It’s been upgraded through the years. It used to be a Springfield 1903, then the Garand now the M14. Mostly because it’s a nice hunk of wood that looks better than a plastic stocked M16. The Tomb Guards make their own stocks.
During my commute, I have stopped to offer assistance at various car accidents, from a single-vehicle rollover to a child being struck while crossing the street. People always calm right down when I am in uniform, and ask for guidance. It definitely has an affect.
Here’s a much longer clip (with a brief description of the actions taken by Mr. vickers), including the Speaker’s Parade, the very loud cheering of the Members of the House, and the full length of the standing ovation. Very moving.
There’s a longer video out there that shows the whole thing. The applause went on… and on… and on for several minutes. While Mr. Vickers stood there looking for all the world like he’d rather chase down a dozen rogue gunmen than have to endure being the center of all that bloody attention
ETA; ninja’d three posts up, dammit
Not as much when it is a Star Trek uniform, though - trust me, I know.
This is just fucking awsome.
Waaaay back during the Iran hostage crisis, it came to light that the Canadian embassy in Iran had sheltered, secretly, six Americans for several months, and then smuggled them safely out of the country. Just because it was the right thing to do for a friend, and at risk of being kidnapped and held hostage themselves - the Iranians had already shown their contempt for diplomatic law.
I feel now the way I did then . It is a privilege and an honor to be the neighbor, and to share the longest undefended border in human history, with a nation that breeeds such men.
Commenting on events that actually occurred and concluding that they are unacceptable is not “chicken littling”.
I see that you are in the USA. Tell me, if a lone gunman made it deep into Congress and presented a real threat to Representatives would you conclude that security levels were “good enough” and that no alterations were needed or even available? Carry on, folks. Business as usual?
And it is absolutely not a “fact” that there is no protection against a lone gunman. On the street, it’s true: there is little we can do against random attacks.
But we are talking about a stationary, defendable, high-value position, here. You know, a building? High-value buildings are properly defended all over the world, all the time. I have been in local neighbourhood banks in Italy that were far better defended than Parliament.
I’ve never suggested such an extreme. But, clearly, the “kumbaya, it’s-a-small-world” days at Parliament are over.
And it should have happened a long time ago as the basic vulnerability demonstrated yesterday could have been observed with the most cursory glance by anyone at any time if they hadn’t been high on the “Hey, we’re just a quiet little country minding our own business and everybody loves us!” delusion.
So a lone gunman should cause us to spend millions of dollars a year in added security and completely change the nature of the Parliament buildings. That’ll show em.
Or at least, choose the same quotes. 