News Roundup: Oregon College Shooting and the Gun Dilemma, Air Force C-130 Crash, the Afghan Security Forces Disaster

Editor’s note: Last week shattered all records for the weekly SOFREP News Roundup. Thanks to every single one of you for reading; we appreciate all of you. Keep up the great opinion and comments, both here and at the Facebook page.—BK

Umpqua Community College Shooting:

The gunman who killed nine people in a shooting rampage at a college in Oregon had 13 weapons, federal agents said.

Dressed in a flak jacket, Chris Harper Mercer brought six guns to Umpqua Community College in Roseburg and opened fire on Thursday morning.

He was killed by police in a gun battle and another seven weapons were found at his home. All 13 were bought legally.

Police have released the names of the victims, who ranged in age from 18 to 67. The oldest was a teacher.

In my opinion, this is a problem with no solution.

I will refer back, once again, the LONG article I wrote following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. I feel it still holds up with this week’s events. I’ll spare you a re-telling of my opinion, but here’s the short version: Either you put up with this happening every once in a while, or you go door-to-door with gun confiscation and make all guns illegal. Everything else is just playing about the margins.

Tell me I’m wrong. How are you going to stop this? Every time one of these shootings happens, the president gets up to talk, the talking heads gather on the cable news shows, the social media battle lines get drawn up, and the Kabuki dance begins again. And to what end? Nothing.

Let’s examine some of the ideas that are always bandied about in the wake of one of these atrocities. What about armed security? At least the school actually considered this one. But, in true liberal academia fashion, decided that would be “unsafe.”

“We talked about that over the last year because we were concerned about safety on campus,” Joe Olson, who retired as president of Umpqua Community College at the end of June, told The New York Times. “The campus was split 50-50. We thought we were a very safe campus, and having armed security officers on campus might change the culture.“

Bro: the culture HAS changed. (More on that in a sec.) Don’t get me wrong; I don’t really think it would make a HUGE difference to a determined gunman. College campuses are pretty big places. A school shooter could easily do a lot of damage before security even showed up, so that’s not really an answer either. It’s a slight deterrent, I suppose, but it won’t stop everyone. Unless we’re ready to embrace draconian TSA-level airport security at every single place we go, this is impossible. It would require a security state that the Soviet Union could only have fantasized about.

So you’d need to confiscate all guns. And yes, I’m sure that gun violence WOULD fall dramatically. But in a nation founded on revolution, on the 2nd Amendment, and individual rights? Good luck with that. I am slightly amused when I hear liberal punditry, who are constantly assuring us that there is no way to deport 10 million illegal immigrants, screaming that we need to start confiscating the 300 million guns in America. That is not. Going. To. Happen. And even if you wanted to try it, the technological revolution has rendered that ability almost moot by now.

A common theme I saw on Twitter and Facebook was, “We need to get better at dealing with mental illness!” This assumes, of course, that all of these guys were outwardly mentally ill. If they went and rounded up every 16-year-old male who was acting sullen and anti-social, we wouldn’t have any 16-year-old males left in the United States. And the fact is, most of the time, these people have committed no crime, and have not been institutionalized at the time they purchase their firearms. 

In this case, Mercer had attended a special-needs high school and was this giant mama’s boy. (Of course, dad is out of the picture.) So maybe we’ve identified some crazy kid. Great! Now what? In this country, the courts have long held a very high standard to incarcerate someone against their will. I mean, we have a Constitution for chrissakes. And you know Mom is not going to turn in her kid. We saw that with Nancy Lanza, and we’re seeing it now with Mercer’s nutty mom.

So who is going to do it? Believe me, I’d love to be the guy walking around with a clipboard deciding who is acting/looking crazy and have them locked up. But there would be nobody left walking the streets. Including myself.

Then, you have the guys who already HAVE guns, and have for decades. Then, one day, they just lose it and go on a killing spree. Again, with little to no warning. How are you combatting that? And, even if you could, do you really think the bloated federal government can react to millions of gun sales in a timely manner? We saw that failure with Dylan Roof and the Charleston shooting.

Another theme I saw a lot of was, “More regulation!” People who don’t own guns seem to think it’s really easy to just go get one. Now, it’s definitely easier in most states than here in the Most Glorious People’s Republic of California, but it’s still not THAT easy. Few things in the world are more regulated and controlled than firearms. Everything from the length of the barrel, to the size of the magazine, to waiting periods, to background checks…it’s all regulated. Stop saying it’s a “regulation” problem; you sound like an idiot. 

Back to that “culture” issue that the college president referred to. When it comes to these young men, I think a lot of people haven’t really accepted that the culture has indeed changed. These guys want to be famous now. They have heroes. Adam Lanza had pictures of all the mass murderers on his wall. Vester Lee Flanagan admired the grandaddies of them all, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. And in turn, the Oregon shooter looked at all of the coverage that Flanagan received, and decided HE wanted some of that limelight. And now with the Internet, these scum become celebrities.

This is the new American culture: You ain’t shit unless you’re famous. Fame used to be reserved for those who had amazing talent. You know, great actors, artists, musicians, that kind of thing. Now, anyone can be “famous,” and that is a huge motivation for people. Especially for this Chris Mercer shithead, who, much like shooter Elliot Rodger, griped on the Internet that he couldn’t get a woman. And this, more than anything, is what I believe is the motive of these freaks.

I believe there are thousands of these guys around the United States: unaccomplished, withdrawn, insecure, deeply Internet-ed, hopeless young men, no masculine identity, and many with a lack of competent male authority (HUGE FACTOR) to steer them in the correct direction. With the advancement of civilization here in the West, these guys literally have nothing to do all day but sit around on Internet sites like 4chan with a bunch of other like-minded guys. They sit and indulge and encourage each other in their sick, weirdo fantasies:

At least Mercer actually attempted to join the Army. The pentagon confirmed late Friday that Mercer had been in Army basic training for about a month before being discharged. Not dishonorably, as far as I can read, just “discharged,” whatever that means. Was he just a complete mess and they cut their losses? Or did he try to run off? There’s a story there that will come out eventually.

Thankfully, we still have plenty of other young men going the opposite direction in life, like hero and former Army soldier Chris Mintz. He was shot SEVEN (!!!) times trying to bar the door to protect others. Outstanding job, Mintz. Takes some serious sack to go up against an armed lunatic while not having so much as a knife on your person.

I’m trying to think of a comparable dilemma. How about this one: Think of when we drive our cars, right? You can be like me, hands at the 10 and the 2 on steering wheel, listening to motivational tapes, constantly scanning for threats, awake and alert, boss-style aviators perched on my craggy, rugged visage. In other words, just like I do with guns, I am executing my right in a responsible fashion.

Or you can be like the obese woman swerving all over the freeway going 80, handicapped placard taking up a third of her field of view, while texting and checking Facebook. I WISH she would drive like me, but I can’t MAKE her drive like me. Yet, she can go into the DMV and get a license, no problem. She’s got the same right as me. Right up until she causes a pileup and kills a whole family.

I know it’s not an exact comparison, but you get the point. So yeah: I don’t have an answer on this one. It’s either put up with it, or get rid of the Constitution and enact soul-crushing police-state policies. And from what I’ve seen on social media, a lot of people are fine with enacting those policies. I, however, am not.

Dammit. I thought that was going to be short. But then I got going. So…what do you think?

C-130 Plane Crash in Afghanistan:

MEQUON — Six American airmen, along with five civilians, are dead after a military plane crash in Afghanistan. The U.S. military says the Air Force C-130 cargo plane went down at Jalalabad Airport, about 80 miles from Kabul. The crash is hitting close to home as one of those killed was a graduate of Homestead High School.

Quinn Johnson-Harris was a 2012 graduate of Homestead. He was a good student and stellar football player.

“He was my best friend, it’s sad to see him gone,” said Fa-tia Johnson, Quinn Johnson-Harris’ sister.

Fatia Johnson tries to keep it together — to stop herself from crying as she remembers the good times that made her smile.

“He was always energetic, always welcoming, he was caring, nurturing,” said Johnson.

21-year-old Quinn Johnson-Harris was many things, including a loadmaster in the United States Air Force.

It’s a sad day for the U.S. Air Force. Not too many details on this as of yet, but it appears that it was some sort of engine failure. Terrible loss.

Russia Bombing Targets in Syria Now:

Soviet jets pounded terrorist targets in Syria overnight using bunker busting bombs to blow up an ISIS command centre, potentially killing dozens of fighters.

The raids come after a senior British military expert said the West has been totally outflanked by Putin on the Syria crisis because its policy making has been dominated by “wishful thinking”.

Confirming the successful raids, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: “Over the past 24 hours, Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M fighter jets have performed 20 sorties and hit nine Islamic State installations.

“A bunker-busting BETAB-500 air bomb dropped from a Sukhoi Su-34 bomber near Raqqa has eliminated the command post of one of the terror groups, together with an underground storage facility for explosives and munitions.

“These and other highly exact means of attack in recent days have been used to target objects of Islamic State terrorists: command posts, stores of weapons and oil products, workshops where weapons of suicide bombers are made.”

We’ve been conducting air strikes in Syria for years now, and Russia comes in on like day two and blows up an ISIS command center? What the hell have we been blowing up over there all this time?

Of course, this could just be Russian propaganda. They could have blown up a baby-formula factory and I’m sure the Russian generals would say that it was filled with ISIS guys.

This is the End of Days:

Mother of God. HOW MANY PICTURES CAN YOU TAKE OF YOURSELF???

Do young girls actually talk to each other anymore? Or is it it all social media now? And do I sound old? On the other hand…I’m not blaming them for not paying attention. Baseball is boring as shit. Yeah, I said it.

Afghan Security Forces Show Their Mettle Again:

Hungry and exhausted after being routed by Taliban fighters in the northern city of Kunduz, Afghanistan’s army and police force are blaming each other for the shambolic surrender of the provincial capital.

The lack of coordination between the key pillars of Afghan security forces contributed to a humiliating loss, which, though largely reversed three days later, leaves the government looking more vulnerable than at any time during the 14-year insurgency.

“They were the ones who surrendered to the Taliban, not us,” said soldier Aqa Shereen, referring to the city’s police force. “Most of them are a bunch of cowards.”…

…Abdul Karim, a police officer, said he was in a watch tower near the airport when the Taliban attacked in a later phase of the assault. He pinned the blame firmly on the army.

“The army has no guts to fight,” Karim said, pointing to the watch tower riddled with bullet holes. “It was us who did the whole job.”Sayed Zubair, another police officer, said the city had enough forces to defeat the Taliban, but there was a lack of coordination between the police, army and intelligence agencies.

“Look at the soldiers. Despite having modern weapons, they are soft and love to stay at their bases,” he said.

Fifteen freaking years, folks. FIFTEEN YEARS. Oh, and here’s a little nugget buried deep in the story for you:

Residents estimate the Taliban had hundreds of fighters, compared with about 5,000 government forces.

It’s been proven in warfare for thousands of years: The few guys who are ready to fight will quickly overwhelm the many who are not. It was true when we fought with sticks and rocks, and it’s true today. Afghanistan is hopeless.

Update on the Bizarre Navy SEAL Silencer Deal:

A senior Navy intelligence official has been indicted on charges of theft and conspiracy as part of a long-running federal investigation into a secretive military operation featuring the Navy SEALs and untraceable weapons parts.

David W. Landersman, formerly the senior director for intelligence in an obscure Pentagon office that dabbled in covert programs, becomes the third person charged in a mysterious case that has already resulted in two convictions.

Prosecutors charge that Landersman helped arrange a sweetheart $1.6 million defense contract for his brother — a bankrupt California hot-rod mechanic — to manufacture untraceable rifle silencers that turned out to be junk and cost only $10,000 in parts and labor to manufacture.

Marine Commandant Babbling Non Sequiturs to Avoid Bad Thought:

Newly instated Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller made some pointed comments regarding women in combat Thursday, following a public back and forth between the Marine Corps and the Secretary of the Navy over whether the Marine Corps would allow women into previously closed ground combat roles.

“This has nothing to do about women in combat,” Neller said to a theater full of Marines at Marine Base Quantico in Virginia.“I buried three women in Iraq in 2006 and they died alongside 311 men.”

“To me its personally insulting to talk about women in combat. Women have been in combat,” he added.

Neller was dismissing the idea that including women in combat was anything new, and he made sure to point out that the debate was about women being directly assigned to positions in ground combat units such as the infantry.

Very good, General. Here is your diversity cookie and gold star. You’re a GOOD BOY.

Can we stop with this? Yes, we are all aware that some women have found themselves in combat. And many of them performed admirably.

That is not the same as being ASSIGNED TO A UNIT. And THAT is the issue. Jesus. They all talk like this so they don’t have to talk about details and specifics. It’s getting old, guys.

Now This is a Guy Who Should Have Been Put Away on Looks Alone:

A man who was naked when he allegedly assaulted a 75-year-old woman and forcibly took her dog has been arrested, the Irvine Police Department announced on Wednesday.

Officers responded to a report of a man acting strangely on Rockwood Street at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and found the suspect, 51-year-old Craig Andrew Ledbetter, naked and aggressively swinging a stick, Irvine police officials said in a news release.

Whaddya think? Think this was the first time this guy has done something shady? I’m guessing no.

They later discovered that he had allegedly assaulted Sara Hurtado, who had been out walking her dog when she was viciously attacked, the release stated.

“This neighbor had come out of the house screaming, naked and attacked her from behind while she was innocently walking our toy poodle,” her son-in-law Neil Fitzsimons told KTLA.

The naked assailant started punching and kicking her. He eventually pushed the grandmother of four to the ground, Fitzsimons said.

“Our dog tried to attack him and delay him a little bit,” Fitzsimons said. “He was so annoyed with the dog, he took the dog by the leash and started spinning it around.”

If I’m selected as the guy who gets to say whether people get out of jail or not, this guy is a solid no-go. Find me on twitter @BKactual.

(Featured image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)