Civilians Stop Mass Murder- the real news you didn’t see I research news stories of civilian self-defense. These important events receive relatively little media coverage. We had some important cases in just the last few weeks. I’ll give you the details, but first let me explain why these stories are important to understand. Timeline- There are about 20 million citizens licensed to carry a concealed weapon in public. Per person, there are more armed civilians in states like Indiana and Alabama than in states like New Jersey and California. On average, an armed civilian is much closer to you than the police. That matters when time is critical. Violent attacks come as a surprise. “Bang.” What was that? Was it a gunshot? “Bang” That guy is shooting people. What should I do? Most people run. Some armed defenders will move toward the gunfire and stop the attacks. That is what good guys do. If you are a disarmed civilian then you run until you feel safe. You call the police a few minutes later once you’ve regained your wits. The average police response time is twelve and a half minutes from when you make the call. In the meantime, the murderer may shoot at will until he is confronted. The police may, or may not, advance on an armed gunman. On average, there are another 12 victims if we wait for the police to arrive. It is the victims we don’t see, the dozen who were saved and who never make the news, that makes these such important stories. The news media isn’t in the business of telling us about what didn’t happen. They are biased to sell fear and outrage. They sell emotion, not information. If you doubt that claim then please consider this. Which is a more important for you to know, the news stories with many people shot or the stories with many people saved? Which story will receive days of attention and which will receive a few seconds of coverage? There is also a second type of bias at play. It is subtle, but I can think of several recent instances when there were several independent civilian defenders who responded to the same violent attack. Each defender acting alone. They all converged on the attacker. One of the defenders shot first. The others become invisible to the news media in that moment. In fact, these armed defenders are out there with us. They are concealed rather than invisible. Here are the two recent events I had in mind where multiple “invisible” armed civilians stopped an armed attacker. Photo from the Mercury News Louie’s Grill & Bar, Lake Hefner, Oklahoma City, OK- At the end of May, a mentally ill man walked into a lakeside restaurant. He complained of hearing demons in his TV and from his computer. The murderer walked inside the restaurant and shot three strangers, a mother and her two young daughters. Patrons ran and hid. The restaurant is posted as a “gun-free” zone so there were no armed defenders inside. Two of our invisible defenders ran to their cars and got their guns. They followed the attacker through the restaurant and shot him. They did not shoot each other. Photo from the Seattle Times Walmart store, Tumwater, WA- In the middle of June, an armed criminal carjacked a 16 year old girl. Some news reports describe the young woman as having been shot while other reports say she suffered only minor injuries. The criminal drove the stolen car to a nearby Walmart. He walked inside the store and shot a display case several times. The shoppers fled from the store and ran into the parking lot. The criminal carjacked a second person outside the store. This time, we know the criminal shot the owner of the car. News reports say that armed civilians converged on the criminal and shot him. Conflicting reports credit two defenders while some reports indicate there were as many as three armed defenders. Later news reports said that one of the armed defenders got a medical kit from their car and applied first aid to the seriously wounded victim of the carjacking. The victim survived the attack. One of the armed defenders was in the store parking lot with his family. Like many other examples, this looked like an ordinary afternoon. There was no sign that trouble was on the way. These defenders chose to go armed anyway and saved many innocent lives as a result. You could do that too. I thank those of you who carry concealed. You may be invisible to the media, but you clearly made a difference here. Civilians Stop Mass Murder- the real news you didn’t see
Hmmm interesting analysis, but you're probably preaching to the choir here. I do have a problem with the statement, "Most people run. Some armed defenders will move toward the gunfire and stop the attacks. That is what good guys do." There is nothing wrong with escaping danger, and being armed does not obligate anyone to put their ass on the line and go out of their way to engage the threat. "Good guys" may choose to get involved; choosing not to get involved does not make one a "bad guy" as this statement implies. I carry a gun, but I'm not a cop and I'm not looking to be a hero. And having a gun does make me responsible for protecting everyone around me. If anyone has a problem with that, then maybe they should arm themselves instead of expecting/hoping someone else will ride to the rescue.
Self defense, unless the shooter is coming in your direction your not covered under color of law - period. People can make all the topics posts and examples but that is law, one day you will see that sorely tested and once it makes it into the books as case law all this carry will come under the gavel. Next point police cannot tell an active shooter from a citizen the blue wall thinks everyone on the other side is a criminal just some do not have a spin number / previous arrest number. they have the full backing of the government that employs them the D.A,. the courts, police -- what do you have ?
Know your LOCAL law, there are differences. Evidence and hopefully, witnesses. "Self defense" can be questioned without one or both. Face it, in this day and age one's word is considered unreliable.
Self defense is a pretty grey area of law. An acquaintance of mine who happens to be a former criminal prosecutor in a large metropolitan area counseled me to avoid trouble to the greatest extent I can. He points out, correctly, that if you are involved in a justifiable firearms discharge (this is legal speak for shooting someone and getting away with it), you'll probably still be put through a legal $hitstorm. Yes, you may win in the end but it won't come free or easy. That is one reason why I don't play cop. If I'm at the mall and some nut starts shooting up the place, I'll be the guy hiding behind the Dippin' Dots stand waiting for the professionals to deal with it. Yes, I'll shoot if directly threatened, but you won't see me charging down the mall with my gun out like some Dirty Harry wannabe. There is nothing in any survival wisdom, anywhere, that says to put your rear end out there when you don't have to. There are numerous documented cases where legally armed citizens decided to "help" the police and ended up creating a confusing mess on top of the chaos already at hand. When the cops show up, anyone with a gun is an automatic target. They aren't going to know a legally armed citizen is there to "help" them. Defend yourself if you must, but don't inject yourself into situations where you may become one of the problems.
Carry Conceal quite & STFU about it. I seem to move & never be detected , But then again , well placed & dressed . Only bulge I want noticed would be for woman , but that's not going to happen due to beer gut & age !! Sloth
there is the USCCA but they tell ya pretty much the same... even so thinkin they're a good source of legal defense! USCCA Membership: Concealed Carry Insurance for Gun Owners
Here, self-defense is protecting yourself or a 3rd party from harm. Running around with a gun out in a confusing situation NOT in uniform is very likely to get you shot. Shooting someone is very likely to introduce you to the criminal justice system - right, wrong or indifferent and may introduce you to the prison system if you say something stupid to the police EVEN if what you did was legal. Some prosecutors think that by you owning a gun you are guilty - of what doesn't matter. If you've EVER written something silly on Facebook etc like "Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" it will be used against you, if you have a sign on your front door that is similar, it will be used against you. Sloth is right, carry and STFU and NEVER EVER advertise, brag or boast about it. Rant off.
+ half a dozen. What in our closed group, like "Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" can be looked at as humorous, others, especially in other circumstances will not see it that way. Some things just simply must not be joked about because there are folks out there with NO sense of humor.
The whole idea of carry is to do so undetected! This gives you defensive options all the others around you do not have. Further more, if you make the choice to boogy outta the situation, you are just like every one else, and no one is the wiser! If you choose to stay and observe and report, that's fine, help any way you can on that reguard and your all good. Choose to draw, you better have good reason to fire, and be ready to end the fight as quickly as possable. The whole point is to give your self more tools to choose from, a gun is just one of those tools! Training, and the ability to observe and report are just as important as any thing else.
The whole point is to give your self more tools to choose from, a gun is just one of those tools! Training, and the ability to observe and report are just as important as any thing else. This is so true - YOU are the weapon, the gun is a tool. Just as there is no "perfect gun", there is no set situation that will solve all problems. You have to have the training and the ability to think and to be able to pick the right tool for the job- and that tool might just be getting the hell out of Dodge.
