Fallout from Fort Hood: Don’t allow Islamofacism lead to gun control

In the wake of the Ft. Hood massacre, the gun control cabal has now found another cause to rally around.

There have been rumblings that the terrorist, Major Nidal Hassan used a “cop killer” gun in his assault on the unarmed soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq. This is of course, the rantings of the shrill and uninformed anti-gun lobby and their willing accomplices.

The weapon in question is a FN Herstal Five-seveN Tactical Pistol in 5.7x28mm. This is a very finely made pistol is designed for close quarters combat (CQB) operations by military, police and civilians in need of an excellent personal defense weapon. The cartridges for this pistol come in many types and capabilities depending on the task and the user. The pistol also has the added flexibility for sporting use as it can be fitted with optics and can be used for hunting or precision shooting.

That this particular pistol is being called a “cop killer” is complete diatribe and just plays to the fears and emotions of the uninitiated in our population who have little or no knowledge of firearms. Let’s be clear on some facts here in the real world, not in the popular press pages.

1. The pistol in question is no more a “cop killer” than any other pistol made and available to the general population. In the hands of a trained military shooter it would be more effective only in the sense that the person using it has greater firearms proficiency than the average person. If I, a former member of the armed forces were so inclined, I could have probably done the same damage Maj. Hassan did with my 9mm Glock or my .45ACP Government Colt Automatic if I had prepared properly for the assault as he seemingly did. His only problem was the armed woman who actively objected to his shooting spree by shooting back, once again showing that an armed citizenry is the best defense against nut jobs, criminals or in this case, terrorists.

2. The Ammunition and gun in combination make it a “cop killer” argument is also false. As previously stated, the ammunition that can be used in this weapon comes in many types. There is a standard military “ball” cartridge, hollow point hunting cartridge, and “tracer” and armor piercing cartridges for military and police use only. We don’t know what Maj. Hassan used, but any of the cartridges available would kill a human, as would all similar types used in any other pistol in almost any caliber you could name. We must not allow the anti-gunners panic the populace in believing that they are in greater danger than before or that our police are facing a “super weapon” wielded by Al Qaeda wannabe’s. Nothing has changed since last week.

3. It is a well known fact that almost any rifle caliber of sufficient velocity and size will defeat a KEVLAR vest used by most police. Military grade vests are better, but much more bulky and used only by SWAT teams as they are not worn except in specific high-risk circumstances. My World War 1(1915) vintage British Lee Enfield Bolt Rifle will defeat police grade body armor easily out to several hundred yards, as would my model 1895 Krag Jorgensen rifle. Both these weapons are nearly 100 years old or older and both considered museum pieces. Why are they not labeled “cop killers”? My old CZ-52 pistol armed with ancient World War 2 vintage 7.62x25mm ammunition could very possibly defeat light body armor (class 1, 2, and 2A) as it does generate speeds in excess of 1400 feet per second. A common 12 Gauge shotgun armed with sabots (slugs) could also “defeat” light police body armor by delivering fatal or near fatal damage to personnel via blunt force trauma at close range.

We would do ourselves and the world a favor by not allowing ourselves to become overwrought by the events at Ft. Hood. We must remember that a weapon is tools. How that tool is used and by whom determines the good or evil of a thing or action. Major Hassan did evil by killing innocents, and should face the ultimate penalty for such an action. He used a tool in an evil way to do evil work. He could have just as easily have used a bomb or some other means of human destruction. The woman who took him out used her weapon for good, defeating a terrorist and defending innocent life. Her use of a firearm, like millions of other Americans have done before her, was the quintessential proper use of a firearm and should be lauded. We must not allow particular types and classes of weapons to become bogeymen for the anti-gun crowd. Terms like “cop killer” are created to incite and to inflame the unknowing and to create media buzz. We have to be objective and clear headed on what the problems are and how to solve them.

Maj. Hassan, his belief system and motivations were at fault, not the choice of weapon. The Army, neutered and corrupted by the Political Correctness/Multi-culturist idiocy that the rest of us find ourselves mired in, failed to act decisively in removing a malcontent from its ranks for fear of being labeled discriminatory, or racist. This nonsense must stop. A couple of years ago, a young Muslim convert committed fratricide within his own unit in Kuwait, in a zeal to punish the infidel for perceived crimes and misdemeanors against the faithful. It is time to seriously challenge the Islamic community here in America and demand that they police themselves, that they make a real and fundamental attempt to route out the dangerous radicals in their mosques and places of worship or face the whirlwind. It also may be time to take a serious look at the military’s policies and procedures on dealing with Muslim’s in its ranks and how they view their duties in the military and indeed how they feel about our nation. We can’t have an active Islamofacist 5th column within the very services that we rely on for our national security and survival. We should also consider a moratorium on further immigration from lands whose populations are predominantly Islamic as they do not seem to integrate well into our much more permissive and liberal culture. Why import potential trouble?