Sitting Duck Policy

Why is it that you never hear someone say “Why do you have a fire extinguisher in your house? If there’s a fire we have professionals who come and put it out.”

It’s thought provoking, isn’t it.

A similarly though provoking phrase is “When seconds count, police are only minutes away.”

Of course we’re talking about keeping a firearm in the home and readily available for self-defense in the tragic circumstance that you should be left with no other choice but to use it.

Such was the case with a 57-year old woman in Oklahoma recently. A man was trespassing on her property and would not leave. He began banging on the door. The resident called 911 and told the dispatcher what was happening.

Then she said something stirring:

“[The police] need to hurry. He’s going to break this thing open. When he does I’ll have to kill him, Ma’am. I don’t want to kill him… I don’t want to kill this man… He’s kicking the door, please hurry! … Oh crap, he’s breaking in now! … He looks to be an older man, I don’t want to kill him!…

She put the phone down when the intruder used a chair and patio table to break through the front door. Left with no other option she shot the intruder. When she made it back to the phone you can hear how upsetting her justified use of deadly force was:

[crying]… I hit him. God help me. Oh please, dear God, I think I’ve killed him. Please Father in Heaven. Please Father in Heaven… Oh Ma’am, I shot him… He hasn’t moved, but I shot him.

It’s heart-wrenching to hear this woman’s obvious anguish with having no other choice than to use her firearm in self-defense.

The lessons that we need to learn from this incident are

• even when you call 911, more often than not, police won’t arrive until after the crime has been committed
• you can’t control what other people do
• you are the only person responsible for ensuring your own safety and defense
• being prepared for the worst doesn’t make things any easier should that fateful day ever arrive

Although this woman was clearly very distraught over having to use deadly force, and ultimately end a life, how much more would she have been if she had listened to the mainstream media and “just let the police do their job”?

If you had been in her shoes and weren’t able to defend yourself (and your family), would you be able to live with the remorse of being unprepared when others were depending on you? Could you live with yourself after having to stand by while your wife or daughter was brutally beaten and raped? Your children assaulted?

I hope that never happens.

I also hope that you prepare for it just in case it ever does.

Mayor Bloomberg isn’t content to stay in his own city and push his anti-gun agenda. He plans on leaving Chicago and driving all across the country with this big truck trying to trick uninformed readers into thinking it’s true.

What is the truth? 2,191 Americans use guns every day in defense of self or others.

Several Walmart employees witnessed a customer shoplifting and escorted him to a holding room in the back of the store. During his detention the customer decided it was time for him to leave. When the Walmart employees denied his request he reportedly brandished a firearm, threating the employees.

According to comments by the employees, there’s only one way out of the room, and they didn’t have anywhere to go without risking personal injury. Faced with only one other option, the employees decided to subdue and disarm the customer.

Sounds like a great case of heroism to me, wouldn’t you agree?

Apparently, Walmart has a corporate policy that prohibits their employees to defend themselves —  more specifically, they must flee (even if they are unable to do so) rather than confront a customer.

Walmart has now fired four employees tied to this incident.

Via KSL.com

Why were they fired? Violation of Walmart policy AP09.

If… the suspect has a weapon or brandishes or threatens use of a weapon; all associates must disengage from the situation, withdraw to a safe position, and contact law enforcement.

Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman reponded with the following:

“We appreciate the intentions demonstrated by our associates in this situation, but the actions taken put their safety – and potentially the safety of our customers and other associates – in jeopardy. In their roles within the store, they were aware of our expectations regarding safety and, unfortunately, their actions have led to them no longer working for the company.” (source)

Walmart’s actions have led me to no longer do business with them.

I don’t spend my money in places that prevent the general public from being able to defend themselves while on their property, I think I’ll include Walmart in this as well.

Now you have a choice:

• Stop shopping at Walmart
• Support a company that fires its employees for defending themselves

If you choose to stop shopping at Walmart, please print the following, and deliver it to the manager of your nearest Walmart store.

Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars at Walmart stores. After the manner in which Walmart handled a situation in their Layton, Utah store, that’s about to change.

This particular issue arises from various Walmart policies which essentially force employees to become victims at the hands of would-be criminals. In Layton, four employees disarmed a wanted felon — in defense of their own lives — because they couldn’t “disengage” without someone being killed or seriously wounded. Walmart’s response? Rather than issue a commendation of heroism — they were fired.

A Walmart spokesperson responded with the statement that “their actions have led to them no longer working for the company”.

To that I reply, Walmart’s actions have led me to no longer spend my money in your stores.

If you wish to regain me as a customer, the following must be met:

1. Walmart must enact a new policy that provides self-defense overrides any other policy, stating that if an employee acted in self-defense with reasonable force, no disciplinary action shall be taken for such actions.
2. Walmart must recognize, via a formal commendation, the actions taken by the four former-employees from the Layton, Utah store.
3. Walmart must make resonable accommodation to the same, including, but not limited to reimbursement for lost wages caused by the folly of this policy.
4. Notice of the above must be provided to me in writing at the address noted below.

More information can be found at http://bit.ly/fired-for-self-defense

Tell the manager, put simply, neither you, your family, nor your friends patronize companies that fire their employees for defending themselves.

Let me know what response you get in the comments below.