TX:Air Force Officer with CCW Saves Woman

2nd Lt. Joshua Nelson was off duty when he intervened in a situation where a disturbed young man with a knife was threatening his mother.   The officer used his concealed carry firearm to defuse the situation, and talk the man out of hurting anyone.   Lt. Nelson said that he just used his military training.  From laughlinaf.mil:

According to police reports, the young man was mad at his mother, who he had a knife to, because she wouldn't buy him a gun.  Nelson told his wife Brittany to go alert the store manager and call the police.

Nelson, who has a concealed weapons permit stepped up beside the woman.

"I put my hand on my pistol where he'd notice, and then I stepped in between them," said Nelson. "I kept demanding he hand me the knife. I wanted him to see only one option. As I was standing beside that lady, I felt like I was responsible for her life. I was going to do whatever I had to do to protect her."

Then, according to the police report, Nelson went from trying to stop a murder to trying to stop a suicide when the assailant turned the knife on himself.

Nelson pointed to his training and the Air National Guard and previously in the Marine Corps as helping him talk the young man down.

Lt. Nelson was off duty when the incident occurred.  As is clear from the reporting by the public affairs office of the 47th Flying Training Wing, a significant number of people understand that what this officer did reflects well on the United States Armed Forces.

What most people do not know, is that Lt. Nelson, and other officers, are forbidden from carrying a weapon when they are on active duty, at least 99 percent of the time.  It is a policy that was formalized after the Ft. Hood shooting several years ago, though it had been in place for decades.

All of us would be better off if trained military personnel were allowed to carry self defense firearms in the regular course of their duties.    It is a bizarre policy  to forbid trained military officers from carrying arms.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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