Another Reason Why a Gun is Better Than 911

Someone called 911 from Brittany Zimmermann's mobile phone on April 2, 2008 in Madison, Wisconsin.

According to current media reports, whoever dialed 911 did not say anything and the dispatcher hung up and moved on to the next call. Now the major news outlets are printing stories, many with headlines stating that the lack of proper handling by the 911 dispatcher resulted in Brittany's death.

Brittany was later found with multiple stab wounds to her chest.

Brittany didn't die because the 911 dispatcher mishandled the call. Even if the dispatcher had followed procedure and called Brittany's mobile phone back, it would have been too late.

Face it, if you are in the process of being stabbed in the chest, calling 911 is not going to save your life. The only way you are going to keep a violent criminal from stabbing you in the chest is if you have a gun handy and you point it at your attacker and pull the trigger.

Should this 911 incident be investigated? Yes. Should disciplinary action be taken against dispatchers who fail to follow procedure? Yes. Should they be blamed for Brittany's death? NO! The person who should be blamed for this murder is the person who did the stabbing.

I don't know if this poor girl owned a gun or knew how to use one. But I do know that we live in a nation where the elitist gun control advocates have convinced way too many people that only government agents and military personnel should be allowed to have an immediate means of defense against criminals.

I'm a former police officer. I worked eight years as a night shift patrol officer in the northern district of Greenville, Texas. I saw first hand how many criminals are walking our streets, even in a medium sized town in sleepy northeast Texas. Believe me, if you get out in public, every day you pass within close proximity of people who would just as soon kill you as look at you, if they thought they could get away with it.

Some states have concealed carry laws. I have a Texas CHL and you better believe when I'm out of the house I'm packing heat, unless I'm on the job or my employer's premises, who has strict policies against employees having weapons on duty.

If someone attacks me or a family member, you won't see me reaching for a mobile phone to call 911 while the attacker does whatever they want while the police try to get through traffic. It only takes seconds for someone to kill you. No squad car on earth is going to get there in time. Hell, a helicopter won't get there in time.

I just don't understand why so many Americans can't comprehend the logic of this. It takes seconds to get killed. It takes minutes, sometimes hours, for law enforcement to get to the scene. How many stories have you heard about someone calling 911 and the police arriving in time to save someone from being attacked? I can't remember a single one. I know of plenty where the police officer only showed up after the crime had been committed and innocent people were already dead or seriously wounded. When I was a cop I never made to a scene in time to stop a physical attack on an innocent person. And I drove fast, with some of the best pursuit driving training under my belt that law enforcement had to offer at the time. When I went code three, I could cross from one side of the city to the other in less than eight minutes, and that just wasn't fast enough.

Take it from me, a former police officer who served with honor and left a law enforcement career with dignity, the police cannot protect you from an armed criminal unless the cop is standing next to you when the attack begins. Get a license to carry if your state allows it. Accept the responsibility of protecting yourself and your family, know the laws of self defense, and train yourself to be proficient with a firearm.

Vote for politicians who support your right to keep and bear arms in accordance with the Declaration of Independence. Stop expecting the government to do for you what you should do for yourself.

And say a prayer for Brittany's family and friends. They may not share my views, and some may even take offense that I've written about her to make this point. I hope not. I wouldn't wish any more pain upon her kin.

I pray that God grants them some comfort, and I pray that whoever did this to her will discover their next intended victim is toting a pistol and that the cowardly murderer gets what he deserves, a piece of hot lead that lets lots of blood out and air in.