Orlando has suffered more than its share of media fodder lately.

An alligator drowned a two year old boy at Walt Disney World. The dad was injured trying to rescue his son. I truly grieve for the child’s family. I don’t think there is any reason for me to comment further on this heartbreaking tragedy.

A former contestant from the TV singing competition, “The Voice”, Christine Grimme, was shot while signing autographs after a performance at an Orlando concert venue by Kevin James Loibl. Loibl was carrying two handguns, two magazines and a hunting knife. Christina’s brother tackled the guy who shot himself dead in the scuffle. The brother had balls. Christina, sadly, died at the hospital.

And there was the mass shooting at the “Pulse” nightclub. Horrific. Again, I can’t point any fingers of blame at anyone other than the shooter, Oman Mateen. Still, I am left to wonder whether anyone who was in the club, at the time, is looking back and asking themselves, “What if…?” “Could I have tackled him?” “Would anyone else have assisted me?”

On September 11, 2001, two airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center towers, killing all aboard and thousands of others. Another plane hit the Pentagon, again killing all aboard and others on the ground. But there was a fourth plane which carried some guys with balls. All aboard that plane also were killed, but the plane didn’t reach the terrorists’ planned destination (presumably, The White House). No one on the ground was injured. At least those guys tried. They will forever be known as heroes in the truest sense of the word.

Ayoub el Khazzani (a Moraccan) boarded a train in France with an AK-47, 9 magazines, a Luger handgun with extra ammo and a box cutter in his possession. Mark Moogalian, 51, (a French-American academic) was the first to recognize the threat and went after the guy and was shot in the neck. Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos  jumped in. Chris Norman (a Brit) also assisted the others in rendering Khazzani harmless. It is universally believed these guys thwarted a massacre.

American society has been force-fed the notion that the government is, in some way, capable of protecting citizens on an acceptable level and has, I submit, gotten people to believe they are either incapable of or disallowed to defend themselves and their property or to step up in defense of others when an extraordinary need arises.

Law enforcement is hired by the citizenry to assist in protecting its members, not to supersede a person’s right of self-defense.

Rather than fighting back, folks are often given the advice to put their faith in the bad guy’s good nature. Maybe not the best idea.

Nothing funny about this.