Canadian Parliament Attacked - Gunman Killed, More Shootings

[scott h]

Which brilliant politician made the decision to give soldiers rifles to stand guard but no ammunition?

 

I will have to defer to I AM BOB on this one, since I have never been to this particular memorial. Was the young soldier an actual guard walking  post? Or was he more ceremonial/tourist guide? A soldier there to answer questions of tourists etc.

 

Regardless Americano, I believe you would be surprised at todays military. They are very, very risk adverse, safety conscious and paranoid. Unlike Our parents (Korean/WW II vets) who actually took their weapons and ammunition home with them on leave, or to post to post, ammunition is almost as tightly controlled as nuclear arms.

 

Case in point, several years ago when the Fort Hood massacre took place the talking heads were all saying, "How can this happen? all those soldiers, all those weapons?". Same thing at the Washington DC Naval yard, you heard "Where are all the guns?"

 

Well all the guns are locked up and only issued to each soldier only when they are going to use them, and all the ammunition is locked up even tighter, and usually transported to the range and only issued to the soldier as he/she actually is walking to the firing line. In all my years humping a pack I never carried ammo unless I was the officer of the day, escorting something like ammo to the range (then only 5 rounds and magazine was never in the weapon) or in an actual war zone.

 

So bottom line is, If the guard had a weapon, and if he had ammo, and if he even had the magazine inserted a round was most likely not in the chamber, I heard on the news he was shot in the back ambush style anyway so the poor sod never had a chance.

 

RIP Brother.

[Markham]

Which brilliant politician made the decision to give soldiers rifles to stand guard but no ammunition?

His job was purely ceremonial, not defensive. He was on guard duty at the tomb of the unknown warrior and just like those who stand guard outside Buckingham Palace, his weapon would not have been loaded with ammunition.

[i am bob]

Yup!  Purely ceremonial and no ammo...

 

Worse part about this for me is that I came across this young chap a couple times when I lived in Hamilton.  He was in the reserve unit there and was getting ready for a tour in Afghanistan.  Being a single father, he was proud to be defending the rights of others but still a bit nervous for his son should something happen to him.   I'm sure that he thought his time in Ottawa would be a lot safer.  Apparently, the perp stopped his car near the Memorial, ran up and shot the Ceremonial Guard.  Cpl Cirillo apparently dropped to one knee when approached and before the shooting started - he had his weapon up and aimed but there was nothing there to fire.  2 shots to his chest and the perp then raised his rifle above his head in celebration and then took off running again to steal another car in which he crossed the street and entered the Parliament Buildings.

 

Back to the question on ammo...  It's true - it would probably be easier to get a nuke (which we don't have in Canada...) than a mag full of ammo.  When I was in Europe during the mid-80s, those of us on the airfield were issued the old SMG - or what I called "a piece of pipe with a handle"...  Usually we didn't bother getting a mag...  And not once did I ever get blanks to use during the exercises either...  Do you have any idea how childish you feel trying to perform as a SWAT Team while hanging out the door of a truck chasing a supposed infiltrator and yelling at the top of your lungs "BANG BANG - YOU'RE DEAD!!!"  (And the usual reply was "NO, I'M NOT!") So, if we got to pretend we were 3 years old playing Swat, do you think a Ceremonial Guard would get any real ammo if all he is doing is standing there?

[Americano]

In November 2009 when I retried I had completed over 35 years of working for the US Department of Defense so I know a little bit about how things work in the US Military and its probably the same way in other countries.  All military personnel know that a weapon is useless without ammunition.  In fact having a weapon in your hands with no ammo in it is more dangerous than not having a weapon at all.  And, that is why he was murdered.  He was an easy target and his partner couldn't fire back either so his only option was to run away.

 

Therefore military personnel want to be locked and loaded at all times.  Its the stupid politicians who say no ammo, which gets our soldiers and innocent people killed.

 

I'm very proud of the Sargent at Arms for stopping the rampage.  I know he's very thankful that some stupid politician didn't take his ammunition away.

[Jack Peterson]

I'm very proud of the Sargent at Arms for stopping the rampage.  I know he's very thankful that some stupid politician didn't take his ammunition away.

 

I daresay many others are too. Including some Politicians with a lot of Egg on their faces.

Need anything more be said? NAH! I Think not!

 

JP :tiphat: