From firearms-politics-errors@cup.hp.com Mon Jul 25 16:22:38 1994 Received: from demon.corp.portal.com (demon.corp.portal.com [156.151.1.10]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) with ESMTP id QAA04242 for ; Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:22:37 -0700 Received: from relay.hp.com (relay.hp.com [15.255.152.2]) by demon.corp.portal.com (8.6.7/8.6.5) with SMTP id QAA02169 for ; Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:29:50 -0700 Received: from hpda.cup.hp.com by relay.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.8/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA17551; Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:20:07 -0700 Received: by hpda.cup.hp.com (15.11/15.5+IOS 3.20+OMrelay) id AA11414; Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:22:39 pdt Errors-To: firearms-politics-errors@cup.hp.com Sender: Precedence: bulk X-Info: Accepted by firearms-politics distribution list at Mon Jul 25 16:22:38 PDT 1994 X-Info: Submissions to firearms-politics@cup.hp.com X-Info: Change requests to firearms-politics-request@cup.hp.com Received: from onet2.cup.hp.com by hpda.cup.hp.com with SMTP (15.11/15.5+IOS 3.20+OMrelay) id AA11328; Mon, 25 Jul 94 16:22:29 pdt Received: from ukpr.uky.edu by onet2.cup.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.11/15.5+IOS 3.20+cup+OMrelay) id AA272378215; Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:16:55 -0700 Message-Id: <199407252316.AA272378215@onet2.cup.hp.com> Date: Mon, 25 Jul 94 18:58:56 EST From: UK09365@ukpr.uky.edu Subject: book: Shoot To Kill To: FIREARMS-POLITICS@onet2.cup.hp.com Status: RO This is the title of a paperback by police/action writer and Oklahoma City, OK police officer, Charles Sasser. It details stories of police having to resort to deadly force in incidents over the past 25 years. Some are well known, like the story about the police sniper who had to kill James Huberty at the San Ysidro McDonalds. Others are not so famous. Sasser includes at least three chapters of his own exploits in shootouts... always, and a bit coldly, done in the 3rd person. These case histories are interspersed every two or three chapters with pieces on the invention of the SWAT team (in LA by Daryl Gates in 1967), gun control, and body armor. The gun control chapter is the one most relevant to this list. Sasser is definitely pro-gun and suggests strongly that most street cops still share this view. Although he puts things in simple terms, it is clear that he understands the debate over guns and violence. He gives a clear and logical retort to the anti-gun arguments about a gun in one's home being more of a danger to oneself or loved ones than to a criminal. Its nothing any of us have not heard before (the inaneness of comparing dead burglars to suicides rather than measuring criminal acts prevented.) Sasser believes in the RKBA and in the ordinary law abiding citizen being armed, because the police can not be there all the time and can not do everything. Before I came to the gun control chapter I expected the opposite. Many of Sasser's case histories involve felons and desperate men armed with lots of firepower, injuring and killing Sasser's fellow police officers. Sasser even makes statements that could come from Sarah Brady or Charles Schumer... things like "the MAC-10, weapon of choice for drug dealers in south Florida." But Sasser's conclusion is "OK, these scum have guns, why take them away from the good guys." Many of the case histories are instructive and perhaps worth sharing with people who really know nothing (myself included) about what a real gunfight is like. There are stopping failures like the cop who shot an attacking thug between the eyes with a .41 magnum at close range and the guy kept coming. The bullet fractured on the guys forehead and just flew off to both sides. Cops and bad guys fighting on after serious, or mortal wounds. Shootouts at under 10 foot ranges where both sides empty their weapons and no one is hit. Although its not more than tangentially related to RKBA issues, the chapter on Richard Davis, founder of Second Chance, inventor of the modern "bullet proof" vest, is interesting. Davis, a pizza man in Detroit, armed himself with a 6-shot .22 and fought it out with 3 armed robbers who had earlier mugged and robbed his girlfriend. This was in 1968. He "won" the fight but was wounded twice. So he began experimenting with $70 worth of nylong (nylon) material (kevlar came later) until he found that 19 layers would stop a bullet. His first test firing was at his own leg, then his own chest. He started Second Chance, in 1972, and has been shot 140+ times testing his gear. Ironically, the time he was robbed back in 1968... he was hit in the face and the leg... and wouldn't have been helped by his own product. I just thought this would be interesting to share... ;-) Robert K. Lexington