Defender

Cops and Armed Citizens 624 Views 10 Comments Share Flag as inappropriate Featured Author: Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith Sergeant Betsy Brantner Smith is a 29-year veteran of a large Chicago suburban police department and has held positions in patrol, investigations, narcotics, juvenile, crime prevention, hostage negotiation and field training. As a sergeant, she supervised her department’s K-9 Unit, served as a field training sergeant, recruitment team sergeant, bike patrol coordinator, and supervisor of the Community Education/Crime Prevention Unit. As a patrol sergeant, Betsy served on the Elderly Services Team, the Crisis Intervention Team, and as a supervisory member of the Honor Guard. Betsy served as a host and content expert for the Law Enforcement Television Network (LETN) from 1999 – 2003. A graduate of the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety’s School of Staff and Command, Betsy writes for numerous law enforcement and government publications and has been an instructor for the Calibre Press “Street Survival†seminar since 2003. She also manages and instructs for Dave Smith & Associates, a law enforcement training and consulting company based in Illinois and is featured in the Biography channel’s new reality show “Female Forces.†Together with her husband, Dave “JD Buck Savage†Smith, she trains law enforcement personnel throughout the United States and Canada. Visit JDBuckSavage.com Contact Sergeant Betsy Smith Sergeant Betsy Brantner Smith I grew up around guns. My dad, a farmer by trade, was also an auxiliary deputy with the local sheriff’s department so he owned a pistol or two. My cousins were hunters, and we always had a shotgun in the house that my father could get to if he needed to eliminate an errant raccoon in the garden or a family of moles tearing up our front yard. I was neither fascinated nor frightened by firearms, they were just a part of our lives in the rural Midwest. When I graduated from the police academy in 1981, I was pretty excited about my “right to bear arms†both on and off duty. Although I was a patrol officer, I invested in a couple of concealed holsters for my big Smith & Wesson model 59 (completely the wrong handgun for a girl with the hands of an 8 year old, but that’s another article). I pretty much carried my gun everywhere. Young, single, and new to the “big city,†I spent lots of time in and around the Chicago area, enjoying the museums, the sports teams, the shopping, and of course, the nightlife. I never gave my safety much thought because (a) I was armed, and ( I was usually in the company of other (armed) off duty cops. Life was good. I’ve always enjoyed lively political discussions so I was happy to enter into debates about the Second Amendment and whether or not ordinary citizens really had a “right to keep and bear arms†as I continued to gain some patrol experience. At the time, I really didn’t understand what the big deal was. I was fine with people who were hunters, or enjoyed shooting sports, and even wanted to keep a “home protection†gun in their bedroom, but as a young cop, I was pretty sure I didn’t want ordinary, untrained people walking around “my†streets carrying concealed handguns. I mean, if everyone had a gun, how could we tell the good guys from the bad? If everyone was armed, wouldn’t people be shooting each other over parking spaces and other petty issues? Besides, I secretly (and selfishly) enjoyed the feeling of superiority in knowing that I was one of the few people allowed by Illinois law to carry around a loaded gun. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. In 1989 I was invited to travel with the University of Illinois’ “Fighting Illini†men’s basketball team to the Final Four in Seattle, Washington. My uncle was the head coach so my dad and I were going to fly on the team plane. What a blast! Unfortunately, this was about the same time that serial killer Ted Bundy was all over the news, the “Green River Killer†investigation was in full swing, and I was obsessed with reading Seattle-based author Ann Rule’s true crime books. Not exactly a great time for me to be heading for Washington State. But hey, I was cop! I got to take my gun to Seattle, carry it everywhere, and feel safe and secure. Great for me, but it got me thinking about all those young female murder victims; many of them close to my age. What if one of them had been armed? Could she have saved herself and ultimately, many others? And back in Illinois we had our own famous serial killer, John Wayne Gacy, still in the news. He killed 33 young men and boys before he was arrested. Hadn’t they deserved the legal right to able to try and protect themselves to the best of their ability? Two and a half years later, on October 16, 1991, the infamous Luby’s Cafeteria shooting occurred in Killeen, Texas. In what we would now call an “active shooter†situation, George Hennard drove his pick up truck through the front of the restaurant and was able to stalk, shoot, and terrorize the 80 lunchtime patrons, killing 23 and wounding another 20 before police cornered him and he turned a gun on himself. He’d been able to reload several times before police could arrive, and there were no armed citizens to challenge him. I was now a patrol sergeant and really starting to really re-evaluate my stance on citizen carry, and frankly, the Luby’s incident scared the heck out of me. After all, just like my state, the law in Texas at the time forbade citizens from carrying handguns. The Texas “serious crime†rate was 38 % above the nation average. After the post-Luby’s passage of the CCW law, serious crime in Texas has dropped 50% faster than the United States as a whole. Illinois, however, continued to prohibit CCW. The whole citizen carry issue, often mixed in with the broader debate over “gun control†in general, has been terribly politicized and the debate rages on to this day. Yes, the United States is the leader in “per capita gun deaths among industrial nations,†a statistic that gun control advocates love to throw around. However, as most cops will tell you, the issue is a whole lot more complicated. One of the best resources out there is John Lott’srecently updated book “More Guns, Less Crime.†Basically, Lott concluded in an 18 year study that states who allowed citizens to carry concealed weapons saw violent crime goes down. Pretty logical stuff; the more law abiding citizens who train and arm themselves, the less victims we have. He has continued to study this issue objectively but passionately; every crimefighter should read his work. My adopted home town, the city of Chicago, is a perfect example of Lott’s conclusions. We’re averaging 20 – 40 shootings a weekend, three Chicago cops have been killed this year, off duty, since May, and yet Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation! Who’s got the guns? The cops and the bad guys; and frankly, the cops tend to be out-numbered and often out-gunned. All the gun laws in the world aren’t going to keep thugs from owning, carrying and using firearms, so all the City of Chicago is doing is keeping law abiding citizens from legally obtaining personal protection firearms. I’m retired now, but as I travel throughout the United States, training with and filming law enforcement personnel, I take advantage of HR 218; I am always armed, and I’m grateful for the privilege. I am now a firm advocate of well-trained, well-armed civilians, and this is an issue that police officers must get more involved in. With layoffs, cutbacks, workplace violence and the raging “war on cops†in the United States, we may have to depend on our citizens to step up, jump in, and help out in an armed encounter. After all, you don’t have to have a badge to wear a white hat and be one of the good guys. Stay safe!

yesterdays burgers are just fine...now last week's burgers Im not so sure about lol.

The first time I saw that a year or so ago, there was a bit in the beginning where the guy was explaining that he had left his wife there and told her NOT to touch the gun til he got back, lol. Kinda makes it even funnier, but like many here think, probably not too smart a trick to play, lmao.

So you thinks its good to vote for someone who wont win, casuing the more evil one to win?

VERY well said! Ever since so many of us conservatives voted for Ross Perot and ended up giving the election to Bill Clinton, I have realized that when it comes down to the crunch, after the primaries, voting for anyone other than the Republican nominee is, like tntnixon said, counter-productive, getting angry sometimes works against you. Haslam is the lesser of the two evils...if enough of us do not vote for him, it will just get the Dems back in. Simple as that. Sending "messages" to them by protest votes, don't work, they will indeed backfire. If Haslam gets in, and if Ramsey stays as Lt Governor, and we keep our majority, we will do ok I think. I am hoping that those factors will either cause Haslam to do right, or if not, then limit his doing wrong. The spending MUST be curtailed. Taxes are going up, despite promises to the contrary. Tennessee will also be affected by this. Do you really wanna help the free spending Dems get in here too?

OK, I will start...After a lifetime of moving around in the military, I don't keep books like I used to, but I do have quite a few still.

Another good chili is the one they have at Steak & Shake. Great with cheese and onions added in...and its also available in a can form Kroger!

Whats a good source for these mags?

I think Ive seen the Skyline brand at my local Krogers. IS it a chili in the can ready to heat and eat or is it a base for a pot of chili? I notice in these pics it show some other stuff with it..

Unless something drastic happens, Haslam will be the next Governor. Hopefully we will also retain the Rep majority as well in the Legislature, and Ramsey as Lt Gov. maybe can exert some conservativeness into the situation. I can't find out much about Haslam, other than he seems to be a RINO. Does anyone know any details of his position on the important issues?

Usually am reading one fiction and one non fiction at the same time...right now its Lucifer's Hammer by Pournelle and Niven for fiction and my non fiction one is Defend the realm : the authorized history of MI5 / Christopher Andrew

I've always been fond of Times. Very reliable and cheap. lol

All good...rarely have I met a chili I didnt like, lol. Also, Red Robin has a surprisingly good chili. Side note: When I was in Germany in the USAF, we had a chili cookoff for charity, and there many entrants from all over the country as we had cops there form all over. I had never seen so many different things that were called chili, lol. Some had no beans, some had beefsteak shredded some chunked, not HB meat, some had peppers, some had potatos, an amazingly diverse collection of chilis, and some were adamant that a true chili was only this or that, lol.

Ive got one of the basic models and I like it for what it is. Id like to change out the stock, but don't want all the aggravation that seems to go with installing it, lol. I may look into the newer version with the newer stock already on...

When was the last time you heard a modern day Christian recognised leader preach that we need to kill people of other faiths? 0r start a holy war on unbelievers? Other than a few rare extremists like that Baptist Church in Kansas that is after soldiers and gays, there are very few. And when they do, they are soundly ostracized by all others of that religion. Now look at the Muslims on the other hand. Even here in this country, many, perhaps even most of their leaders and organizations support and preach violence, hatred and kill the infidels. When was the last time you heard an outcry against that by other Muslim leaders. I would strongly recommend that you read a book by Brigitte Gabriel, They Must Be Stopped. If you are not already aware of reality and Muslims, it might open your eyes. Lastly, our country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. It was never meant to be free of religion. Some of our forefathers came here to escape a national government (England) imposed religion. Many of the original colonies, and even states, had state religions. No one saw anything wrong with that at all. The lack of moral convictions in our country and government is leading us down the path to destruction. If we even survive it, we will be taken over by violence like in Mexico, and or, violence like in the middle east. Both factions are using our freedoms against us to protect themselves and change us. Fundamental change is right. People here better wise up soon. Ramsey may have made a political mistake that will cause him damage by his statements, but I think he was right, and I apprciate his honesty. If he gets the party nomination, he will get my vote. His stance on the Feds, 2nd Amendment issues and now this are all things I support.

When not at work, I almost always wear a t-shirt tucked in(keeps the gun from touching skin) and OWB holster, and a loose flowing untucked shirt. I prefer the style thats designed not to be tucked, but lately I find myself wearing those "fishing" style shirts form Bass Pro or Academy, etc, untucked. I always get a larger size than needed, and everythging is covered up good.

Whats the difference between the GI and the Tactical?

At one time I was an instructor in the USAF, and conducted firearms training for Air Force cops. Our concept of Center Mass, was not dictionary oriented, but more based on roughly the center of the torso, with the thought that even a hit slightly off target would still have a high likelihood of hitting the torso/vital organs, whereas a shot targeted to the head or extremity for example, that was slightly off target would miss altogether, and possibly hit an unintended target behind.

Not being a 1911 owner, I was somewhat surprised to see the word "caliber" spelled in the European manner "calibre" on this gun. Nice gun, and even nicer pics. I agree that #2 is frameable.

Jean Reno was good with Robert DeNiro in Ronin.

Does anyone know what will be affected when the rebanding of the radi system is completed? I understand that some radios wont work after that happens, or at least wont pick up the signals desired...and that some will...

I don't think they do for the general public, but it was a business visit. I also visited the Outpost Armory as well after the tour.

Yesterday my work afforded me the opportunity to visit and tour Barret Firearms. WOW! Was over a 2 hour visit including a great briefing and fantastic tour. I learned quite a bit about Ronnie Barret and the history of the company. Quite an eye opener. One thing in particular I learned that I didnt know was that they make 5 different guns. I had no idea they made 5.56 and 6.8 variants of the M4 style ARs. They were test firing some of those with suppressors as we got to that point in the tour. Got to fondle some of those guns, but didnt get to shoot them, lol. If you ever get the chance to do this I highly recommend it.

No, they just responded to a query from me.

Wow, I forgot about some oldies but goodies...some already mentioned but also A Bridage Too Far, The Blue Max, and for newer ones, yes the We Were Soldiers is one of my all time faves!!