Monday, January 10, 2011

Should Everyone be Armed?

I hear a lot of talk coming out of Arizona with regards to the arming of citizens. Some have said that if everyone at yesterday's shootings in Tuscon had guns, this incident would not have happened. I beg to differ. Given Arizona's new gun laws and the lack of tactical training of most civilians, more people would likely have died due to panic firing and the chaos these events produce in crowds. As the assailant came up from behind, no one would have seen him coming and the events would probably have transpired much as they did. You can arm every sane person in the world but without the proper safety and tactical training they might be just as dangerous as the criminals if not more so. Security in public settings would still be most effective when provided by trained law enforcement personnel.