessed a spine or sphericaIs.