Sometime People Get It Right

 Dr Silverman gets it.  He works with dangerous and apparently, violent people.

The rest of the story is from several national news outlets.  I’ve reordered it to make sense and my comments and clarifications are in Italics.

Staff members had heard loud arguing inside Silverman's office during the appointment. They opened the door and noticed the patient had a gun pointed at the doctor, so they quietly closed the door and dialed  911.  (Unarmed, what else could they do?)

Caseworker Theresa Hunt, 53, of Philadelphia had accompanied Richard Plotts to an appointment with Silverman at a psychiatric crisis center adjacent to the hospital in Darby, just southwest of Philadelphia, authorities said.

District Attorney Jack Whelan said gunshots were heard a short time later, just before 2:30 p.m.

Plotts shot the caseworker in the face and fired several shots at Silverman, including one that grazed his temple and another that struck his thumb.  It appears Dr. Silverman was able to draw/retrieve his gun and Dr. Lee Silverman emptied his chamber, striking patient Richard Plotts several times.  (Curious use: emptied his chamber)

A spokeswoman for the Mercy Fitzgerald Health System said the hospital has a policy barring anyone except on-duty law enforcement officers from carrying weapons on its campus.

(Apparently the hospital rule doesn’t apply to criminals, who by definition break laws/rules.  This rule was most likely promulgated by people who do not deal with patients daily and are safely ensconced behind locked doors.  Having little to nothing to lose, they feel comfortable playing god.)

But Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that "without a doubt, I believe the doctor (Dr. Silverman) saved lives.  Without that firearm, this guy (the patient) could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition," the chief said.  (I’m sure Dr. Silverman will be asked to leave his practice for violating this policy.  Remember it’s not about saving lives, it’s about following the rules.)

Comments:

There’s more to the story I’m sure.  Plotts’s possible criminal record is hinted at, the fact there was little or no security at the 200-odd bed teaching hospital was trotted out.  The media and liberals want to know if there were signs of impending danger which were misread by the doctor or caseworker.  It’s so much easier to blame the victims; they should have done something sooner.  That something is never clearly and completely explained.  Blaming the victims is comforting to some who believe if they do everything right, nothing bad will ever touch them.  Conservatives know that people do bad things often for no reason other than they want to. 

Despite being demonized by the liberals and the media (am I redundant?) the NRA is right.  It takes a good person with a gun to stop a bad person with a gun.

What’s the tactical take on this?

The operational words are concealed carry.  If you work or have to travel to dangerous places you should take precautions.  Concealed means nobody, not your buddy, not the boss, nobody knows you’re armed.  Nothing in this story talks about caliber or gun size.  A little six-shot .32 ACP when you need it is better than a 12 round .357 Sig left at home.

Dr. Silverman maybe looking for a job and it might be easier for him to find a new practice then you or I, but he still has that option.  Caseworker Hunt is dead. 

Which of these two do you want to emulate?