44 minutes is a long time. A lot of what happened was protracted, and is almost excrutiatingly slow. I've watched some of the footage, and questioned if it was in slow-motion. That gives time to get some emotions under control.
If you're not a cop, and you've no duty to the public, well then, you have to consider what your duties actually
are. My neighbor across the street, a great guy, is a CHL carrier. He carries a Star P.D., if I recall, and usually no spare mag. That's 6+1 on his person, out of a lightweight pistol with short sight radius. He has a wife, 3 beautiful children, a car payment, and a mortgage. Should
he engage such a duo of bad guys?
Not no, but
HELL, NO! I don't care what kind of Tactical Ted he may be. (I've never seen him shoot, though I know him to be very responsible in his carry.) His first responsibility is to his family. If he takes cover and they come around AT him, well, obviously, he would have to do whatever would protect himself. But Take them on? I think not.
Then, there's guys like me. Off-duty, I often slip a M-37 Airweight Chief into my pocket, with no reload, when I run to the store or out for a quick errand. Would a reload really make a difference? Un-freaking-likely.
Would I, a
sworn officer, attempt to intercept such a pair of bad guys in such a a circumstance? Um,
NO. That just makes no sense. I'd be likely turning two armed robbers into two cop-killers, which would then cause other officers to take undue risks to apprehend them. Best thing for me to do would be to observe, try to get others the word or get others to safety, and convey effective info to those who could use it. ("Say, 911? Do y'all have anyone with a rifle, here'bouts?") Now, if I had good cover and found myself in that occasional circumstance where I actually was carrying my full-sized Kimber 1911 with 8+1 and a reload in my pocket, (happens only in winter) well, then... I'd have to evaluate my cover, distance, and see how things went. Probably the answer would be the same.
Then there's a more interesting twist. My favorite shooting buddy is my father, another sworn L.E.O. That man hasn't left the house without at least one firearm on his person since I was born (I'm 31). Were
we to find ourselves at such a situation, things
might go differently, especially if we were within running distance to his car, where long guns can be had. It's amazing what a dependable partner that you
train with can do to a situation. Then again, if we were armed with minimal off-duty concealment pieces, we would likely decide that discretion is in fact the better part of valor.
Funny thing about gunfights: We don't know how we'll react until we're shot at. If your initial reaction is to take good cover and stay there and hold your fire, well then, that's probably the thing to do. Taking wild shots when you're not steady is most assuredly NOT a way to make such a situation safer.
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