I subscribe to Consumer Reports online. Of course, my wife, knowing I did that, decided to subscribe to their magazine. Only she knows why!
Today, CR sent me an online survey. It was brief, geared at improving what they do. The last question in the survey was marked as optional, then again that was rather redundant since the whole survey was optional but I digress, so let me get back to the last question. It was:
If you could do one thing to improve Consumer Reports, what would it be? (optional)
I opted to answer it. My answer was:
Have it review firearms.
I am pretty sure that they will not use my suggestion but it sure would be nice if they did so!
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, August 27, 2012
If A Civilian Saved A Cop From An Apparent Brutal Assault By Shooting...
..the cop's assailant, after the cop screamed out for help and had already shot the guy at least once, do you think that would be worthy of national media coverage. I would think that yes it would not only be worthy of such coverage but that it should be Headline News. Instead, it seems to only be local news.
Of course, I would also think that the police department would want to commend the actions of the civilian (as in non-law enforcement officer) who came to the assistance of the police officer, maybe even acknowledge that the man saved the officer's life or at least saved him from serious bodily injury. I would be wrong again. It seems I would be wrong again as the chief of police reportedly "stopped short" of saying that Perry Stevens had saved officer Brian Harrison's life. Instead, the police chief is reported to have commented that he thought the incident unfortunate and was quoted as saying: "I think this is a tragic situation all around". On that last point, I would beg to differ with the police chief.
It was not at all tragic or unfortunate for Officer Harrison that, reportedly or apparently: Mr. Stevens was in the area, responded to the officer's calls for help, did not make the response of calling 911 and then standing-by as a good witness, played an active role in defending Officer Harrison, had in his possession his legally licensed pistol, approached the officer and his alleged assailant as he gave verbal command(s) to the alleged assailant to stop, only after giving those commands did he fire 4 times striking the alleged attacker in his abdomen with all 4 shots, (better than the accuracy of the NYPD officers at the Empire State Building a few days ago and better than the accuracy of the officer who shot the man chewing off another man's face in Florida - in both of those incidents, police not only hit the attackers but some of their bullets or bullet fragments hit others who were not the intended targets), upon seeing the attacker continue assaulting the officer he moved in closer and again gave commands for the attacker to stop, he only then finally fired the shot that stopped the attack by firing a single round into the alleged assailant's head. The alleged assailant died.
While it may be unfortunate that the alleged assailant reportedly drove into a funeral procession that Officer Harrison was escorting and while it may be unfortunate that while the officer was giving him a traffic citation, the man allegedly attacked the officer apparently overpowering him resulting in the officer shooting his alleged attacker, and while it may be unfortunate that the officer cried out for help because he required assistance and did not have other officers to help him, and while it may be unfortunate that at least 10 other civilians did not immediately rush to assist the officer as it seems did Mr. Stevens, there is nothing unfortunate about anything that Mr. Stevens did, as far as I can see.
I consider Police officer Brian Harrison to be extremely fortunate in that a person, the caliber of Mr. Stevens (no pun intended, there is nothing funny about this), was there to assist him. If indeed Mr. Stevens did not save officer Harrison from death's door, he certainly saved him from potential serious injury at the hands of his alleged attacker.That that man did not stop, until a fatal shot was fired into his head, I do not see as unfortunate, at least not for the officer and thus this was not "an tragic situation all around".
Sure, the incident is probably quite tragic for the family of the deceased or for his loved ones. The thing is though, as far as the officer was in need of help - Mr. Stevens did what no one else in the area, armed or unarmed did, he went to the aid of the fallen officer and saved him from harm. That is not tragic, that is heroic. The chief of police ought to be ashamed of himself for calling that a tragic situation all around and for not coming right out and acknowledging that Mr. Stevens saved the officer from either serious bodily injury or death! I guess he is just to darned armedciviliaphobic to do so!
Hat tip to HellInAHandbasket.
All the best,
Glenn B
Of course, I would also think that the police department would want to commend the actions of the civilian (as in non-law enforcement officer) who came to the assistance of the police officer, maybe even acknowledge that the man saved the officer's life or at least saved him from serious bodily injury. I would be wrong again. It seems I would be wrong again as the chief of police reportedly "stopped short" of saying that Perry Stevens had saved officer Brian Harrison's life. Instead, the police chief is reported to have commented that he thought the incident unfortunate and was quoted as saying: "I think this is a tragic situation all around". On that last point, I would beg to differ with the police chief.
It was not at all tragic or unfortunate for Officer Harrison that, reportedly or apparently: Mr. Stevens was in the area, responded to the officer's calls for help, did not make the response of calling 911 and then standing-by as a good witness, played an active role in defending Officer Harrison, had in his possession his legally licensed pistol, approached the officer and his alleged assailant as he gave verbal command(s) to the alleged assailant to stop, only after giving those commands did he fire 4 times striking the alleged attacker in his abdomen with all 4 shots, (better than the accuracy of the NYPD officers at the Empire State Building a few days ago and better than the accuracy of the officer who shot the man chewing off another man's face in Florida - in both of those incidents, police not only hit the attackers but some of their bullets or bullet fragments hit others who were not the intended targets), upon seeing the attacker continue assaulting the officer he moved in closer and again gave commands for the attacker to stop, he only then finally fired the shot that stopped the attack by firing a single round into the alleged assailant's head. The alleged assailant died.
While it may be unfortunate that the alleged assailant reportedly drove into a funeral procession that Officer Harrison was escorting and while it may be unfortunate that while the officer was giving him a traffic citation, the man allegedly attacked the officer apparently overpowering him resulting in the officer shooting his alleged attacker, and while it may be unfortunate that the officer cried out for help because he required assistance and did not have other officers to help him, and while it may be unfortunate that at least 10 other civilians did not immediately rush to assist the officer as it seems did Mr. Stevens, there is nothing unfortunate about anything that Mr. Stevens did, as far as I can see.
I consider Police officer Brian Harrison to be extremely fortunate in that a person, the caliber of Mr. Stevens (no pun intended, there is nothing funny about this), was there to assist him. If indeed Mr. Stevens did not save officer Harrison from death's door, he certainly saved him from potential serious injury at the hands of his alleged attacker.That that man did not stop, until a fatal shot was fired into his head, I do not see as unfortunate, at least not for the officer and thus this was not "an tragic situation all around".
Sure, the incident is probably quite tragic for the family of the deceased or for his loved ones. The thing is though, as far as the officer was in need of help - Mr. Stevens did what no one else in the area, armed or unarmed did, he went to the aid of the fallen officer and saved him from harm. That is not tragic, that is heroic. The chief of police ought to be ashamed of himself for calling that a tragic situation all around and for not coming right out and acknowledging that Mr. Stevens saved the officer from either serious bodily injury or death! I guess he is just to darned armedciviliaphobic to do so!
Hat tip to HellInAHandbasket.
All the best,
Glenn B
HUNTING LICENSES PURCHASED - DMPs SELECTED...
...and that means a scouting trip, in the near future, is expected. I have to work tomorrow but that is my only workday this week. Thus, I am hoping to get away by Thursday, late morning as I have an appointment to keep that day. After that I am free until next Tuesday. I have a couple of different places to visit, for scouting trips, so it is likely the trip will last a few days. I am hoping for good weather and will bring along a tent and sleeping bag and other camping gear (and plenty of Aleve for my aches and pains) and make a good time of it. If it rains, or badly threatens to do so, then I may opt to stay at a dirt cheap motel; I gave up sleeping outside in the rain, years ago. Motel 6 comes to mind but if I can find something less expensive, I will go for it. I have both some Priority Club points for Holiday Inns and Hilton Honors points for their chain of motels. I think I will make a couple of advance reservations in anticipation of rain, I can always cancel if it looks like the weather will hold out and then I will sleep under the stars.
Luckily, I got both of the Deer Management Permits for which I applied. Brendan was not so lucky, he only got one of two and lost a preference point on the one he did not get. Oh well, we have three of them in total and we can sign them over to one or the other of us if we want. So, if one of us gets a buck, we can assure the other will also have a chance at a doe (actually an anterless deer) with the DMP, as well as at a buck with his or my regular license. Brendan got his DMP in Wildlife Management Unit 4P, in the NW Catskills, where his girlfriend's parents own a house. He is pretty familiar with the area and is probably bound to score up that way. I hope so and I do mean score by him bagging a deer. Hopefully, I will be invited to hunt there too. The other one, he applied for, was closer to where I got my first choice but as I said he did not get selected for that one.
I got my first choice of DMPs, WMU 7S. It is west and part of it is also south of Binghamton, at least a couple to a few hours from where Brendan got his. There is a lot of public land in the area. So, there probably is a lot of scouting for me to do. The areas I truly would have preferred for my DMP did not have any available or required preference points of which I had none anyway. I can live with it even though not an area with which I am familiar. I am hoping to find a fairly remote area to hunt, yes even overpopulated NY State has some remote hunting areas. I also got a DMP in a pretty populated area WMU 3M. It is much closer to home and can be a back-up sort of area if I don't get a deer on the first few days of the hunt at the other one. It will be a place I can drive to, and return home from, all in one day for some quick later in the season hunts.
If I am really lucky, Brendan will come along with me on the scouting trip but then there is a chance he has to work in that time frame. I'll see soon enough.
All the best,
Glenn B
Luckily, I got both of the Deer Management Permits for which I applied. Brendan was not so lucky, he only got one of two and lost a preference point on the one he did not get. Oh well, we have three of them in total and we can sign them over to one or the other of us if we want. So, if one of us gets a buck, we can assure the other will also have a chance at a doe (actually an anterless deer) with the DMP, as well as at a buck with his or my regular license. Brendan got his DMP in Wildlife Management Unit 4P, in the NW Catskills, where his girlfriend's parents own a house. He is pretty familiar with the area and is probably bound to score up that way. I hope so and I do mean score by him bagging a deer. Hopefully, I will be invited to hunt there too. The other one, he applied for, was closer to where I got my first choice but as I said he did not get selected for that one.
I got my first choice of DMPs, WMU 7S. It is west and part of it is also south of Binghamton, at least a couple to a few hours from where Brendan got his. There is a lot of public land in the area. So, there probably is a lot of scouting for me to do. The areas I truly would have preferred for my DMP did not have any available or required preference points of which I had none anyway. I can live with it even though not an area with which I am familiar. I am hoping to find a fairly remote area to hunt, yes even overpopulated NY State has some remote hunting areas. I also got a DMP in a pretty populated area WMU 3M. It is much closer to home and can be a back-up sort of area if I don't get a deer on the first few days of the hunt at the other one. It will be a place I can drive to, and return home from, all in one day for some quick later in the season hunts.
If I am really lucky, Brendan will come along with me on the scouting trip but then there is a chance he has to work in that time frame. I'll see soon enough.
All the best,
Glenn B
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