Democratic presidential front runner Joe Biden has re-emerged from his home underground bunker with his wife, Punxsutawney Jill, and is back on the real-live campaign trail.
And all I can say is thank God he’s here because were it not for him, we would not have this amazing weapons guidance from Biden, that, as president, could be a game-changer in police tactics.
When we last saw Biden dispense gun advice he was doing an interview with Parents Magazine on YouTube. A question from “Kate” came in and Kate was concerned about Biden and the Democrats taking away her high capacity AR-15 rifle. Tail-gunner Joe told the woman, “Kate, if you want to protect yourself, buy a double-barreled shotgun. … I promise you, as I told my wife … just walk out on the balcony, walk out on the balcony and fire two blasts outside the house. … Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun.”
Biden: Just Wing Him
For the record, shooting in your back yard in an urban setting is dangerous and, it turns out, illegal in Joe Biden’s neighborhood. And, if you’re going to shoot something, shoot the perp in your house so you don’t have to reload after getting off your “warning shots.”
In the ensuing years, Biden has been talking more about confiscating guns than shooting them. But on Monday, Bazooka Joe was back. He met with black leaders at the Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, and talked about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis while in police custody and the riots sparked by the police killing.
Pacing in front of the congregation, a masked Biden told the leaders that police should be trained to wing an “unarmed” bad guy holding a “knife or something” instead of shooting to kill.
Instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there’s an unarmed person comin’ at ’em with a knife or something to shoot ’em in the leg instead of the heart is a very different thing.
This brought a laugh from now retired Portland detective, Steven Russelle.
Next time an unarmed man brandishing a knife comes at me, I’ll give it the Old College Try. Until then, I’ll stick to the ridiculous theory that men coming at me with a knife in their hand are armed, and they are ready, and I am their quarry.
About that “unarmed” knife situation.
Rob O’Donnell, a retired NYPD cop and law enforcement expert told me that an “unarmed” bad guy with a knife can be 20 feet away from a cop and present a danger.
There is not a single policy in the nation that advocates targeting extremities in a deadly use of force incident. A knife in force escalation is a deadly weapon and most departments teach a 21 foot rule.
Of course, a suspect with a knife is dangerous. The time a perpetrator takes to act is a lot shorter than the time a cop has to react to a threat.
And all gun owners are trained to stop a threat. That means if a bad guy is worth stopping, he’s worth stopping for good in a deadly force situation. What if you miss the extremities when you try to wing him?
As old Joe might say himself, “Come on, man.”
Biden today on police training: "Instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there's an unarmed person comin' at 'em with a knife or something to shoot 'em in the leg instead of the heart is a very different thing." pic.twitter.com/2xgqvlQtJ2
— The Recount (@therecount) June 1, 2020
Join the conversation as a VIP Member