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Armed Citizens vs Mass Killers

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:21 pm
by SHOOTER13
Do Civilians with Guns Ever Stop Mass Shootings ?

The media rarely reports on people fighting back or using a weapon to stop a crime...

A reader asks the above question in an article at the Washington Post and asked for some examples of civilians that have stopped a mass shooter or shortened the time a mass shooter has to kill.

Backers of CCW laws state that a law-abiding citizen carrying a concealed firearm in a public place could intervene and stop mass shootings.

Opponents occasionally ask: If that’s so, what examples can one give of civilians armed with guns stopping such shootings ? Sometimes, I hear people asking if even one such example can be found, or saying that they haven’t heard of even one such example…

Here's a few:

In Colorado Springs, Colo., in 2007, Matthew Murray killed four people at a church. He was then shot several times by Jeanne Assam, a church member, volunteer security guard and former police officer (she had been dismissed by a police department 10 years before, and to my knowledge hadn’t worked as a police officer since). Murray, knocked down and badly wounded, killed himself; it is again not clear whether he would have killed more people had he not been wounded, but my guess is that he would have.

In Edinboro, Pa., in 1998, 14-year-old Andrew Wurst shot and killed a teacher at a school dance, and shot and injured several other students. He had just left the dance hall, carrying his gun — possibly to attack more people, though the stories that I’ve seen are unclear — when he was confronted by the dance hall owner James Strand, who lived next door and kept a shotgun at home. It’s not clear whether Wurst was planning to kill others, would have gotten into a gun battle with the police, or would have otherwise killed more people had Strand not stopped him.

In Pearl, Miss., in 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed and bludgeoned to death his mother at home, then killed two students and injured seven at his high school. As he was leaving the school, he was stopped by Assistant Principal Joel Myrick, who had gone out to get a handgun from his car. I have seen sources that state that Woodham was on the way to Pearl Junior High School to continue shooting, though I couldn’t find any contemporaneous news articles that so state.

The liberal media usually doesn't report such incidents because they don’t like the idea of people fighting back and it doesn't fit their narrative to think people can protect themselves with legally owned firearms.

It is no wonder people think it rarely happens. Of course, nothing is perfect and weapons are only a tool, but they are often the only means of defending the defenseless.

The NRA has compiled stories over the years where everyday citizens stop or prevent crimes with a firearm

It's called the NRA Armed Citizen Files...and it's searchable by State, Date, and Keyword(s)

https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/armed-citizen.aspx