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In a 60 Minutes interview scheduled to air November 22, Washington DC police chief Cathy Lanier said taking out the gunmen in a Paris-style attack is the “best option” for citizens between the time they call 911 and the moment police arrive.
Lanier said citizens basically have three options–they can “run, hide, or fight.” And she said choosing to “take the gunman out” is the best option if the citizen is in a position to do so.
According to CBS News, Lanier said, “If you’re in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it’s the best option for saving lives before police can get there.” She admitted that such advice runs “counterintuitive” to what police have been saying for decades, but she stressed that the situation has changed.
Lanier said: “We always tell people, ‘Don’t…don’t take action. Call 911. Don’t intervene in the robbery’…we’ve never told people, ‘Take action.’ [But] it’s a different…scenario.”
She also made clear that she does not want Americans to be paranoid, but she does want them to be alert and prepared.
In January 2013, Breitbart News reported that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke asked county residents to get a gun and familiarize themselves with it so they could use it to defend their lives between the time they dialed 911 and the time police arrived. Since that time, other law enforcement and public figures have urged citizens to arm up for self-defense; advising against the old tactic of compliance and passivity in the face of life-threatening danger.
In August of this year, Louisiana Sheriff Jeff Wiley “urged women to get concealed-weapons permits” so they could keep a gun with them with which to defend their lives. And on October 2–just one day after the Umpqua Community College gunman allegedly lined up victims and questioned them about their religion before killing them–Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (R) urged “Christians” to get a concealed carry permit in order to defend their lives against religiously-motivated attacks, according to The Washington Times.
DC police chief Lanier is now the most recent law enforcement figure to break with the old pacifist dogma.
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