Posted on 07/22/2012 7:04:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
I would venture to guess that the folks filing in to see the latest Batman installment in Aurora, Colorado last Thursday evening didnt figure on over 70 of them getting shot before the credits rolled. The last count I received before filing this column was 12 dead and 59 wounded.
As the news starting pouring in about what happened in the theater this week when Satans spawn James Holmes donned Kevlar and a small battery of weapons and opened fire on an unsuspecting crowd, I kept thinking, One fast-thinking and trained person who was armed/licensed with a concealed weapon could have stopped that SOB right in his tracks before the body count skyrocketed.
Yep, the armed citizen could have either killed him, sent him running for cover, or at least diverted his fire away from the masses and toward their person. Some readers, no doubt, are saying, Well that would be stupid. What if that citizen got shot trying to protect others? To that I reply: Well, Dinky, if they would have been shot and killed at least they would have died a hero. Have you ever heard of the term hero?
The Aurora Dark Knight Massacre is exactly why I carry at least one gun everywhere I gobecause crap always happens when you least expect it. Thats why, as responsible citizens and gun owners, we must always be ready and must always expect it because when it happens, it happens fast; if youre not ready, you and others are screwed.
For instance, its a beautiful and quiet day on Miami Beach this morning. Im drinking my coffee at an outdoor cafe, minding my own business while I work on this column and on my website. I dont see any bath salt zombies on the prowl. There are no Trench Coat Mafia wannabes lurking around. There is no real foreseeable reason to carry a weapon. But I am. The reason? Well, Im not omniscient. Im just a dumb clunk living in a jacked-up world where med school students go bat crap crazy and shoot up normally peaceful places for inexplicable reasons. Therefore, Im locked, cocked and ready to rock should some demented dill weed decide to strafe the local patrons sipping a cup of Joe.
For those who say, Dougs insane with all this concealed weapons crap. We should leave such affairs to the police, allow me to point out that the theater was crawling with cops for the Batman opening to control the crowds. By the time the police got to the particular theater, it was all over. Blood was already running down the aisles and the gunman had already left the building. You, my friend, are your first responder your first line of defense.
Look, stuff happens when and where you dont think itll happen. My recommendation to you, the good citizen, is to get equipped with a guna fire-breathing dragon of a weapon. Get proficient with it. Make it like a cell phone: an additional appendage to your body. And then pray that youll never have to use it. However, should you be in line at the grocery store, or at Chilis eating a burger, or at a park playing football with your homies, and some James Holmes wannabe shows up carting an arsenal and quoting Kafka as he shoots kids
youll be ready. Simply find cover if you can, draw your weapon, take a fine bead, and double tap the center mass of the murderous jackass. Should he or she have a bulletproof vest on then pull your sight picture up to the perps noggin and shoot him or her in the head; itll explode like a watermelon. Youll feel bad for a nanosecond. But then the cops and families will show up and thank you for putting Jack the Ripper down. The end.
Sounds like a sweet rig.
Not a bad choice. Those things defy the laws of physics in my experience. I can get off quicker, accurate follow up shot with any XD than with the equivalent Glock, despite the higher bore axis. e
Don't ask me how, but it's as consistent as the tides.
I disagree with the conclusion here, a gun in this situation would most like have been totally worthless or at worst gotten you killed. There is no way in the mass confusion and rush of people running for the exit that you could have gotten off a clear shot without the danger of hitting some innocent bystander. Also, the dude was wearing a Kevlar vest so unless your packing armor penetrating bullets in your concealed carry gun it would not have made that much of a difference. Sure it might have distracted him but I’ll bet that he was so hopped up on adrenalin that it wouldn’t have slowed him down at all.
If guns had been in the hands of citizens, the killer wouldn’t have gone there in the first place.
This kind of slaughter is the result of the mind of a sociopath who is in most if not all cases severely narcissistic.
They don’t like failure. Armed citizens would have prevented this.
I was thinking yesterday that the reason he was, “Wearing armor,” was PRECISELY because we have CCW in Colorado.
Just a thought.
And that includes in low-light situations like inside theaters, or dark corners of all-night gas stations. That muzzle flash can work against you- if you aren't expecting it and it night blinds you.
Not all range practice should be on nice bright sunny days....
Oh you were there huh?
And 115 grain +p+ 9mm at 14000fps may pierce body armor lvl III and lower grades.
I have heard the same thing. The movie was playing in at least 4 theaters and the police were on site as crowd control. The Aurora police chief said police were on scene in under 2 minutes once they determined which theater was being shot up. Holmes didn't require much time to wreak havoc. This is a stellar example of the cliche “When seconds count the police are minutes away”
I don’t know nothing bout no bore axis, but my XDm .45 shoots sweet and it’s the most badass looking gun there is in my opinion.
That’s certainly a possibility.
But it seems more likely to me the guy wore armor in case the cops tried to shoot him.
The theater didn’t allow weapons, and in all likelihood he was aware of this.
I use the laser for off-hand shooting practice and single right hand practice. It takes no time at all to get used to having the striker release when the green dot settles on target.
No, black. I just can’t get into the bitones or justify the added cost. Love the gun, though. Have you seen the new XDs?
I read the XDs review on Hickok45’s YouTube channel:
http://youtu.be/2fmr8iZyeXw
Looks pretty sweet.
Gotta get the Wife a S&W 686 .357 first, though.
What can I say? She’s in love with the .357.
Believe it or not, I have a 681. Stainless with a 4 inch barrel and Pachmyrs. I carried it for a service weapon back in my reserve police days. I bought it used. It had some trigger work done before I bought it. It is the most accurate gun I’ve ever shot. I got the high firearms average in my academy class with it, shooting against much more experienced shooters. Love that gun, too. Okay, I love all my guns.
Don’t post photos of your gold or guns. No one needs to see them. No one needs to know what you have...or they may want to come and take it away.
Man, I’m not stupid. Let em try. As far as the government, they already have a good written record of everything you see in that picture and they know exactly where I am, just like they know where you are and most likely everything you have, too. Don’t fool yourself. If you bought your guns through a legitimate dealer, they know. The smart person, after buying their main guns through a dealer, would then start buying used from individuals. Just saying.
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