Childish of you to not read my post more carefully. The suggestion in my original post centered around the idea behind Conceal/Carry, and the likelihood in such cases that multiple gun-toting, law-abiding citizens might be present at any given time. This would have to enter into the thinking of any serious planner of anarchy, no? That there may be present in a crowd of folks, at any given time, multiple trained/armed people ready (willing? able?) to defend their ground, may cause him to strap on an extra layer of kevlar, but he’s also not quite fully clear in thinking, “I’ve got this!”
Given that said person continues with his plan of mayhem and, in fact, runs into multiple gun-wielders, there is a far greater chance that the perpetrator would be struck by some sort of round (imagine 10 people with guns, each carry clips containing 12 rounds—that’s 120 rounds of ammo coming his way.
I realize armor-piercing rounds are generally not c/c folks’ round of choice, but 9mms, .40’s, .45’s are. If the the assailant is standing up at the front of the theater to begin his rampage, there would be quite a hail of “caliber salad” being tossed his way. As others have commented, being struck in a kevlar vest by a single round would have the potential of stunning. What about being struck by 20 rounds, hmmmmmmmmm? What about 5 rounds hitting chest, 3 hitting helmet? Is he falling to the ground yet? (Don’t forget, c/c’ers can be carrying multiple clips—how long can they keep this guy on the defensive?) Dreaming? Perhaps. But if there WERE 10 c/c’ers in the movie theater the other night, might we have read of such a scenario, given they may have been thinking, “It’s him or me.” In other words, would they have left their side-arm holstered thinking to themselves, “What good is my gun against all that?)
The larger point is this: we need to defend ourselves (until the police arrive!) That is our duty. If I’m out with my family and something like this happened and I was unable to protect my family, I wouldn’t know how to live with the aftermath (would you?) I can’t begin my defense with, “What’s the likelihood of me and my little old Sig 2022, .40 cal. stopping someone ready for Operation Desert Storm?” I’ll be cowed into doing nothing. All I can do is work with what I’ve got. Can we agree that multiple folks thinking like that, and you now have a more level playing field?
Perhaps, there are a lot of folks this morning wishing they had something to throw back at Mr. Holmes.
This is the flaw in your thinking.
He did not just stand there. He walked up the aisles shooting people.
Second, I would like to see the responsible firearm owner who is going to pull the trigger in a theater full of bright white smoke, people running everywhere and over each other, while your eyes are burning and you are coughing uncontrollably.
Would you try? Maybe.
You might try when he is on top of you.
Would you shoot as a distraction so your family/friends can get away? Perhaps.
Would a 9mm hit on body armor stun someone on a large dose of vicodin? Maybe.
Too many think of stationary targets, clear skies and no chaos going on around you.
This was designed to reduce the threat from anyone who was carrying.
Not a level playing field.