The Left generally believes that only the government should be allowed access to firearms. Only trained government employees can be trusted with such powerful implements of coercion and chaos. They cloak the argument in nuance, claiming that bolt-action .22 rifles are good while “assault weapons,” whatever they actually might be, are bad. However, even that isn’t true. Most dedicated Leftists look to our disarmed brethren in places like the UK and Australia and sigh wistfully.
I have a lot of cop buddies. They are without exception dedicated, altruistic, and selfless. I also once got paid by Uncle Sam to carry a gun myself. Trust me, our public servants in uniform are not fundamentally different from their civilian counterparts. No amount of training or indoctrination can excise the innately fallen nature of man. In no place is that axiom made more clearly manifest than in the dark inky heart of Chris Dorner.
Origin Story
Christopher Dorner was born on June 4, 1979, in New York but grew up in Southern California. On the surface, Dorner was the All-American hero. The only African-American kid in his elementary school, Dorner aspired from a young age to become a police officer. He eventually attended Southern Utah University and studied political science and psychology. Dorner was a running back on his college football team.
Dorner earned a commission in the US Navy Reserve and served with a Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit. He deployed operationally to Bahrain before being discharged in 2013. In 2002 Dorner happened upon a bag containing $8,000 that had been lost by a local church. He returned the cash saying, “The military stresses integrity…if people are willing to give that to a church, it must be pretty important to them.”
Trouble in Paradise
In 2005 Dorner fulfilled a dream and joined the LAPD. On his first operational day out of the Law Enforcement Academy, he admitted to his training officer, Teresa Evans, that he intended to sue the LAPD. Dorner was unhappy with the way the Department had responded to complaints he had lodged against his academy classmates.
Evans ultimately gave Dorner a suboptimal performance review. The following day Dorner filed a report against Evans accusing her of using excessive force during a particularly chaotic arrest. An extensive investigation ultimately found that Dorner had lied about the allegation. In 2008 Chris Dorner was fired from the LAPD.
Dorner appealed his firing and grew ever more morose and angry during his many legal hearings. In 2013 Dorner published an 11,000-word manifesto on Facebook detailing an exhaustive litany of the purportedly unfair actions against him, his motivations, and his plans. This expansive list reached all the way back to high school, accusing an administrator of failing to properly adjudicate the theft of a watch. In this meandering screed, he also listed 40 different Law Enforcement personnel he planned to kill.
His rambling diatribe included, “Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD…”
Dorner’s sole demand was that the LAPD publicly admit that his termination was in retaliation for reporting excessive force.
On February 1, 2013, CNN’s Anderson Cooper received a parcel from Dorner that included an LAPD challenge coin sporting four bullet holes. There was an accompanying note stating simply, “1 MOA.” The implication for anyone with any degree of firearms acumen is obvious.
Two days later 28-year-old Monica Quan and her fiancé were shot to death while in a parked car. Monica was the innocent daughter of Randal Quan, a former LAPD Captain and attorney who had represented Dorner at his dismissal hearing. Law Enforcement quickly tied these murders to the Dorner manifesto and launched an epic manhunt.
On February 7 a man presumed to be Dorner fired upon a pair of police officers with a rifle, grazing one of them in the head. Twenty minutes later Dorner ambushed a pair of Riverside police officers stopped at a traffic light, killing one and grievously injuring the other. Later that afternoon Dorner attempted unsuccessfully to steal a boat ostensibly to flee to Mexico. Two days after that the LAPD reopened its case on Chris Dorner’s firing based upon the allegations in his manifesto.
There was a million-dollar reward for Dorner’s capture. The cops employed extensive surveillance assets, including UAVs. Officers ultimately cornered Dorner in an unoccupied cabin near Big Bear Lake, California. Dorner then opened fire on a pair of San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies, killing one and badly wounding the other.
Interestingly, Dorner and the cops both exchanged tear gas and smoke canisters. Police then deployed a demolition vehicle that knocked down most of the structure’s walls followed by pyrotechnic tear gas canisters. The cabin conflagrated.
Dorner’s body was found in the basement of the cabin along with several firearms and his wallet. He was positively identified via dental records. The cause of death was ruled a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Chris Dorner’s Guns
The final count was one sound-suppressed Remington 700 bolt gun, a tricked-out suppressed Bushmaster AR SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle), at least two Glock pistols, and a suppressed Walther P22. Dorner had both CS and smoke grenades apparently pilfered during his Law Enforcement service. He had a total of ten registered sound suppressors.
After WW2 Remington engineers were looking for a way to produce a rugged and accurate bolt action rifle using efficient production techniques gleaned during the war. In 1962 Big Green debuted the Model 700. Unlike previous bolt guns that demanded complicated machining processes, the 700 receiver was turned on a lathe from a solid piece of round steel stock. The world of precision shooting would never be the same.
Bushmaster Firearms actually dates back to the 1970’s and a former Vietnam-era Special Forces veteran named Mack Gwinn. Gwinn developed, among other things, the remarkable Bushmaster Arm Pistol. His company was eventually sold to Cerberus Group and became one of the largest producers of black rifles in America.
Gaston Glock produced his first polymer-framed, striker-fired combat handgun for the Austrian Army in 1982. Glock had never before designed a firearm, so he brought few preconceptions to the table. The gun he crafted set a new standard for reliability and producibility. Today some two-thirds of American cops carry Glock handguns as do many of America’s most rarefied military Special Operators.
The Walther P22 is a hammer-fired blowback single-action/double-action .22-caliber utility pistol. The gun feeds from a 10-round magazine and is particularly amenable to a sound suppressor. The P22’s tactical attributes make it a superb low-cost training tool.
California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. Most of the guns and all of the magazines and suppressors Dorner had on him were illegal under California law. As near as I could tell Dorner bought the suppressors and SBR out of state via a trust. Regardless, as a Law Enforcement Officer, despite being fired by the LAPD, Dorner was apparently not subject to these rules. There is something deeply disturbing about that. No matter, as a committed criminal he naturally just ignored all those ludicrous California gun control laws anyway.
The Rest of the Story
Dorner’s manifesto made it patently clear that he knew the LAPD playbook well. He also apparently falsely claimed to have a Barret M82 .50-caliber rifle. The cumulative result was some simply epic freaking out on the part of California Law Enforcement.
The cops pulled over three pickup trucks during the manhunt. They sort-of matched the description of Chris Dorner’s ride in that they were all three technically pickup trucks. The officers then proceeded to shoot the vehicles absolutely to pieces. None of these trucks matched the make, model, or color of Dorner’s vehicle.
Chris Dorner was a 270-pound black man. These three trucks were occupied by a middle-aged white guy, another white guy with a surfboard, and a pair of Hispanic women out delivering newspapers. The ladies’ truck was hit 102 times.
Miraculously no one was killed. However, all four innocent citizens were injured. None of the eight police officers involved were criminally charged.
There are those today who view Chris Dorner as both a role model and a victim. A subsequent first-person shooter video game was titled “Chris Dorner’s Last Stand: A True American Hero.” I read a great deal of such stuff preparing this article. I’m probably on some kind of watch list now. The gist was that Chris Dorner was unfairly persecuted, and this somehow justified his rampage.
Dorner offered some interesting advice from beyond the grave. Buried within his profoundly verbose manifesto I found this–“In the end, I hope that you will realize that the small arms I utilize should not be accessed with the ease that I obtained them. Who in [their] right mind needs a f…..g silencer!!! who needs a freaking SBR AR15? No one. No more Virginia Tech, Columbine HS, Wisconsin temple, Aurora theatre, Portland malls, Tucson rally, Newtown Sandy Hook. Whether by executive order or thru a bi-partisan congress an assault weapons ban needs to be reinstituted. Period!!!”
No offense, Chris, but you were a psychopath nutjob. I’m not terribly moved by a suicidal murderer’s post-mortem suggestions concerning gun control laws. Chris Dorner is the precise reason the Founders proclaimed that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Cops are like everyone else in the respect that they come in all types: good, bad and average. In my experience in city, county and state law enforcement I encountered all three. The vast majority fell into the good and average categories. Out of large numbers I have knowledge of only three that fell into the bad category. One was the most prolific liar I ever met. Another combined lying and cowardice. These two didn’t last long as cops. The third was just generally amoral. Poaching, theft and extramarital sex evidently just didn’t seem wrong enough to him for him to do more than just conceal them. Somehow he made it to retirement.
That admitted about three fellow officers, that leaves dozens that l have admired and would trust with my life.
Another well written and informative article, Will. I appreciate your attention to detail, and your take on some of the lesser known pieces of the puzzle. I too, like almost everyone, have been treated in a less than optimal manner by a host of people over the course of my life. As a law abiding citizen, I do NOT believe that lethal force is appropriate for addressing those grievances.
We have the Second Amendment so that We the People can protect both Life and Liberty. We must all remain ever vigilant, as history is replete with examples of what happens to an unarmed populace. The current regime in Washington has already shown us what to expect from them.
A counter narrative would be a black LAPD officer was ostracized and fired because he reported police brutality at the hands of a superior. He sought justice, but was railroaded, snapped, and then rained down vengeance against those who ruined him.
Not defending Dorner because what he did is indefensible, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised at any and all allegations against the LAPD. There are probably hundreds, if not dozens, of shootings by LAPD where innocent people have been killed (google Van Nuys LAPD hostage and LAPD Trader Joe’s) and I’m not even including killing of unarmed black men.
Most LAPD officers are poorly trained and probably borderline inept. LAPD has a deep, ingrained racist culture that seems to go beyond people like Daryl Gates.
This guy had grudges since high school with a 11,000 word list of wrongs.
He was the problem, seems like you may have that attitude as well.
Still another reason for all of us to keep our iron and practice.
The idiot cops who attempted to murder the innocent people in the pickup trucks should have been prosecuted and should be serving life sentences in prison for what they did. That they were not even prosecuted is a travesty of justice. Beyond that, those who hired these goofs, those who trained them, those who supervised them and the respective chiefs of police, should all have been fired and never again be allowed to work in law enforcement.
Xiden would have made him Sec of Justice today or at least head of the FBI or ATF.
I always love the twisted logic of the extreme right pro gun collective. Nothing wrong with owning firearms, also nothing wrong with limiting silencers and large capacity mags. Donner was right. Why are all gun nuts this afraid of life and the government. Must have led one screwed up childhood where mommy and daddy felt the man kept them down.
Get aids commie swine.
Your a flaming A$$hole. Hope u get ball cancer Snowflake!
You must have skipped the part about the LAPD cops going postal on multiple innocents.
I can’t wait for Jesus to exterminate you vile lefty pricks when he returns to rule his millennial kingdom. Good riddance in advance.
Seems like a clown with convictions you have would be man enough to leave his name, no he would not!
I don’t harass you about your dildos & extra curricular activities. You must have had a screwed up childhood.
You’re right – there is NOTHING “wrong” with owning guns, sound suppression devices, high-capacity magazines or any other damn thing firearm-related. Criminals will have any and all of the above regardless of whether they’re legal or not. Laws only regulate the behavior of law-abiding people. Period. Why can you libtards not comprehend this very simple FACT. If a law had the ability to prevent something from happening, guess what….. nothing “bad” would happen now. There are already laws on the books deeming all “bad” things illegal, yet they continue. The simple-minded stupidity of libtards never ceases to amaze me. Don’t like guns ? DON’T OWN ONE, but leave the rest of us alone or ultimately wish like hell you had.
There are many of these people “it’s not me but, the rest of the world that is screwed up.”
Antifa, blm that blame the fact that they can’t cut it on other people.
The cops trying to murder 4 innocent people including mistaking 2 Hispanic ladies delivering news papers for a 6’3″ 250lb black Male AND NOT RECIEVING A SINGLE CRIMINAL CHARGE is why everyone should have access to the same tools to defend themselves. The whole ” manhunt” was equilateral in many aspects to the Clinton / Reno PREMEDITATED GENOCIDE OF THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS IN WACO TEXAS ( WITHOUT ANY CRIMINAL CHARGES EITHER).
well waco is a different story with many narratives told. the davidians didnt kill anyone but it was mishandled to put it mildly. the atf did have a warrant they tried to serve and they were warned not to go in with force. they could have arrested david(a creep in his own right) when he was out and alone numerous times. they escalated the situation bc they wanted a confrontation and they got one. numerous documentaries and even a docudrama w michael shannon showing the ineptitude of the atf and fbi. apparently they were trying to get a win and “some good press” after ruby ridge. a sad ending with women and children being burned to death.
I read some of all your very impressive credentials and skills and ????? Anyway I could not find where you actually spoke up and challenged anything that you saw or felt was wrong within a huge and powerful organization? I did read that Dorner said he was going to take a legal action and sue the LAPD and then ended up with being fired because he complained of the rating after he told his trainer of his intent to sue her beloved LAPD? ( I guess) I also read that Dorner ended up being fired over him making a complaint but yet LAPD Officers who shot up a pick up truck were not fired? Interesting, guess they had never made any complaints against the LAPD which is a perfect organization. Prior to Dorner being found as substandard or whatever by his trainer who he told he was going to sue the LAPD it seems like he was reasonably successful being in the US military and such? I actually read that his firing from the LAPD also had some effect on his military status in some manner. I do know there are quite a few ties from military to police. So I wonder at what point did Dorner decide he had to take action? I absolutely believe he was screwed and actually know of another very similar situation that occurred in Philadelphia. The situation I have direct knowledge of did not involve this black Police Officer going on a killing spree. It did simply involve him making a complaint against a superior that the IAD could not prove was true and he was fired. He was also a medic in the National Guard. When I see situations of people who make complaints then suddenly alot of bad things happen to them, well you have to be an idiot to not make the connections. Do I think they should just go on a killing spree? Maybe not but certainly they must feel trapped and cornered and well when you take away a mans job, you take away his ability to eat and live. I will also add that I am selling all my NFA items and will be buying a pack of matches. They seem to be the choice tool for elite and brave law enforcement such as the FBI who seem to be developing a pattern of burning people out. As of this writing we have a guy named Trump who I pretty much see as a whistleblower or a person who makes complaints. He complained about “fake news”. He complained about “oil being sold by ISIS to Turkey and follow the money”. He complained about immigration and no barriers or walls. Lastly he complained about the integrity of the election. Now the groups he has complained about are basically trying to erase him and it seems just like what ISIS did and the Nazi’s did. These same groups get people fired from jobs because they have been accused of trespassing and vandalism in the Capital. Not convicted just charged. I look at complaints and welcome them. I guess you can only do this if you truly feel you have nothing to hide and did nothing intentionally wrong. Look at Arizona and Maricopa County and the situation with the Senate trying to obtain election materials from the Board there. Look at Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley asking for an Election Commission to examine the “no evidence” of election tampering. People need to be critical and complain and ask questions and I do not think they should be killed or destroyed or deleted because they saw things a certain way or felt what was going on was wrong. Dorner was IMO murdered and it was ALL not necessary. The Capital incident occurred and it was simple to diffuse Trumps complaint. Accept it openly and have transparency in government, let Trump and the people have it forensically examined. Whatever the result no one needs to die or be destroyed because of seeing things differently especially when a critical and fair investigation is conducted then people can understand things. I would like to write more but have a small fire I must put out. Going to get a few gallons of gasoline to deal with it. Dorner was wrong and Dorner was wronged.
Fortunately, and I seem to go back to statistics, these guys are on the edge of the curve.
The “kill dozer” guy in Colorado comes to mind. Methodically plotting to get back at everyone who he perceived ‘dun him wrong’.
I’ve watched you-tube lectures by Jordan Peterson and agree with some of his observation about people lashing out as activists, trying to change the system and raise hell, as problems with their own life. Instead of dealing with the small circle of personal issues, it’s easier to project the mess into a larger circle and feel better about it. Hence climate change activism, anti-police activism, ANTIFA, BLM, etc. Take care of these personal things and positive outcome will radiate outward into the community.
Great Article.
“No offense, Chris, but you were a psychopath nutjob. I’m not terribly moved by a suicidal murderer’s post-mortem suggestions concerning gun control laws.”
Sorry, but I am. And the reason everyone should be is because Dorner represents the same people who pushed Jews into the camps, starved millions of Ukrainians, put the guns to the heads of the intellectuals exterminated by the Khmer Rouge. Need I name anymore “psychopath’s” that the gun control people ignore?
For years I’ve watched those who claim to be supporters of the RKBA make the most milk-toast, watered down, ridiculous arguments while the other side uses anything and everything to win their battle. The pro-2nd community will not even use the law as it is written in the original Constitution.
The Bill of Rights was not added to guarantee anything, but rather insure that “public officials” would adhere to what was already in the original Constitution.
For those who subscribe to the “individual right theory”, how do you protect your rights as a loner who thinks they can depend on a court, or even their legal counsel? The S. Ct. has already made clear that in their eyes, you have no rights, and there is no means of protecting them in the current climate.
The Framers gave the authority “to execute the Laws of the Union…” to the Militia in order that the People, organized, armed, and disciplined could enforce the law.
just another dead asshole who thought the world should revolve around him,thank God he’s dead. as far as the cops shooting up three trucks that weren’t even his,they should have all been fired,it’s sounds like they were scared shitless of this guy and have no business wearing a badge.
Psychopaths aside, the simple fact of the matter is the police can’t protect all the people all of the time. We are ultimately responsible for our own protection.
The guy in the picture is not IRA but rather an Ulster Volunteer Force terrorist.
Great comment but lost on most. The IRA is used all too often as the enemy humanity and it gets on my nerves. Most people do NOT know and would NOT care to know the terrorist Orange Order groups that have maintained Britain’s form of apartheid for generations.
Heck, today they’d elect him District Attorney in LA or San Fran…..
In the first picture the guy you labeled as an IRA terrorist…well…
…look behind him on the flag…clearly says UVF with the motto “For God and Ulster”
…definitely NOT IRA. He’s an Ulster Volunteer Force terrorist, a group with a particularly horrific record of killing Catholic civilians
My oversight. Thanks for pointing that out. I updated the caption.
Will