A new slogan for Mayor Michael Bloomberg

"New York - Where Only the Crazies Can Have Weapons"

It's ironic and sad that as soon as I put up yesterday's post concerning the virulently anti-gun mayor Michael Bloomberg, I notice this story, detailing a horrific incident out of New York City.

A crazed maniac wielding four knives attacks a woman psychologist at random on the street, stabbing her repeatedly, even taking the time to stop and select different knives:

"Deranged Lee Coleman stood wild-eyed over the dog-walker, methodically plunging a knife into her body and face over and over - even pausing to change knives as the woman lay in a pool of blood, screaming for help."

The victim is now in the hospital in critical condition.

Before the victim was stabbed, the nutcase had apparently been causing all sorts of problems with innocent people:

"The crazed mental patient got into several confrontations while running up Second Ave. near 35th St. before he took aim at Susan Barron, 67, who was walking to church to have her dog blessed, sources said."

The incident ended when off-duty transit police officer Gregory Chin took down the perpetrator with one shot to the abdomen.

Officer Chin seems to have handled the situation properly and well, and kudos to him for doing so. One wonders, though, if Ms. Barron would have been injured at all if a private citizen with a handgun carry permit, party to the "several confrontations" before and during hers, had been able to protect Ms. Barron, instead of waiting agonizing minutes for the fortuitous arrival of Officer Chin, who remember was off-duty at the time. If he had not happened by, who knows how long it would have taken for an official response? More time than was necessary to finish off Ms. Barron, undoubtedly.

Since carry permits in New York are vanishingly rare, issued only to politicians, celebrities, and friends of such people, the likelihood as well as success of a non-cop citizen intervening to help Ms. Barron's situation both seem to be very remote.

Curiously, the article makes a big deal about Officer Chin's being given a sobriety test (which he passed) after the incident, "under a new and controversial NYPD policy introduced last Sunday." Checking further, we find that the cops are vigorously protesting this new directive, calling it "unconstitutional" and "degrading", among other things, and are vowing to sue to challenge it. The rule that they find so odious now mandates that any cop involved in a shooting has to be given a breathalyzer test, and if the results are positive they become "part of the investigation". Common sense, especially since officers are not supposed to carry their weapons when they are drinking, and given that any citizen carry permit holder involved in the same situation would undoubtedly be tested, but the cops are still howling mad about it, as they have traditionally been exempt from most of the rules that the rest of the peasants must follow.

"In the past, a supervisor would make a judgment call of whether an officer who fired his weapon was fit for duty."

No conflict of interest there. I wonder how many times that little gem has been misused.