Top law enforcement officials have posted videos online urging people to carry guns in light of recent attacks.
Top law enforcement officials have posted videos online urging people to carry guns in light of recent attacks.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey, from Brevard County, Florida, posted a nearly seven-minute video to Facebook, telling people that a weapon could save their lives. The message has been viewed more than three million times.
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"The purpose of this video message is to tell our citizens that if a terrorist attack or active shooter scenario can happen in California, Texas, South Carolina, or Paris it can happen right here in our own back yard," Ivey said.
"If you're a person that is legally licensed to carry a gun, now is the time to realize you, and you alone, may be the first line of defense for you, your family and others around you in a terrorist or active shooter based scenario."
He continued: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. This is about saving your life."
Police Chief Randy Kennedy, of Hughes Springs, Texas, shared a similar message to his Facebook page.
"I strongly encourage you to arm yourselves, and be ready when the wolf comes to the door, because it's on its way," he said in the now-viral post.
"I'm not asking my citizens to go out and be John Wayne, I'm not asking them to take any unnecessary risk. I'm asking them to become familiar with a weapon, learn how it works, how it operates, what to do with it."
He went on: "Basically, I want their head on a swivel. I want them looking, looking, looking."
The videos come days after Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum of Ulster County, New York also encouraged residents from the area to exercise their second amendment rights.
“In light of recent events that have occurred in the United States and around the world I want to encourage citizens of Ulster County who are licensed to carry a firearm to PLEASE DO SO,” the sheriff wrote.
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A sheriff in Arizona echoed the sentiments, saying a day before the shooting in San Bernardino, California that gun owners who live in the area should do what they must to fight mass shootings.
“I'm just talking about the areas where you have large crowds and someone pulls out the gun and starts shooting. Maybe somebody with a concealed weapon takes the guy down," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said, KPHO reported.
The following day, Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party for the San Bernardino County health department, killing 14 and injuring more than 20.
Officials found a cache of weapons and ammunition in their home and SUV, including hundreds of unspent rounds, two rifles and two pistols.
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