Just remember, boys and girls, that it is only firearms that emit some manner of strange, mind-controlling aura that make people go all manner of stupid and start shooting and killing other people.

Knives would never do that.

A few interesting things stand out in this article. First, this incident took place in New York City - you know, the city that Rudy Guliani disarmed a few years back. Funny how not having access to a firearm did not stop this nutcase from going about grievously wounding one person, and slicing up another. Who would have thought that people like him would simply find another tool to use? Furthermore, those tools were stolen, as crime-related tools (including firearms) often are. So shall we institute better controls on the security of knives at cooking establishments? Perhaps require them to be locked in a safe unless being used, and then chained to the wrist of the user? Well, if I were a hoplophobe, that might just sound reasonable.

Second, no one helped the woman. No one. Oh, sure, they all saw it, and provided wonderful statements to the reporters afterwards to get their names in the paper, but no one helped this woman being stabbed repeatedly, laying "in a pool of blood, screaming for help". If that is not a chilling statement on the condition of our society, I honestly do not know what would be. Yes, the man had knives. And? You grab yourself, and two or three other people, and bumrush the bastard. Yeah, you might get a little sliced up - in fact, I can almost guarantee it. Knife fights are nasty. But Which is worse: you taking a few cuts to save a woman's life, or you simply standing there, watching as someone guts and bleeds out an innocent woman? This is New York City... almost everyone has a purse, backpack, laptop bag, or something. Any of those would qualify as a weapon to stop this maniac. A chair from one of the cafes in the area. A rolled-up newspaper, for heaven's sake. But I simply cannot believe that on a relatively crowded street corner in New York City, not a single person helped a woman systematicaly being stabbed to death.

Strike that - I can believe it, and that is what sickens me.

Third, but wait, someone did help her! Coincidentally, an off-duty police officer. But also a man who was carrying a concealed firearm within the confines of New York City. Yes, that is right, ladies and gentlepeople - the police are more entitled to effective self-defense than you are, in New York City. I guess being an officer of the peace somehow bestows upon you a greater situational awareness, a greater inherent skill with firearms, a greater judgement capability, a reaction time and accuracy us mere mortals can only wish for, and a better understanding of right and wrong and how to deal with both... kind of like this guy (in a state, by the way, where only police officers and sheriff's deputies can carry concealed firearms... seems to be working out well). However, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the inherent class discrimination being perpetuated in New York City, it took a man with a firearm to slow the maniac. Note I said "slow" and not "stop" - even after taking a round, the nutcase still took three people to wrestle him to the ground. Sounds like not enough rounds were used.

Now, imagine if no one armed had been on the scene. Would anyone have intervened? Obviously not - no one had up until the police officer shooting the stabber. Would those two bridge-and-tunnel officers have tackled the guy anywise? I do not know... but, again, they had not until the police officer took his shot. This is all speculation, of course, but I am quite willing to wager that Susan Barron would already be dead, and many other people would be wounded.

Do I think any less of NYPD Officer Gregory Chin? Of course not. He saw the situation, surmised (accurately) that Lee Coleman would only respond to being shot, especially after ignoring warnings and orders, and took the shot. He is, indeed, a hero, and should be regarded as such. However, as for Joe Corrigan (the photographer who took a picture or multiple pictures of the situation), Andrew Fink, Allan Chapin, and all of the other witnesses to this horrific crime... I cannot adequately describe how I feel concerning them. Even Amarjit Singh, a chef at the restaurant from which Coleman stole the knives, came back to help the woman, despite being significantly wounded himself.

More and more, people are referring to the average American as a "sheeple" - a mindless herd animal wearing the guise a human. More often than not, those comments are meant more or less in gest, and just a joke on how submissive and easily cowed the average person is these days. However, instances such as this one more than adequately demonstrate that the term is not without its basis in reality, disgusting though it may or may not be. For too long we have been teaching ourselves and our children to not resist, not get involved, not help, not be considerate of other people, not think about the consequences of their actions, not be active and positive influences in the society around them.

And now a 67-year-old woman who successfully defeated an attack by cancer is fighting for her life, because no one was human enough to be willing to help her, and defend her from someone senselessly stabbing her to death. Furthermore, it took someone with a firearm to effectively slow the would-be-killer sufficiently that he could be subdued... and yet New York City has made it legally impossible for your "average", law-abiding citizen to carry such a tool on his or her person. Welcome to "modern" society, everyone... ain't it grand?

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Rosemary's Thoughts, 123beta, Right Truth, Big Dog's Weblog, The Populist, Shadowscope, Cao's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Pet Haven Blog, Conservative Cat, Nuke's, third world county, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Republican National Convention Blog, CORSARI D'ITALIA, High Desert Wanderer, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.