Jim, The other night I saw "America's Dumbest Criminals" on TV and it featured 2 kids holding up a police station. You have to admit, that was pretty dumb! Going on a shooting rampage in a military facility seemed to be pretty stupid as well. One would think you would be like a cat in the middle of a dog fight- you wouldn't stand a chance and be eaten alive.

I realize that civilians are employed/contracted at the base for a wide range of duties. I also realize that most soldiers do not walk around armed both for safety and lack of need to BE armed, but there ARE many that do such as MP's, and other security details. I (mistakenly) believed that there were enough of them readily available to stop someone with 2 pistols from inflicting harm from FOURTY THREE people. A pistol magizine (GI Issue) normally does not carry that many rounds so he had to reload several times. As far as the specialized training from the local athourities goes, I learned it was a traffic cop who shot and stopped the gunman. He had been hired to help with traffic during the event.

I am just amazed that 43 people suffered before this guy was stopped - by ANYONE, much less a guy directing traffic. The misconception is that the largest military facility in the world is any safet than the grocery store down the street. The past event proves it is not...