Just as General Peter van Uhm, the Netherlands’ Chief of Defense, chose the gun as an instrument of peace, professionals in law enforcement and security use the gun as an instrument of keeping the peace and deterring crime. True professionals don’t view their firearm as a weapon. They view it as a tool, an effective one at that. The gun is a tool just as much as the baton, pepper spray, taser, handcuffs, flashlight, radio, etc. An unarmed guard has little effect on someone trying to do bad things. But put an armed guard in his place, the dynamic drastically changes, and 99.99% of the time, the gun never leaves its holster. Just the mere presence of the firearm causes the would-be criminal to rethink his strategy. Maybe he/she goes home. Maybe he/she seeks out a softer target. Either way, crime is deterred much more often when defensive tools are in play. Enjoy the TEDx video.
