Earlier today, two men armed with AK-47s and an RPG stormed the office of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France and killed at least 12 people. In case you forgot, Charlie Hebdo has several times in the past made fun of the “prophet” Muhammad, which at the time of writing appears to have been the motivation for this attack.

From Daily Mail:

Twelve dead after gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs storm offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after Prophet Mohammed cartoon storm Masked gunmen storm Paris headquarters with AK-47s shouting ‘Allahu akbar!’ and ‘the Prophet has been avenged’

Stalked building asking for people’s names before killing the editor and cartoonist during weekly editorial meeting

Horrific footage shows a police officer begging for his life before being shot in the head at point-blank range

Killers fled in stolen car across eastern Paris after a ‘mass shoot-out’ with police officers and remain on the loose

Newspaper was previously firebombed in 2011 for publishing satirical cartoon of Prophet Mohammed

I’m sure this will be analyzed and over-analyzed in the days and weeks to come, but there are a couple points I’m hoping are not lost in the shuffle.

1. Something like this will almost assuredly happen in America, and probably soon.

No, I’m not giving timelines, nor am I here to tell you that I have some super secret inside source of knowledge or some other such nonsense. What I do have, however, is a healthy dose of reality for those of you who do not live in this place I like to call “the real world” – these people HATE us. Let’s skip the question of “why” for now (our fault, their fault, everyone’s fault, whatever) and just deal with reality – they HATE us. If you don’t understand that, you need to somehow make it real for yourself. If nothing else, listen to their own words.

2. Gun control will NOT save you.

It pains me that this isn’t plainly obvious to everyone with a pulse, but gun control will not prevent something like this attack from happening. For evidence, please scroll up and read where this attack took place: Paris, France.

From Wikipedia:

In France, to buy a firearm, a hunting license or a shooting sport license is necessary. All semi-automatic rifles with a capacity greater than 3 rounds, all handguns and all rifles chambered in ‘military’ calibers, including bolt action, require permits. These are known as B1, B2 and B4 type permits. Firearms are divided into eight categories that determine the regulations that apply to their possession and use. France also sets limits on the number of cartridges that can be kept at home (1000 rounds per gun). The total number of firearms owned by an individual is also subject to limits (not possible to have more than 12 authorizations/permits on B1, B2 and B4 type firearms). As of September 2013 France has a capacity limit of 20 rounds for handguns, one needs a permit for category one semi-automatics that have a capacity greater than 3 rounds. Fully automatic firearms are illegal for civilian ownership.

Short version: all of the weapons used in today’s attack in Paris were illegal, very hard to get in France, and yet it did not matter. So when something like this attack happens here – on churches, schools, malls, wherever – and the cry for gun control once again reaches a national level, over the din of sheep begging to trade their liberty for a sense of security, remember Charlie Hebdo.