How did this terrorist/aspiring mass murderer get an AK-47 in gun-secure Holland? With such strict controls, criminals should not be able to buy a gun.
Here’s a photo of the British gent, identified as Chris Norman, along with a couple of the Americans being honored with medals later that night at a restaurant:
That photo is from the Daily Mail link, above.
He’s an older man, a civilian, who happens to live in France and jumped in to do his bit.
Oh, it can happen - but it’s much rarer than if the country were knee-deep in guns. In places where guns are widely available, I understand no-one’s very much surprised if there’s an actual mass shooting once a year or more.
What’s impressive about this story is that it turns out that the solution to a bad man with a gun is not necessarily a good man with a gun.
Sounds like those guys are going to have a truly awesome remainder of their vacation in France. Gotta expect they’ll get VIP treatment/access everywhere they go!
Thoughts are it was the same place the Charlie Hebdo murderers got theirs - near a train station in Belgium, where guns are legal (the estimated total number of guns (both licit and illicit) held by civilians in Belgium is 1,800,0001 to 2,000,000) and thousands of illegal guns are available on the black market. I think recently/now, statistically (including London and Madrid), train travel is more dangerous than airline travel.
Due respect to the American servicemen, especially Spencer whose name should appear under ‘Hero’ in next year’s Oxford dictionary. Without their intervention the outcome could’ve been tragic.
I think you mean “Aim High”, “Always Ready, Always There” and, uh, “Go Hornets”. Oh, and “God Save the Queen”. The three guys who jumped the shooter were an Air Force Airman, a National Guardsman, and a Sacramento State student. The fourth man, who helped subdue him, was a Briton.
Well done, all four of them.
Question for Doper vets - would this action make either of the servicemen eligible for any sort of decoration?
It’s not a separate service. It’s a Reserve Component of either the Air Force or Army (both exist in the National Guard) with full ability for members to receive federal awards. Separate state level awards do exist for National Guards troops since they are both state and federal troops. I’d doubt the chain of command goes that route for something like this.
The guy that charged and tackled the terrorist first is out of the hospital. Arm in a sling. They said he required surgery on his hand. His thumb nearly got severed by the terrorist’s Stanley knife.
Interesting that what alerted the men was the racking of the weapon. A sound anyone familiar with guns knows all too well. There’s really no reasonable explanation for hearing that on a train. Other than someone getting ready to shoot. Geez that would be quite a WTF moment for anyone. Just knowing that crazy dude will be coming out with that weapon in seconds. It’s amazing how quickly the men reacted in taking him down.
Would it be in order to have the thread title modified to reflect the actual situation, as in, two American servicemen, their friend, and a Brit civilian?
