Complacency Kills!

At approximately 6:30 pm on May 25, 1983, Schaufelberger was assassinated on the grounds of the Central American University in San Salvador.
Lieutenant Commander Schaufelberger was picking up his girlfriend and had established a predictable pattern. Although his vehicle was armored, the air-conditioning was not functional, and he had removed the driver’s side window. There was speculation that the A/C had been sabotaged. As he waited in his car for his girlfriend, three men exited a Volkswagen Microbus and approached his car. One stopped his girlfriend from approaching, one established security for the ambush, and one ran to the driver’s side window. He then shot Schaufelberger in the head four times with a revolver, killing him instantly. The assassination team then got back in their VW and left. RIP Lieutenant Commander Schaufelberger.
The victims of the 2012 Aurora Theater shooting were attending a screening of a highly-anticipated action film at an upscale suburban mall. The victims of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino were gunned down while attending a work-related Christmas luncheon. In September 2017, congregants in Antioch, TN, found themselves under fire while leaving a church service. In November 2017, eight people enjoying a beautiful fall day on a well-traveled public bike path in New York City were murdered by an Islamic terrorist who ran them over with a truck.
Complacency kills.
Statistically speaking, the majority of carriers will never need to display, much less discharge, their defensive firearms. That is a good thing. This is as it should be. What is not good is how often knowledge of this leads many to complacency. The normalcy bias whispers how uncomfortable concealed carry can be; how we have to change our clothes or actions to prevent printing; how foolishly paranoid we might feel, carrying at mundane events or performing simple chores.
Here are some common sayings:
"I stay out of bad neighborhoods and don't associate with criminals. I'll be fine." "I'm just making a quick stop, I'll be back in five minutes." "I've been there a hundred times, and nothing's ever happened." We get complacent.

In November 2017 there was another senseless act of murder, but with a slightly different twist. In Thornton, CO, a man walked into a Wal-Mart and, by present accounts, randomly gunned down three shoppers in close proximity, then abruptly fled. It soon came to light that many patrons – some of whom were undoubtedly "just making a quick, five-minute stop" – that drew their own firearms at the sound of the gunshots, prepared to defend themselves and others. No one knows if that is the reason the attacker fled, but I imagine those that were armed were grateful.
Don’t be complacent.
I had a track coach in Junior High who used to have us run two miles as a warm-up before practice. We did not run on the track, but around the whole property where the stadium was, on the fence line. He used to tell us, “I know when you’re way at the far corner you’ll be tempted to cut across making your run a little easier. I can’t see you over there but I know you will be tempted. Don’t do it. It’s a little thing, but don’t do it.” I don’t think I can remember any of us cutting our run down in any form.
This is my plea to you. Carry always. Don’t get complacent. Be alert. Have situational awareness. When you are tempted to be lax or not carry or you think “Nothing has ever happened at this place,” don’t get complacent.
I work on a federal installation. We have been in the same Force Protection for a few years now. It would be easy to get lax, to not be vigilant or thorough. That’s when the unthinkable happens.
Be vigilant. Fight complacency. It kills.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn