According to the BBC, a 28-year-old man was just arrested at the entrance of Disneyland Paris carrying two guns, a box of ammunition, and a Qur’an. A female companion was also arrested.
And that’s all I know. It’s a mercy they caught him, for there’s no limit to the number of innocents Islamist terrorists want to kill. (Let me add that there’s a remote possibility that this was a stunt designed to rouse anti-Muslim sentiment, but I doubt it.)
h/t: Steve K.
Terrorism is now a permanent fixture of life in civilized communities, sadly.
Yes, largely because of Muslims.
And to a lesser degree: homicidal anti-abortion fanatics, the IRA, Buddhists extremists, and the theocracy of North Korea.
I’d say that the reaction of Westerners is at least as much to blame. Muslim terrorists commit mass murders in the West, the West starts soul-searching how it has hurt these nice people to drive them to such heinous acts, allows Muslims to build a new mosque next to the scene of the worst mass murder, lets tiny Muslim minorities decide the foreign policy, decides that it has to fight its own bigotry by allowing more Muslim immigrants, then more, and then even more, and allows male Muslim immigrants to prey on European women. What would motivate Muslim terrorists to abandon terror? Their current strategy is working perfectly.
Except of course that terrorism in Europe has steadily decreased until last year (if you discount the British Isles separatist terrorism). Mainly because Spain has finally calmed down after its unfortunate history with fascism. See the European counter-terrorist yearly reports.
You are welcome to mention any references to the contrary. But I think you have none.
Will last year’s spike count and become a putative “fixture”? I wouldn’t bet on it, neither would Pinker at a guess.
Also, when I say “a spike” I refer to the deaths, not the terrorism frequency. In Europe religious terrorism is ~ 1 % of cases.
The counter-terrorism report is interesting reading by the way, it reveals that religious terrorists are klutzes: 1 % of cases, 40 % of precautionary arrests.
Let’s not forget that thousands of European Muslims have joined ISIS. Should we cheer that European Muslim terrorists departed to kill Christians, Yazidis and non-perfect Muslims in Syria? Europe has hit a new low by becoming a net exporter of Islamist terror.
Not Europe, but the Muslims living in Europe.
I was slow to reply, because I needed to collect my thoughts.
While I don’t absolve Muslims of their responsibility (they are neither children nor cognitively disabled nor insane), I wish European statesmen and native citizens finally to acknowledge their responsibility, too, and to act accordingly. When a free country adopts the policy to accept a large number of immigrants from a culture with incompatible values and then leaves these immigrants (and their descendants) to their own devices, then the majority of citizens in the country are also responsible for whatever happens.
It could be argued that native Western Europeans apparently like things that way, because they express little protest against Islam. To me, however, the red line is when the crap of one country pours out to other, innocent countries. When Muslims from European countries, Canada, the USA or Australia cross borders to kill people in the name of Islam, I think it is high time for Westerners to stop bragging of their tolerance to intolerant immigrants and to think seriously how to end their failed multicultural experiment.
Do such reports mention the ethnicity and religion of the perpetrators? We all know that Sweden, for example, censors this type of information when reporting crimes like rape, etc.
“Let me add that there’s a remote possibility that this was a stunt designed to rouse anti-Muslim sentiment, but I doubt it.”
That was my first thought, because why would a shooter carry a Koran? On the flip side, if he’s not a Muslim, it will come to light pretty quickly and he’ll pay a big price for his stunt.
I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but I also don’t understand why people are suggesting it as a possibility immediately. A mass shooting is a terrible false flag operation because, if caught it is all but certain the authorities will find out the perpetrator is not a Muslim. And the Quran suggests he wants to be caught. It is a ritual symbol of his devotion, a virtue-signal.
“A mass shooting is a terrible false flag operation because,”
Not saying he had any intention of shooting.
Regardless, I’m also not saying which is the more likely scenario; both are far out of the realm of my understanding.
Just the idea that someone could get into a large amusement park with guns and ammo is a bit of a stretch. I think, even here in the US they are now doing pretty good checks of everyone coming in.
So its OK to carry a gun into a university campus or lecture room, but not an amusement park?
I suppose it would be ok to carry them in both places in Texas, provided that you have the proper permit.
Police carry guns all over. Are they any different from us?
A young woman in Denmark is being prosecuted for using pepper spray against a rapist. Apparently she should have submitted, and maybe the police would have caught him. Then all would be OK.
Just when you think you’ve heard it all…
That is a blatant distortion of the reported facts.
Nobody (except you) has suggested she should have submitted and she is not being prosecuted for fighting back.
Pepper spray is illegal in Denmark and for that she faces a fine of up to 500 kroner ($73).
(Note that, being under 18, she would not legally be able to buy pepper spray in the US either, and there are restrictions on its size and strength).
A discussion on whether pepper spray should be legal is probably in order, but – given the level of maturity shown by the campus mob who threatened that reporter recently – would you trust them with it?
cr
P.S. google ‘denmark pepper spray rapist’ for several links.
cr
You have no idea how many women carry pepper spray in their purses!
You’re right, I have no idea.
It is a weapon, so there are points to be made for and against it.
On the whole, I’d be relaxed about people carrying it, so long as its use is regarded as physical violence and treated accordingly. (And by that I mean, perfectly okay in self-defence, not okay otherwise).
cr
I don’t think any of us contemplate using it in any other way.
“I don’t think any of us contemplate using it in any other way.”
I’m sure you don’t, but then that’s what the guys with guns say. 😉
(To be less cryptic – sooner or later *someone* will misuse it).
cr
Oh, I’m sure that must have happened already. As you say, such misuse should be considered assault.
I hasten to add, I don’t want to draw too many parallels between guns and pepper spray. One is lethal if misused, the other almost certainly not. So for-and-against arguments for the two things are not weighted the same way.
cr
Pepper spray is illegal in Canada but bear repellent isn’t.
Diana, that’s so Canuck. 😀
From what I’ve seen, bear repellant cans would be much harder to fit in the average purse than keychain cylinders of pepper spray.
“bear repellant cans would be much harder to fit in the average purse than keychain cylinders of pepper spray.”
… until someone starts making small cans for repelling small bears 😉
Which raises an interesting question – how is ‘pepper spray’ legally defined? Here in NZ, where marijuana is still illegal, the government played whack-a-mole with purveyors of ‘party pills’ – as soon as they banned one substance, the manufacturers came up with a similar (but not currently illegal) one.
So one could come up, I’m sure, with many types of ‘bear repellent’ that weren’t actually pepper spray as legally defined.
cr
“…played whack-a-mole…”
Oh, yeah, happens here as well; a big area now is separating out what is a “diet supplement” from what is oh, say, a steroid or stimulant that needs regulating. And of course the same process went on in the 60’s/70’s with psychedelics… 😉
…and a Qur’an.
I wonder if we put together a Holy Book which promotes mass murder if in 2000 years it would inspire those who cannot think for themselves to commit extraordinary and selfless acts of peace.
I read this on Fox:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/28/man-arrested-at-disney-theme-park-near-paris-after-police-find-guns-hidden-in-bag.html
“Disney security staff stopped the 28-year-old man after his suitcase passed through an X-ray machine, local media report. The man did not resist arrest.”
If true, I’m glad he is that stupid.
To be honest, that sounds like someone who hasn’t done his target recce. Not at all – not even “not done it properly”. No recce at all. Otherwise, he’d have known that he was going to be searched on entry.
“Not resisting arrest,” then becomes “standing around speechless with shock at this unexpected turn of events”.
As Marvin puts it, “it gives me a headache to think down to that level.” Of course you recce the site for your action. You know the lay of the land, the problems of entry ; you brief your lookouts who’re going to raise the alarm when the opposition arrive.
That’s not professional behaviour. That’s not even rank amateurism. That’s blind faith that your success is guaranteed because you’re on the “right” side, and that your opposition are on the “wrong” side and are therefore idiots.
Which are all part of the same suite of behaviours. I suppose that it’s a good thing in a way that the men of faith – Muslim fanatics all – are opposed by cold-minded cynics.
He was checking in to a Disneyland hotel with his girlfriend, and the guns were in his suitcase, as was the Koran.
No indication he was about to stage a kamikaze attack. More likely a dirty weekend.
cr
And Disneyland hotels routinely search baggage. I haven’t had that since … July and Turkey. Thought I didn’t have it in Paris in August.
Strangely, I haven’t fallen off my sofa in astonishment.
Thank goodness security worked in Paris since random security checks at hotels revealed a suitcase of ammunition. Kudos to the Paris authorities!
The article says he claimed to only have the guns because he fears for his safety, so there’s also that small possibility that he’s the same sort of paranoid gun-toting-but-non-homicidal idiot we sometimes find in the US.
Now, the fact that he was taking two guns and a box of ammunition to a theme park makes his “self-defense” argument a hell of a lot more dubious. Worried about getting into a shootout where just one loaded gun isn’t enough? I didn’t call it a strong possibility.
Yep, just in case he runs into Machine Gun Mickey.
Just in time for tonight’s GOP debate: Carpet bomb ’em! Nuke ’em! Make the sand glow! World War III!
Grrrr …
“a 28-year-old man was just arrested at the entrance of Disneyland Paris carrying two guns, a box of ammunition, and a Qur’an.”
No, that’s misleadingly incomplete. He was checking in to a Disneyland hotel with his girlfriend, and the guns were in his suitcase. According to the linked BBC report:
“A police source told the AFP news agency that a preliminary investigation did not point to terrorism, and that the man had said he was carrying the weapons because he feared for his safety.”
In other words, quite possibly not an ISIS ninja about to commit an act of terrorist martyrdom.
cr
Possibly. Keep in mind, however, that this is Europe and not the USA. There is no habit of ordinary Europeans to roam around armed for self-protection.
I agree he has some questions to answer about the guns. Probably quite a lot of questions.
But the assumption that he was about to go on a killing spree would seem to be a premature conclusion.
cr
“A police source told the AFP news agency that a preliminary investigation did not point to terrorism, and that the man had said he was carrying the weapons because he feared for his safety.”
The terrorist on a Paris train a few months ago sold the police the same story…
… and you think the French police are stupid enough to take anything a suspect says at face value…
cr
Man carrying guns for self protection and a Koran in his luggage is arrested in Paris hotel.
Students carrying guns for self protection and bibles into Texan colleges ……no problem.
Funny old world innit?
It depends on the context of the situation. If an American is caught with 2 guns, ammo and a Bible at the entrance of a Planned Parenthood facility, I guess there will be questions asked even if he claims that the guns are for self-defense.
I wouldn’t be happy if students come to my University with guns for self protection plus Bibles (or even without Bibles), but if mass shootings happen in colleges on a regular basis, I don’t see a legitimate way to ban students from carrying weapons for self-protection.
I think that the first thing Americans need to understand is that in Europe civilians don’t run in public carrying guns and boxes of ammunition.
sub
This is from The Daily Mash:
“MICKEY Mouse has delivered a stark warning to terrorists, following the arrest of a gunman at the Magic Kingdom.
The anthropomorphic rodent made the statement from behind his Presidential podium, flanked by two Imperial Stormtroopers.
He said: “Be under no illusion, any invasion of any realm of my empire will be met with a kick up the arse so hard it would wake Osama Bin Laden from his CIA cloning chamber.
“We are Disney, we are legion. Do not underestimate our power, and do not think for one moment that a cryogenically frozen Uncle Walt is the only thing that we have hidden under the Pirate Ship.”
Mickey then lit the fuse on a comically large cannon, launching the arrested gunman high into the air over the Dream Castle to the delight of thousands of children.”