NSSF Points Out The Contradictions In Big City Police Chief’s Advice

Last Sunday in an interview on 60 Minutes DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that if you can take out an active shooter, do it. She noted that even the best police response time will be 5-7 minutes. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton disagreed with that advice saying essentially it was a good way to get killed. He didn’t think a person with a handgun could take out someone with an AK-47 as they would be “outgunned”.

The NSSF video below shows the contradictions in what Lanier says and what Bratton says.

However, the problem in both New York and the District of Columbia is that Joe Average can’t get a carry permit. Donald Trump has a carry permit but he also now has Secret Service protection. Michael Bloomberg doesn’t need a carry permit because he has a swarm of armed guards around him all the time. The bottom line is that a lot of people will get killed in either city before the cops arrive.

Just How Are We Supposed To Do That In DC, Pray Tell, Chief Lanier?

Emily Miller, author of Emily Gets Her Gun and one of only 45 people in the District of Columbia with a carry permit, tweeted this yesterday afternoon.

It was in response to the interview with DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier by 60 Minutes. In the interview which dealt with active shooters, Lanier said that it was unreasonable to expect the police to arrive in time to stop most mass shootings. She told Anderson Cooper:

I always say if you can get out, getting out’s your first option, your best option. If you’re in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it’s the best option for saving lives before police can get there. And that’s– you know, that’s kind of counterintuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, “Don’t– you know, don’t take action. Call 911. Don’t intervene in the robbery”– you know– you know– we’ve never told people, “Take action.” It’s a different– this is a different scenario.

 You can see the full interview below which also includes comments by NYC Police Commissioner William Bratton.

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Chief Lanier’s Memo To Metro Officers (Updated)

Thanks to the efforts of the National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea, we have the memo that District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier had sent out to all officers of the Metropolitan Police Department regarding carrying a pistol, either open or concealed, within the District.

UPDATE: David Codrea, the National Gun Rights Examiner, has an updated “official teletype” message from Chief Cathy Lanier that provides further guidance to the officers of the Metropolitan Police Department regarding the lawful carry of firearms outside the home in DC. This message goes into much greater detail than the earlier one issued on Sunday. While the District has officially requested a stay of the decision by Judge Scullin, it has not yet been granted as of early this morning.

Reading through the teletype, it is important to note that it only applies to handguns. The carry of a long gun such as a rifle or shotgun outside the home is still prohibited.

Given the fluidity of the legal situation, I’d be very careful if I were carrying in DC as a non-resident or even as a resident. The motion for the stay could be granted at any time which would probably return things to what they were before the decision. Or to use the full Latin phrase, status quo ante bellum. And yes, it is a war for our rights.

Update On Carry In DC (Updated)

Emily Miller had a post a few minutes ago on Facebook regarding enforcement of the now nullified carry prohibitions in the District of Columbia.


Per DC Police Chief Lanier, the only gun arrests allowed now are DC residents with unregistered guns and non-residents who are prohibited under federal laws from possessing firearms. Everyone else is in the clear.

This sounds like good news to those in metro DC.

You know, if you think about it, for the time being, Maryland residents have greater firearm freedoms in the District than they have in the so-called Free State.

UPDATE: Dave Kopel has an excellent post up at the Volokh Conspiracy on this along with some warnings about carry in DC. He suggests caution until an official pronouncement is made.

His long post also delves into the meaning of the win in Palmer. Tom Palmer, by the way, was one of the original plaintiffs in the case that became DC v. Heller when it reached the Supreme Court. He was dropped along the way due to standing issues by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.