TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross

An army of one

BY Dave Ross  on February 8, 2013 @ 5:43 am (Updated: 5:55 am - 2/8/13 )

AP: 9137d805-30da-49c8-8580-20accae218ba
Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements, is linked to a weekend killing and authorities believe he opened fire early Thursday on police in cities east of Los Angeles, killing an officer and wounding another. Police issued a statewide "officer safety warning" and police were sent to protect people named in the posting that was believed to be written by Dorner. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)
I guess if we were wondering how it might look when someone decides to act on selected quotes of Thomas Jefferson, we know now.

In his manifesto, ex-cop-turned avenger Christopher Dorner used that familiar Jefferson quote written in defense of periodic revolution: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

The same quote was on Timothy McVeigh's t-shirt in 1995 the day he bombed the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. But as with most people who invoke that quote, which was part of a long letter, they leave out the rest, which includes:

"Happy for us, that when we find our constitutions defective and insufficient to secure the happiness of our people, we can assemble with all the coolness of philosophers and set it to rights, while every other nation on earth must have recourse to arms ..."

In this case the "coolness of philosophers" was replaced by a heat of a long-standing grudge, and of course easy access to weapons. That's the really chilling part. Where he described an arsenal that included highly regulated Class III weapons such as silencers and short-barreled rifles, and said he bought them from Lock 'n Load - a Las Vegas gun store - without a background check. All they wanted was money and a signature.

Because he, at the time, was a law abiding citizen. The kind whose gun rights we all want to protect. You can't help but wonder - how many people are building up legal arsenals, and nursing deep resentments, all the while scrupulously obeying every law - until the day they don't?

Read more:
Read the latest on the search for Christopher Dorner
Career woes, perceived racism fuel ex-cop's anger

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
More Dave Ross

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Comments (131)


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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    As certain as is the rain around here...
    February 8, 2013 6:57 am
    Dave goes on yet another anti gun rant...
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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    Neither Liberal nor conservative
    February 8, 2013 7:15 am
    just crazy. You see if Dave could get behind the legislation that conservatives support. Identifying violent crazy people in a database and ensuring they don't have access to firearms, then we would be all on the same path. He's making the point for us now. He's a smart guy. I just don't understand why he doesn't see it. I'm sure the LAPD knew of his potentially violent personality when he was fired. But they had no ability to label him as violent and mentally compromised. So this crazy guy has access to all sorts of weapons. Let's follow Daves' scenario where guns are illegal to possess. This guy would have just gone to the streets and bought the guns illegally. They are everywhere down there. Trafficked by gangs.
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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    Let's follow Daves' scenario where guns are illegal to possess. This guy would have just gone to the streets and bought the guns illegally
    February 8, 2013 7:21 am
    And the rest of the citizens would be in even more danger, unable to protect themselves from maniacs like this. Great plan Dave, great plan...
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    How can you insure "they don't have access to firearms"
    February 8, 2013 7:24 am
    Without universal background checks?

    The NRA is saying no to that.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sportsguru wrote...
    Not only are they saying no to that
    February 8, 2013 7:34 am
    They have a right to keep and bear arm per the constitution. Try again please
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    There are more me's around this site than you can shake a stick at
    February 8, 2013 7:39 am
    .
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    there's only one of me
    February 8, 2013 7:55 am
    go back to your agent mutant rich and orange handle, flounder
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    Let's add one more me to the mix
    February 8, 2013 7:58 am
    Yup, here's another one!
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    How nifty Flounder!
    February 8, 2013 7:59 am
    We all have different flounder pictures.

    Flounder.

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  • William Lawn wrote...
    It's a School of Flounders
    February 8, 2013 8:28 am
    .
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  • Fixit wrote...
    Typical Liberal Mindset
    February 8, 2013 7:50 am
    He says how assault weapons and hi-cap magazines aren't needed. Yet he has them, and apparently plenty of them. He has short barreled rifles and suppressors. So it's ok for him to have them but not the civillian populace? Why would any police officer -need- these sorts of weapons and accessories in their off duty life? The department issues weapons as needed for the job. So it's ok for him to have these weapons but not the rest of us? Hypocracy at its finest. He wants to ban assault weapons while he retains possession of them? You're not in the military anymore buddy. A police officer off-duty has no more need of an assault rifle than anyone else. So either you back the 2nd ammendment or you want special privilege just like all of these politicians who carry weapons and expect the rest of us to rely on the police for protection. I love how the media has left off all of this man's liberal leanings and are printing a heavily edited version of his "manifesto" that only carries a specifically guided message vs. letting the reader judge for themselves this man's intent, sanity, and affiliations. Tell me again why we the people are supposed to buy into the honesty of the media and the truth of liberal causes they love to champion?
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  • kato1967 wrote...
    Obamabot Snaps
    February 8, 2013 7:56 am
    These people are dangerous and unpredictable. We really need to pass a law to limit their rights. I know it's only one guy who has snapped, but if it saves just one life, then it is worth it.
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  • William Lawn wrote...
    Yeah, the Obamabot who loves Chris Christie, George H. W. and Tim Teabow
    February 8, 2013 8:02 am
    You guys are too funny
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kato1967 wrote...
    A good place to start...
    February 8, 2013 11:28 am
    will be to take away your rights to post idiocy on this comment board. This will effectively ban you from posting anything since everthing you post is idiotic. After all, what you do need free speech for? Over a billion Chinese get along just fine without it.
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  • AtheisticallyYours wrote...
    Which is why MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATIONS are needed!
    February 8, 2013 7:57 am
    Its always nice to know that a person can build a nice "little" arsenal, and then USE IT AGAINST, those who have even more weapons then the "cop-gone-Rambo" does! And gun nuts wonder WHY MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATIONS should be required to own MORE THEN ONE GUN???? Maybe when enough LAPD, law enforcement get wounded and killed in this case (and its at least TWO so far!), will they get the picture of WHY whack jobs should not have guns, and WHY a psychiatric evaluation should be required before owning MORE THEN ONE of them!
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  • kato1967 wrote...
    Mental health evals
    February 8, 2013 11:26 am
    Based on your compulsive use ALL CAPS maybe you are the one who needs and evaluation. Your own lunacy aside, this guy was a cop. If the cops can't even properly screen out nutcases from their own forces, how do we expect that these evaluations will be anymore effective on civilians?
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Anybody else know the full story on this article?
    February 8, 2013 8:01 am
    Because Dave Ross picked the wierdest way to describe it. The story behind this guy (Chris Dorner)is so strange, if you know it then you understand that Ross had to really reach in order to turn this into something on the Gun debate. This guy Dorner he's blathering about, he's a former officer in the Navy turned LAPD officer... In July 2007 he was dispatched with a couple other officers to a hotel where a guest was refusing to leave the building... the guest refused to cooperate, took a swing at the officers and Dorner and another officer wrestled with him, eventually the suspect was tased before he finally cooperated. Two weeks later Dorner went to a sergeant to report that one of the officers that was with him during that incident, an officer named Evans, had kicked the suspect after he had already given up. The LAPD dismissed the accusation and later in turn, investigated Dorner here is a quote from their report "The delay in reporting the alleged misconduct coupled with the witness' statements irreparably destroy Dorner's credibility and bring into question his suitability for continued employment as a police officer" This report recommended his dismissal, in January of 2009 the LAPD's board of rights upheld his dismissal, Dorner filed a lawsuit to overturn the dismissal but failed, his Witness of course is the mentally ill guy that they were sent to remove from the hotel, as such his testimony was not taken seriously. This is the crux of this story, Dorner believes he has been victimized by the LAPD, believes they are corrupt, and is demanding that they admit their corruption and clear his name... He is waging a war against the people that he believes lied and ruined his career. He is accused of killing 1 officer, wounding 2 others, as well as killing the daughter of his police union representative and her fiance. Dorner stated "the attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence" Now tell me why this is a Gun Control story? Dave even you should have a HINT of journalistic integrity... well, maybe not, but either way, this isn't a gun control story... he was a former Navy officer and LAPD officer... He's the EXACT people that YOU Propose should be the only ones WITH guns... MORON.
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  • GrisGuy wrote...
    Law abiding people need to disarm...
    February 8, 2013 8:05 am
    So "Smart People" like Dave can take care of us. After all, he knows what we need.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    This story is about the danger posed by nut jobs
    February 8, 2013 8:22 am
    not about the danger posed by firearms.

    It's also not about "the danger posed by liberals, Democrats, and Barack Obama" as some of our own posters with dubious perspectives on the world would urge us to accept.

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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    I choose not to ignore
    February 8, 2013 9:03 am
    the mountains of evidence that liberal progressives are the biggest danger we face. You are free to ignore the evidence.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Background Checks and gun restrictions wouldn't have prevented this from happening.
    February 8, 2013 8:24 am
    Dave are you trying to say that if they did a background check or a Mental health evaluation, somehow that would have prevented this? If you really believe that, then you haven't taken 10 seconds trying to figure out this story. The guy was a Navy Officer before becoming a Police officer... Background check is a pass right there, he does not have a criminal history, top that, the Navy has mental health evaluations, he obviously passed those, also if the LAPD conducts Mental evals then he passed those as well. His neighbor described him as "a nice friendly guy, easy to approach" His football coach from Southern Utah University (where he obtained a degree in political science) stated "Chris Dorner is the last person i would ever think would do such things, He was a great kid" ... Fellow college classmate described him as "a perfectly rational human being, smart and insightful" .... OOPS DAVE ROSS! I guess background checks and mental health evals really WOULDN'T have stopped this. Add this with the fact that if Dorner wanted a gun, like any other criminal in America, he could have simply gotten one illegally, which is exactly what will happen if you ban guns... you will create a black market and criminals will still get them. Bottom line, your article is bogus Ross, and i just destroyed it.
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