Posted on 12/15/2012 7:57:59 AM PST by marktwain
Backers of laws that let pretty much all law-abiding carry concealed guns in public places often argue that these laws will sometimes enable people to stop mass shootings. Opponents occasionally ask: If thats 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 havent heard even one such example.
Naturally, such examples will be rare, partly because mass shootings are rare, partly because many mass shootings happen in supposedly gun-free zones (such as schools, universities, or private property posted with a no-guns sign) in which gun carrying isnt allowed, and partly for other reasons. Moreover, at least some examples are contested, because it might be unclear as youll see below whether the shooter had been planning to kill more people when he was stopped. But here are instances that I have seen, not counting killings stopped by people who were off-duty police officers (or police officers from other jurisdictions) at the time of the shooting.
1. In Pearl, Mississippi 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 couldnt find any contemporaneous news articles that so state.
2. In Edinboro, Pennsylvania in 1996, 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 Ive seen are unclear when he was confronted by the dance hall owner James Strand, who lived next door and kept a shotgun at home. Its 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.
3. In Winnemucca, Nevada in 2008, Ernesto Villagomez killed two people and wounded two others in a bar filled with three hundred people. He was then shot and killed by a patron who was carrying a gun (and had a concealed carry license). Its not clear whether Villagomez would have killed more people; the killings were apparently the result of a family feud, and I could see no information on whether Villagomez had more names on his list, nor could one tell whether he would have killed more people in trying to evade capture.
4. In Colorado Springs 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 hadnt 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.
So it appears that civilians armed with guns are sometimes willing to intervene to stop someone who had just committed a mass shooting in public. In what fraction of mass shootings would such interventions happen, if gun possession were allowed in the places where the shootings happen? We dont know. In what fraction would interventions prevent more killings and injuries, as opposed to capturing or killing the murderer after hes already done? We dont know. In what fraction would interventions lead to more injuries to bystanders? Again, we dont know. Finally, always keep in mind that mass shootings in public places should not be the main focus in the gun debate, whether for gun control or gun decontrol: They on average account for much less than 1% of all homicides in the U.S., and are unusually hard to stop through gun control laws (since the killer is bent on committing a publicly visible murder and is thus unlikely to be much deterred by gun control law, or by the prospect of encountering an armed bystander).
Still, people have asked for examples of some shootings in which a civilian armed with a gun intervened and brought down the shooter so here they are.
There is an article up right now at KGW about the guy with a CCW that may have stopped the shooting at the mall the other day. Read it at the link below.
Clackamas man, armed, confronts mall shooter
http://www.kgw.com/news/Clackamas-man-armed-confronts-mall-shooter-183593571.html
The cartoon at #20 is a clever parody. The kid’s name is the tipoff.
Also there is one overlooked fact. In numerous cases, simply being faced with armed resistance causes them to retreat, hide, and commit suicide.
You do not need to be armed to the teeth, with finely honed skills fresh from delta force.
The better you are,, cool. But simply engaging them with your 5 shot 38 will nearly always end the killing. Thats just a fact.
Again, you can practice and get a good as you can. But always remember, the goal of the anti gunners is to convince you that only a highly skilled and trained professional has the slightest hope of prevailing. The dirty little secret is that almost anyone can successfully stop a rampage.
After the initial outbreak, the element of surprise swings in your direction because he doesn’t realize you have a gun, and he’s there to mass murder, realistically he did not expect resistance.
Something like that happened in 2002 at the Appalachian School of Law in VA. The perp was a middle-aged Nigerian former student.
According to the wikipedia article, there were two different witness accounts as to how the perp was subdued. This is one version:
"According to [Tracy] Bridges: at the first sound of gunfire, he and fellow student Mikael Gross, unbeknownst to each other, ran to their vehicles to retrieve their personally-owned firearms[6] placed in their glove compartments. Mikael Gross, a police officer from Grifton, North Carolina retrieved a 9 mm pistol and body armor.[7] Bridges, a county sheriff's deputy from Asheville, North Carolina[8] retrieved his .357 Magnum pistol from beneath the driver's seat of his Chevrolet Tahoe.[9] Bridges and Gross approached Odighizuwa from different angles, with Bridges yelling at Odighizuwa to drop his gun.[10] Odighizuwa then dropped his firearm and was subdued by several other unarmed students, including Ted Besen and Todd Ross.
Mark:
I will actually challenge you (or any one else) to find a list of mass shooters who have been killed BY COPS responding to a mass shooting incident ...
Last one I can think of was the University of Texas (Tower shooting) back in the late sixties. He was killed by a single cop who climbed the tower unassisted (not a SWAT team or “expert” who was assigned the role!) ....
WHAT THE HELL?!
WHY was that NEVER REPORTED?!
I’m sending that link to GunTalk.
(Ping to MyLife)
Instead of trying to defend our gun rights, what if we considered that these kinds of things often happen in “advertised” soft target areas.
Let’s face it. If a business, school, college, etc. are going to advertise they are a “gun free zone,” do they not have the responsibility to ensure that is the case at all times?
71 year old Man Shoots Robbers at Internet Cafe in Florida - ‘Caught on tape’ http://youtu.be/rGFZDhCjvj0
Gunman Slain In Internet Cafe Shooting
http://youtu.be/lNp2u4mQJmg
Good guy 1, Bad guy 0, CCW in action unedited
http://youtu.be/3AA_dgRdDhk
If I remember the tv movie dramatization, the LEOs on the ground said the civilians had better firearms, that is, capable of reaching the top of the clock tower with some punch.
Actually, there have been two gun deaths in Kennesaw since the “mandatory gun ownership” law was passed here in 1985 requiring every household have a working gun and ammo.
One was at a Motel 6 near the highway - The woman was shot by the other person, both out-of-town travelers going through the area. Neither a resident of Kennesaw.
The second gun death? A Kennesaw cop was shot while on duty.
But she was practicing shooting.
In Marietta.
At a government-authorized gun range.
A police gun range actually.
By Marietta cop.
Who was firing a government-registered weapon loaded with government-approved ammo.
Fire arms are used to defend life at least 90% of the time.
People that use them for evil are a minority.
Suzanna Hupp launched an entire movement of CHL here in Texas, and rightly so.
She learned a horrible lesson that day.
The gun sitting at home is worthless when you need it at Luby’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanna_Hupp
ping
Excellent advice.
Terrorists coming to a school near you
Police ill-equipped to defend against an American Beslan
WND
Published: 04/02/2007 at 1:00 AM
Note: Killology Research Group website does not seem to still be actively updated.
Mass Slaughter In Our Schools: The Terrorists' Chilling Plan?
By Chuck Remsberg
Senior PoliceOne Contributor
School Safety Notes and Articles About School Safety by Col. Grossman
Preventing School Violence
School Shooting Contingency Plans & Considerations
Preparing for School Attacks" published in The Police Marksman
School Safety Notes, Articles, And Links About School Safety by Other Authors
Rise in 'shool terror attacks' - New Important Article
A School Lockdown/Emergency Drill Success Story
Rapid Response/Active Shooter Lesson Plan
Safe 2 Tell
You are right. He made NYC wonderful. I wanted him for president. But he wasn’t conservative enough for the Right. And instead we got....
P4L
I love my Rudy, but not as President (he is social lib). However, he should be in charge of anything having to do with finance or law enforcement.
That man is a bulldog who does not bow down. I would LOVE him to audit the fed, or become head of homeland security.
Heads would certainly roll.
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