Jeanne Assam appeared before the news media for the first time Monday and said she "did not think for a minute to run away" when a gunman entered the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and started shooting.
Mike Vanderboegh provides the following thoughts:
OK, my first comment is that Pastor Boyd had it right: "The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not 'mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security.'" "Mercenaries that we hire" is an accurate description of the security guards who froze at the mall shooting. If you are a security guard and are offended, I am sorry.
Second, there is an old cavalry dictum which states, "When in doubt, ride to the sound of the guns." Jeanne Assam did not call for backup and wait. She did not set up a perimeter. She had no need of an "incident command post." She moved to the sound of the guns, although she says "There was chaos . . .I will never forget the gunshots. They were so loud." Through crowds of panicked people, SHE WENT FORWARD. She moved, in best cavalry fashion, toward the sound of the guns.
Third, Jeanne Assam's actions were informed by, indeed they were a logical extension of, her faith in God. She had to be scared. Anyone who's ever been shot at in circumstances that require you to do your job in spite of the fact that someone's trying to kill you knows what I mean. So yeah, she was scared. But she doesn't comment upon that. What does she say? "God was with me." "I didn't think for a minute to run away." She believed that "God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed." "It seemed" she said, " like it was me, the gunman and God." As indeed it was.
Fourth, Jeanne Assam was a volunteer. It wasn't her job, in the strictest sense of that word, to confront the gunman, it was her responsibility. It was a responsibility freely accepted and faithfully executed. It is the responsibility that all of us who are citizens and not serfs embrace along with the liberty that such a burden secures. Jeanne Assam and the other volunteers at the church were acting as a citizen's militia, in the classic American definition of that term. They were volunteer sheepdogs, watching over the flock. And they did their duty.
Finally, there is this: "Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed." Jeanne Assam, armed citizen and Christian sheepdog, apprehended the threat before it appeared. She planned for it, organized for it, and executed the plan when the danger did arrive, at the risk of her own life. That she gives all credit to God is correct, fitting and proper. But let us also give credit where credit is due to Jeanne Assam for living and acting in the finest traditions of the American armed citizenry. May we all measure up to the standard she has set.
Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776 AT AOL DOT com
10 comments:
Amen!
She, is a whole lotta woman. When I pray tonight, I'll humbly ask for a lot more like her. Jeanne Assam, Patriot.
Rumor has it that at least two other armed security guards/volunteers did not fire on the shooter when they had the opportunity (reasons unknown).
Deuce,
If that did happen, then I hope someone is praying for those citizens. They will need help and support to overcome their fears and regrets in a healthy manner.
People freezing up in combat is sadly an all too common occurence. There are documented cases going back to the ACW (American Civil War). One of the cases I can recall off the top of my head is from archeological evidence left over after the battle of Gettysburg. THey found numerous longarms with multiple rounds stuffed down the barrell. The soldiers were trained well enough to keep loading, but for whatever reason did not fire. During WWI there were numerous instances of soldiers unable to fire upon other humans, in fact there is documented evidence ofthat throughout WWI, WWII, Korea, and, if I recall correctly, to a lesser extent in Vietnam. By vietnam, the Army had begun to desensitize their troops with human shaped silhouettes. Obviously this has continued, and we are inadvertently desensitizing our teenagers through the realistic first person shooter video games on the market.
With all of that being said, it appears that training failed the rumored citizens. Ms Assam obviously was not only trained in how to utilise her weapon effectively, she also took it a step further and "gamed" out scenarios in her head. This is warrior training and technique. As a martial artist and a former self-defense instructor this is common among the best. Knowing how to disable someone is only half the battle. You need to know when, and as importantly you have to know how to "unfreeze" yourself. In self-defense classes it is commonly taught to screamat an attacker, this causes the body to breathe and, in many cases, "unfreeze". The correct drills and mental "games" can accomplish the same things. Please reference SEAL team close action drills. Essentially the body operates on an advanced autopilot until the conscious mind catches up.
Mr Codrea, I apologise for the length of my response.
Gregg, I figure that your assessment is pretty much right on. In other words, not everyone that carries a firearm has made peace with the probablity of taking another life. IT IS ethical in some circumstances, they just have to realize it before the need arises.
Gregg, why apologize for educating us?
Thank you.
And by the way, the only ones I expect to call me "Mr. Codrea" are my wife and kids, and they don't listen.
I think everyone is jumping to conclusions about the "other two" who "froze up". If you think it through, there are some clues you which could explain the situation very well.
The gunman was carrying an AK-47 with large capacity clips, and all three armed responders were behind cover. So far, we've got three people acting according to plan. Then Jeanne breaks cover and closes on the perpetrator. What made her break cover? In my handgun class I was taught to find cover, get to cover, shoot from cover.
If she broke cover, it was because she had no shot from cover (maybe), or that he moved so that her cover evaporated (more likely). I've been in that hallway many times -- cover is found in connecting hallways which extend to the north, the gunman entered from the east, heading west. If the perpetrator moved down the hall, shooting as he went, the first person to lose cover would be the person in that first connecting hallway. Let's call this theoretical person "Jeanne".
You just DON'T go toe-to-toe with an AK-47, armed with a 9mm. You have to fight SMART, or you'll surely die stupid. I think all three fought according to plan. The "vet" who started cussing, broke cover, and got shot probably didn't know what the plan was.
None of us that have posted here so far were present during the actual incident ... including me. That is why I said that the reasons were "unknown." I freely admit that your assessment sounds like a plausible explanation now that you have provided first hand knowledge of the building. Still, the only ones that know for sure are the two "guards." I made my original assessment on the eyewitness account given.
Everything that Gregg said is valid. Whether it applies in this instance or not is the question. The fact remains that the taking of another human life is an activity that will have a profound psychological aftermath. If the individual has not prepared sufficiently prior to the event, they could fail to act at the moment of truth. For those interested, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has written two excellent books on the subject that should be required reading for all that bear arms in defense of self or liberty. They are On Combat and On Killing.
PS. They are "full capacity magazines" not "large capacity clips" .... either way, we'll know what you mean. I just hate using the "anti's" terminology.
The only account in the media I've found is "high capacity banana clips" which is a nonsense phrase. It is not clear that these are curved box magazines or stripper clips. So, what does that mean? 1000 rounds in 25 count 40 round curved magazines, or 100 count 10 round strippers?
I'll stick with "clip" since that's the only word used to describe it in the media account. To use any other word is to augment limited knowledge with supposition.
As for "high capacity" -- again, that's from the media account. I don't think "full capacity" has a meaning on an AK-47. Is a 100 round double-drum magazine "full capacity"?
I sure hope David will indulge us for a moment here. I wasn't picking on you or being combative so let me clarify where I was coming from.
I often find myself talking to the Authorized Journalists on TV or the print media. More often it seems to be about the terminology used in their stories ... a terminology that is either rooted in genuine ignorance (lack of knowledge/expertise) or outright deceit designed to generate a desired response from the unknowing masses.
For me, the terms "High Capacity" and "Large Capacity" are subjective terms used to generate a desired response in the viewer/reader. "Full Capacity" is a technically correct and objective (non-emotional) term. If the magazine is designed to hold fifteen rounds without political intervention, then it is considered "full capacity." If your double drum, 100 round magazine could hold 120 rounds but has some capacity limiting device installed, then it would not be considered a full capacity magazine.
Clips and magazines. To the best of my knowledge I don't think there is any AK-47 or variant that functions with stripper clips. As a matter of fact, I think stripper clips are only used to facilitate loading ammunition into a magazine or firearm and are not inserted into the firearm itself. The Garand uses clips but they are not stripper clips.
You are correct in asserting that the media might actually be reporting something correctly that is gun related. He might actually have been carrying "clips." This would be newsworthy because it would not have made sense for someone intent on killing rapidly and in great numbers to carry his reloading ammunition in such an inefficient manner. He would have to either manually load his ammunition one round at a time into the chamber or take the time to transfer his rounds into the magazine, insert the magazine and chamber a round before firing.
"To use any other word is to augment limited knowledge with supposition."
I prefer to limit supposition with augmented knowledge especially when it comes to media descriptions of firearms and their accessories. I just want our side to get the terminology correct, that's all.
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