The Army Of Davids

The good guy with the gun does in fact make a difference.

But according to the Crime Prevention Research Center, they make a much bigger difference than even I thought:

Evidence compiled by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that the sources the media relied on undercounted the number of instances in which armed citizens have thwarted such attacks by an order of more than ten, saving untold numbers of lives. Of course, law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare. What is rare is national news coverage of those incidents. Although those many news stories about the Greenwood shooting also suggested that the defensive use of guns might endanger others, there is no evidence that these acts have harmed innocent victims.

Part of the problem is that the FBI is a little sluggish about counting episodes where the spree killer commits suicide after being confronted; the two events are not separate when they are inextricably linked.

But some of it is just plain bureaucratic dishonest. One fairly bald-faced example:

For example, the Bureau’s report about the Dec. 29, 2019 attack on the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, that left two men dead does not list this as an incident of “civic engagement.” Instead, the FBI lists this attack as being stopped by a security guard. A parishioner, who had volunteered to provide security during worship, fatally shot the perpetrator. That man, Jack Wilson, told Dr. John Lott that he was not a security professional. He said that 19 to 20 members of the congregation were armed that day, and they didn’t even keep track of who was carrying a concealed weapon.

Coverage of the actual episode right here. The FBI also treated this similar shooting as a “security guard” incident.

The Dicken Drill

Noticed a lot more people shooting at silhouettes waaaaaay down at the other end of the range lately?

Blame Elisha Dicken, the hero of last summer’s attempted spree killing in Indiana, who put eight out of ten shots into a would-be mass murderer at a range of 40 yards, under the stress of shooting at someone out to murder everyone he could see.

Massood Ayoob comments on the episode, the drill – and comments on some other attempted spree killings ended by good guys with guns….

…at ranges that seem like they’re from Davy Crockett tales.

Let It Be Noted

I stay pretty relentlessly civil, especially when discussing politics. There’s enough pointless anger out there.

But I’m going to say this, and I don’t care what you think about it: If you are part of the lefty social media mob that thinks “Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer”, you are a flat-earther.

Complicated stuff follows. Stay with me, progressives.

You think someone’s trying to kill you. You shoot them – maybe fatally, maybe not. You’re arrested. The DA presses charges – assault, homicide, whatever.

To even be allowed to *argue* self-defense for assault or homicide, you have to show a judge evidence, to a legal standard, that:

  • you reasonably feared being killed
  • That threat was immediate – it was literally them or you, right then and there.
  • you were not the aggressor [1]
  • you used ONLY the force needed to end that lethal threat.
  • in many states (including MN, but not WI), that you *reasonably* tried to get away [2].

That’s *before* the trial. If your evidence on any of those 4-5 criteria doesn’t stack up, you’ll be a defendant in a murder trial, not a self-defense trial.

Once you’ve gotten past that? On to trial!

And there, if the prosecution disproves any of those 4-5 factors beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury? You’re going to prison – for assault if nobody died, and murder if they did.

That’s a pretty high burden of proof for a “Murderer” to skate past. (Don’t think so? That’s just ignorant.

“But the judge was biased”

No, he wasn’t.

Rittenhouse may not have been a hero [3]. And if you think the whole episode is stupid and unfortunate, I don’t disagree – although in a moral society, the burden should fall on those who set out to damage and destroy others property.

Either way calling Rittenhouse a “murderer” is ignorant at best. And there’s an implied clause after “at best” [4]…

…but again, I try to stay civil.

I try. But I’m only human. It can’t last forever.

[1] And no, doing something you have every legal right to do does not make you an aggressor. Rittenhouse had a right to be where he was, and to carry a rifle. Don’t like it? Take it up with the Wisconsin Assembly.

[2] Where “reasonable” is defined by statute or, much more usually, in a stack of case law references that you have to be a lawyer to understand.

[3]But after seeing the mayhem that the entitled children of the politicalclass got away with scot-free in Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis and Kenosha, it’s not hard to understand why some people think he is a hero.

[4] And that implied clause may or may not but definitely does include the thought that a whole lot of the “Rittenhouse is teh murdererer” crowd think rioting and rioters are justified, which is a pretty problematic view.

Real American Heroes

Joe Doakes from Como Park emailed in re the Indiana mall shooting, and the Good Guy with a Gun that ended it:

Holy crap! Nice shootin’, Tex.

Seriously.

OK, first things first: having to shoot someone in self-defense is the second-worst possible outcome to a very bad situation.

With that out of the way?

To elaborate on Joe – within fifteen seconds of the demented troglodyte [spree killers seek fame, so I won’t name him] starting a shooting spree where he killed three people, and clearly intended to kill as many people as possible, 22 year old good samaritan and good guy with a gun Elisha Dicker moved his girlfriend to safety, and then engaged the murderer, firing ten shots, hitting the would-be spree killer eight times.

At a range of 120 feet. With a handgun.

While under life-or-death stress.

That is incredibly impressive.

And just try to find the story in the mainstream media.

That, as usual, isn’t nearly as depressing as some of the other responses from leftyworld on social media:

  • “If ‘good guys with a gun’ were of any use, they’d kill the bad guy before they killed ANYONE'”
  • “Ack-shyu-ally, good samaritans are *only* non-violent. If he were a *real* good samaritan, he’d have only carried a first aid kit.”
  • “Wouldn’t it be better if *nobody* had a gun?” (I try to ask them how they get the guns out of the hands of the Sapirmans of the world *first*. They never answer).
  • “It’s still another person dead…”

Remember – their votes count as much as yours.

Depressing, huh?

The New York Times sounded off with an unctuous “Ack-shyu-ally”, saying good guys with guns ended about 3% of spree killings. That’s too low – but if you leave out shootings that happen where civilians aren’t allowed to have guns at all – schools, government buildings, bars in Florida, churches in Texas – and the fact that maybe 3-5% of the population actually carries even in permissive states, thats a pretty good percentage.

I’m looking forward to doing the analysis on that sometime soon, here.

The list of good guys with guns who’ve ended mass shootings is long, and full of the kind of people this brutally imperfect, evil-riven world needs more of. Dominic Rozier. Nick Meli. Jack Wilson, Stephen Willeford, Jeanna Assam. And now, Elisha Dicker.

Yet Another Good Guy With A Gun

Bystander in the St. Louis area shoots a serial violent armed robber:

A man who police say went on a “violent crime spree” at three gas stations was shot and killed by a customer armed with a gun, Missouri police say.

It happened around 3:20 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, in St. Charles, just outside St. Louis. The St. Charles Police Department said the 26-year-old robbery suspect, who is from St. Louis, died at a local hospital after being shot by a witness.

While I expected the knife wielding robber was “just getting his life together“, I’ve had no written confirmation.

All I know is, it’s been a good week for the good guys.

A Good Guy With A Gun

Berg‘s 18th law is still in effect – but initial reports indicate that an armed “Good Samaritan“ in Indiana killed a spree killer early in his attack:

The Greenwood Police Department confirmed Sunday that a lone shooter, believed to be an adult male, entered the food court of the mall around 6 p.m. with a rifle and several magazines of ammo. The suspect then shot into the mall, killing three people and injuring two more.

GPD also confirmed Sunday that the shooter was shot and killed by a Good Samaritan who was armed with a handgun. The man who shot the suspect, identified as a 22-year-old from Bartholomew County, had a legal gun permit and is fully cooperating with police.

I’m pretty sure Indiana is a constitutional carry state with no “legal gun permit” needed – but why quibble?

This is how mass spree shootings get stopped.

UPDATE: Aaaah, social media. Where people who can’t tell the difference between a firing pin and a bipod are suddenly experts on close quarter battle tactics and self-defense law.

I Love A Happy Ending

A good Lyft driver with a gun ends a car jacking in west Philadelphia:

Two suspects in an armed carjacking are in the hospital after police say they attempted to take a vehicle from a Lyft who was armed with a gun he was licensed to carry on Monday afternoon in West Philadelphia.

Now, let me be absolutely clear on this; I don’t have any guns, and the thought of shooting someone in self defense is mortifying to me.

But I’m going to bet at least a few carjackers in Philadelphia are mulling changes to career plans.

Hypothetically Speaking

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails about a story I’ve been wanting to touch on all week:

You know those “Good Guy with a gun” stories that Liberals scoff at as Sexist White Supremacists Compensating for Something?

This Edina woman isn’t scoffing.

If only there were some way society could assume responsibility for protecting the public from violent criminals, some group of armed public servants sworn to uphold the law so that private citizens don’t have to.

Joe Doakes

Of course, the “good guy with a gun“ angle got buried so deeply, it’s a good thing the fact didn’t need oxygen.

You’ll never get our opinion class to admit it, but it was the good guy with the gun that saved the situation.

A Good Guy With A Gun, Part XXIV

Recent mass shooting in Colorado was ended by a civilian with a legal firearm:

“[John Hurley] did not hesitate; he didn’t stand there and think about it. He totally heard the gunfire, went to the door, saw the shooter and immediately ran in that direction,” [colleague Bill]] Troyanos said. “I just want to make sure his family knows how heroic he was.”

A manager at a business nearby who asked not to be identified said he was outside when he heard Hurley urge people to get to safety.

“He turned back and looked towards everybody at the restaurant and told us that he (the gunman) is coming, that he is coming back and that we should get inside,” the manager said. “I ran to the back of the store, closer to the alley, kind of ‘nooked’ myself in a corner just to feel safe.”

It’s an object lesson – being the “Good Guy with the Gun” doesn’t necessarily ensure one’s safety.

But by all indications, it’s a spree killing deterred.

UPDATE: He was apparently killed by the responding cops.

Gotta be careful out there.

Another Walmart. Another Shooting.

And another good guy with a gun saves the day:

From KSWO ABC Channel 7 in Oklahoma: “Multiple witnesses have said the gunman shot two people in a vehicle and a civilian with a gun confronted him, causing the gunman to turn the gun on himself. We are working to confirm that story with Duncan police.

That’s why this “mass shooting” got no media coverage, naturally. It disturbs the narrative.

Five Good Guys, Two With Guns

The FBI designated 27 “active shooter” situations in 2018. 10 of them, they called “Mass Shootings”.

So keep that in mind as you look over the stats from the FBI’s annual report on active shooter situations.

“The FBI has designated 27 shootings in 2018 as active shooter incidents.”
“10 of those 27 met our definition of a mass shooting”

Now, remember – in most states that allow civilian carry of firearms, maybe 2% of the population has a permit to carry; in permitless (“Constitutional”) carry states, I’d suspect the total carrying might be higher, but I’m going to also suspect the subsets of people willing to undergo the hassle and responsibility of carrying and the subset willing to go through the hassle and red tape of getting a permit are pretty close).

That’s about one person in fifty. Maybe more in some places; I’d imagine a pretty fair share of people in rural Wyoming, Kansas or even Minnesota might have a firearm on nor near their person much of the time. Definitely less in other places – California, Illinois, or any school, federal office or posted business.

Keep that in mind with this next set of stats:

In 5/27 incidents, citizens confronted the shooter. 3 of those 5 were unarmed and were successful in ending the shooting.
In 2 of those 5, armed citizens possessing firearms permits exchanged gunfire with the shooter.
In one of those incidents, armed citizens shot and killed the shooter (oklahoma)

So 2% of the population might have a firearm – but they were able to intervene in about 6% of active shooter situations last year – successfully in both cases:

It’s also worth noting that the other three episodes involving civilians included a wounded teacher subduing shooters. He was in an environment where 0% of the population could be legally armed. Salute.

16/27 happened in a business, 5/27 happened at schools (4 HS, 1 middle school)

It’s worth noting that nine of the episodes at businesses occurred in places where the public had access -including both episodes where armed civilians intervened. That’s 22% – not that percentages carry that much weight with numbers this small.

The other seven occurred in non-public parts of businesses; it’s not stated in the report how many were posted or otherwise no-go for law-abiding civilians

As to conclusions?

I stress – this next bit was written by the FBI. Not the Gun Owners Caucus. Emphasis added:

“As in past years, citizens were faced with split-second, life-and-death decisions. In 2018, citizens risked their lives to safely and successfully end the shootings in five of the 27 active shooter incidents. They saved many lives. Given this reality, it is vital that citizens be afforded training so they understand the risks they face and the options they have available when active shooter incidents are unfolding”

Since we’re assessing risk – all of the deadliest episodes – the Stoneman Douglas and Santa Fe NM schools and the Sutherland Springs Texas school shootings – took place in “gun free” zones where 0% of the people can lawfully be armed.

A Good Congregant With A Gun

First things first – with regard to the massacre in Christchurch New Zealand, Berg’s 18th Law is in full effect: “Nothing the media writes/says about any emotionally charged event – a mass shooting, a police shooting, anything – should be taken seriously for 48 hours after the original incident.  It will largely be rubbish, as media outlets vie to “scoop” each other even on incorrect facts.”.

But indications so far are that the attack was carried out by more than one person, whose motivations and “manifesto” seem at first blush strikingly similar to those of Anders Breivik, the Norwegian who murdered 70-odd Norwegians, mostly teens at a political summer camp; the killer/s seem to have been motivated to attack Muslims, specifically.

Note that while New Zealand’s gun laws aren’t as full-blown nanny as Australia’s, they are more in line with California’s or New York State’s – registration/licensing/permits to own, “universal” background checks, the works. Note to Governor Walz; get back to us about your “universal” registraiton bill.

So my thoughts and prayers to the Muslims of New Zealand. (And for those idiot progs on Twitter who mock and taunt the idea – yes, thought and prayer and taking a moment to think rationally is in fact more useful than the actions you propose in responding to this sort of thing).

But let’s make sure we’re clear on the real lesson, here: there was a Good Guy with a Gun at one of the mosques that was attacked, and God only knows how many lives the man saved:

Again – with Berg’s 18th Law in mind – it would appear that the shooters had a lot more in common with the French Bataclan terrorists than with your garden-variety American “Gone Postal”-style spree killers. The limited, regulated availability of firearms in News Zealand was only marginally less effective in preventing terror and saving lives than France’s near-complete ban (and ocmplete ban, for that matter, on the military-grade guns that the Paris terrorists used).

The only measure that worked? A good, Muslim guy with a gun.

That’s the real lesson – for those interested in rational thought.

Fore-Informed Is Forearmed

Most of you know this already.  Perhaps a few of it have heard it but don’t believe it. 

But since Big Left and its subsidiary, the DFL, is busy trying to roll back the 2nd Amendment in Minnesota – with hearings coming up Wednesday in the Judiciary “Division” – it’s worth reinforcing the point for those who don’t know the facts:

The armed citizen is overwhelmingly successful in ending or reducing the death toll in active shooter situations , over 90% of the time.  

So the below graphic does just that. Of all the active shooter events there were 33 at which an armed citizen was present. Of those, Armed Citizens were successful at stopping the Active shooter 75.8% of the time (25 incidents) and were successful in reducing the loss of life in an additional 18.2% (6) of incidents. In only 2 of the 33 incidents (6.1%) was the Armed Citizen(s) not helpful in any way in stopping the active shooter or reducing the loss of life.

Read the whole thing.

A Good Son With A Gun

Florida man kills who robbers who were holding his mother at gunpoint:

The 911 call from the victim revealed that he was asleep at the time of the break-in and was woken up by the intruders, who he said were holding his mother at gunpoint. 
“They were trying to wake me up,” he said in the call. “They had my mom at gunpoint I couldn’t stop it.”
The victim told the 911 operator that the men had arrived to his home in their own vehicle. He said he shot both of them, killing the driver, Smalls, and injuring Lynn who tried to leave on foot.

Both robbers were reportedly just about to turn their lives around.

A Good Chicago Gal With A Gun

Woman defies the odds in robbery attempt in Chicago.

Not by driving off a robber…:

A man in Hyde Park was in for a surprise when the woman he was trying to rob pulled out a gun and fired.

Just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday near 56th and Dorchester, Chicago police say the woman took out the gun and shot at the man.

Police say she has a valid concealed carry license.

The suspect drove off in a dark-colored SUV.

…although I love a happy ending.

But no, she beat the odds by getting her permit in Chicago in the first place.

Advice

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it at least once a month until “Protect” MInnesota finally gets laughed out of polite company in this state: the local gun grab group and its arious leaders – the “Reverend” Nancy Nord Bence today, Rep. Heather Martens before her – have never, not once, made a single statement about guns, gun owners, gun laws, gun crime, gun history or the use of firearms that is simultaneously

  • Original
  • Substantial
  • True.

You get plenty of statements where one might be the case, and a few with two out of three. But never, not once, have they made or will they hit all three.

Ever.

This meme from last week is different, in that it doesn’t even get one out of three completely correct.

They’re fantasizing:

So let’s make sure the stage is set: you’re in a mass shooting, and the shooting is underway.    “Several people have already been shot”, although the writer doesn’t see fit to mention that you could be one of them very, very shortly, here.

The writer doesn’t know much about exposition.

They know less, naturally, about gun laws: when they write “you pull out your gun and rush off to be a hero”, they apparently think Taken is a documentary. For better or worse, it’s bad legal (and, likely, tactical) form to go rushing to the sound of the guns.

Shooters know this.

The “Reverend” Nancy Nord Bence apparently does not.

Of the four resolutions they list?

The shooter sees you and shoots first: you mean, they do what the shooter will likely get around to doing, anyway, given that they’re a spree killer?

Do they really think the would-be “hero” is any worse off under this scenario?

Another good samaritan shoots you by mistake: That’s right – two good guys with guns, both seeing an active shooter, shoot the wrong person. It could happen, in the same sense that Nancy Nord Bence could make a coherent point. Again – given that one is likely going to get killed by the active shooter – which they seem to keep forgetting – I’m hard-pressed to see how the “heroes” are any worse off than if neither was armed.

Police see you “running around” and shoot you anyway: If the “hero” is “running around”, they’re doing it wrong.

You, the hero, shoot an innocent bystander: It could in theory happen. And if it does, the would-be hero would be in deep trouble, if the spree killer in the room doesn’t kill him first.

Thing is, you can look long and hard and never find an example of this happening, because good guys with guns tend overwhelmingly to do the right thing.  

Indeed, except for the cops shooting the “Hero” (it’s happened), neither I nor, let’s be honest, the “Reverend” Nord Bence can think of any examples of any of those happening – certainly nowhere near as many as the heroes who’ve ended mass shootings.

Apparently the “Reverend” Nord Bence thinks it’s better to die quietly.

Why does the “Reverend” hate innocent victims?

A Good Guy With A Gun – And One Lucky Cop

Arizona man saves a state trooper’s life after an ambush on I-10 following a “shots fired’ radio call that led the officer to a crashed car and a mortally-injured woman:

[Arizona Department of Public Safety director Col. Frank Milstead] said as the trooper began blocking off lanes of traffic and laying out flares, he was ambushed by the suspect.
The suspect shot the trooper in the right shoulder, and was “getting the better of the trooper” in a fight that immediately followed.
Milstead said the suspect was on top of the trooper striking his head on the pavement.
According to Milstead, a man traveling westbound on I-10 with his wife in the car, pulled over to help the trooper.
The man retrieved a gun from his car and fired at the suspect after the suspect refused to stop attacking the trooper, Milstead said.
The suspect died as a result of the shooting and the man called for help using the trooper’s radio, according to Milstead.
In a news conference from the hospital where the trooper is being cared for, Milstead thanked the man who stopped to help.

If Nancy Nord Bence had her way, they’d still be scraping the trooper’s brains off the pavement.

Movie Rights Are Currently On The Table

The only response to a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

It helps when the good guy is a long-serving member of one of the world’ premiere special forces units.

A British Special Air Service (the original model for US Army’s Delta) trooper in town to train Kenyan special forces apparently intervened personally in the Nairobi hotel shooting:

Amid the carnage – orchestrated by terror group al-Shabaab – a lone SAS soldier got tooled up and went in after a request for help from Kenyan security forces, sources said.
Incredible images showed the operator in jeans, trainers and body armour storming through doors and aiding injured, his face covered by a balaclava.
He was pictured operating at the hotel alone. But he was joined in the mission by US Navy Seals, sources said.
An insider said: “UK Special Forces always run towards the sound of gunfire. He was there training and mentoring Kenyan forces when the shout went up, so they went in.
“During the operation he fired off some rounds – it’s a safe bet he hit his target – the SAS don’t miss.
“He is a long serving member of the Regiment, there is no doubt his actions saved lives.”
The incident was today declared over by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and all the attackers “eliminated”.

It’s kind of amazing how often good guys with guns – who as luck would have it happen to be elite British soldiers – wind up involved in these sorts of stories.

Overcomplicated

James C. Moore is identified as a “lifelong Texan”.

That, and an op-ed that tries to poo-pooh the notion that a good guy with a gun actually does anything useful in extremis – would seem to be the only reasons he wound up getting his “op-ed” posted on CNN.com. It’s entitled “Texas shooting isn’t as simple as it seems“.

To which one might reply “Thanks, Captain Obvious, your promotion to Major is pending”. Just about any human endeavor, especially those around the edges of insanity, evil and depravity, is an inexact study.

But not nearly as inexact as Mr. Moore would have us think:

But if Wilson is the example of a good guy with a gun who saved the day, what does the other armed parishioner who was killed represent? Will he become proof to gun control advocates that arming the well-intentioned doesn’t work?

Only if the “gun control advocate” is a complete idiot.

This line is the flip side of the Dems’ “If it saves just one life…” canard; “If it doesn’t save every single life, then it’s all a lie!“.

Analyses of the live-streamed video from the church are suggesting that several worshippers were armed and drew guns. One of them appears to have been killed as he reached for his weapon.

In other words, Kinnunan was aiming at the victim, and was getting ready to shoot when the victim started reaching for his gun. It wouldn’t have mattered if the guy was reaching for his kid, his inhaler, his reading glasses, his cell phone or a pack of Certs – he was already in Kinnunan’s sights. Reaching for his gun didn’t save him – but it didn’t kill him, either. Watch the video; the guy had a spit second. It wasn’t enough.

But it was for Wilson.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, responded to the incident by citing statistics on Twitter that indicate 3,500 people died in Texas from guns; CDC data shows just over 3,500 such deaths in 2017 and the average is one victim every three hours in the state. Deaths, she pointed out, have increased between 2015 and 2017, the most recent year for which there is CDC data. Watts also pointed out that Texas has been home to four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history.

Getting one’s info from Shannon Watts is its own punishment.

“Gun deaths” includes suicide. There is an epidemic of suicide – but that epidemic crosses all means of commission – tall buildings and bridges, rope, pills, or reading Shannon Watts.

And even the “four deadliest mass shootings” bit is a canard.

  • Sutherland springs was “Gun Free”. It prompted the legislative changes that allowed Jack Wilson to kill Kinnunan.
  • Luby’s Cafeteria happened when Texas was a restrictive “May Issue” state. Nobody in the cafeteria was legally armed. Suzanna Grazia Hupp offered gut-wrenching testimony on the subject.
  • The Michael Whitman shooting at the University of Texas, awful as it was, was largely stopped by…armed citizens returning fire with high-powered rifles to keep Whitman’s head down while the police (and a citizen) closed in to take him out – which would be largely illegal today.

If you get your information from the “Gun Safety” movement, you’re not getting information.

Little has been reported about the suspect at White Settlement other than indications he has an arrest record, which will make some critics wonder how he got a gun. But it is not illegal to sell a gun to a felon in Texas, unless you know he is a felon, which he isn’t likely to tell you since he is a felon and wants a gun.

That’s not just Texas. That’s the law nationwide.

And it’s exactly why “universal” background checks are completely absurd – although I doubt Mr. Moore has thought it through to that point.

If you think that’s absurd, sit down right now and try writing an enforceable law that prevents it. There are sufficient loopholes in firearms regulations and such an abundance of supply of weapons that anyone in America can get a gun, good guy or bad guy.

Right.

And when you make it illegal for good guys to get, carry, or use their firearms, who does that leave?

Inevitably?

It’s depressing that a significant chunk of this country thinks this is “reasoning”.

A Good Guy With A Gun

And armed citizen with a legally owned a firearm has shot and killed a wannabe spree killer a restaurant in Oklahoma:

An armed citizen shot and killed a mass shooter at a restaurant in Oklahoma on Thursday after the gunman walked in and opened fire, hitting several people.

“A man walked into the Louie’s restaurant and opened fire with a gun. Two people were shot,” police said, CNN reported. “A bystander with a pistol confronted the shooter outside the restaurant and fatally shot him.”

Oklahoma City Police tweeted: “ALERT: The only confirmed fatality is the suspect. He was apparently shot-to-death by an armed citizen. Three citizens were injured, two of whom were shot. A large number of witnesses are detained. There is no indication of terrorism at this point.”

If episodes like this got anywhere near the saturation coverage that “successful” spree killings did, we wouldn’t have spree killings.

And people like the Reverend Nancy Nord Bence would get booed and heckled off more stages.

A Good Ol’ Gal With A Gun

A  South Carolina woman kills an escaped inmate who had just kicked down her back door:

The inmate was still in his orange jail jumpsuit and had grabbed a knife sharpening tool from the woman’s kitchen in Pickens as he headed toward her bedroom around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said.

“This was a big guy. If she hadn’t had a weapon there’s no telling what would have happened,” Clark said. “I gave her a big hug. I told her how proud I was of her.”

I’m trying to imagine any Metro area chiefs of police who’d do that.

Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, died from a gunshot to the head, Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said.

McLaughlin and a second inmate, Timothy Dill, beat up two guards in an escape they had planned for days, Clark said at a news conference.

I’m not gonna call it a “Happy Ending” – killing someone is the second-worst possible outcome.

But the worst – a dead victim – is far, far worse.

Too bad gun control activists would prefer women like that to shut up and get raped to death.

A Good Guy With A Gun. Maybe Two.

I’ve been a little slow getting to this story – it’s a few weeks old, and it’s been a busy November so far

One Gregory Bush walked into a Kroger in Louisville, KY, and killed one black man, apparently yelling racial slurs as he did so.

There is some evidence – albeit only in an incredibly badly written alt-media story – that he was confronted by one armed man inside the story, after murdering 69 year old Maurice Stallaard:

The suspect is also reported to have said: “Whites don’t shoot whites.”

Busy left the Kroger, went to the parking lot, and shot Vicki Lee Jones, 67, bebore turning his attention to Dominic Rozier and his family.

Dominic Rozier. Hero.

Rozier, however, was also a carry permittee – and he engaged Bush, forcing him to disengage and flee.    He was caught, and has been indicted on two counts of capital murder, with very likely federal hate crime charges on deck.

The racial angle of this story has gotten all kinds of coverage.   Bush was prohibited from owning firearms legally due to a variety of previous violent violations – so clearly the shooting never happened.  His state of mind is certainly in question.

What is not in question is that two good guys – one white, one black – with legal firearms and the right and will to use them – defended themselves, their families (in both cases, literally, then and there), and their community; they did it judiciously (as almost all citizen in this situations do), and they did it successfully.

The Minnesota Democrat “Farmer” Labor party wants to make that impossible.  Don’t ever forget it.

A Good Knight With A Shining Gun

Armed citizen rescues a couple and a child from a would-be carjacker:

LITTLEFIELD, Texas – Littlefield Police said a man with a gun and a concealed carry permit was able to stop a violent carjacking Thursday afternoon.

Police arrested Ruben Garcia Lopez, 25, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault, terroristic threat and resisting arrest.

Littlefield Police were called to the 900 block of West 4th Street Thursday afternoon.

A police statement said, “A male subject was armed with a knife [and] was assaulting a female and trying to take her car.” Police said Lopez also assaulted the woman’s boyfriend. Her kids were in the car.

Police quoted Lopez as saying, “This was his (expletive) car”.

“Even though she was being assaulted; the woman was trying to get her kids out of the car,” police said.

“A neighbor arrived at his home, saw the attack in progress, and armed himself with his handgun. He has a concealed handgun permit,” police said. “He came to the aid of the victims and pointed his weapon at the attacker.”

Lopez then moved away from the car and went across the street.

When police arrived, “… the attacker dropped the knife and attacked the officer.”

More, faster.

Another Good Guy With A Gun

A motorist who shot a man acting erratically and aggressively – with a knife – after a traffic accident in Fridley last fall won’t be charged.  

According to the attorney’s office, Schiffler got out of his vehicle, grabbed a woman and began forcefully groping and kissing her. He also, the attorney’s office said, stabbed at the window of a nearby car with a 4-inch knife.

Another motorist unholstered his gun and told Schiffler to stop. According to the attorney’s office, Schiffler then raised his knife and charged at the man with the gun. The man shot him three times, and Schiffler died from his injuries.

“The evidence demonstrates the shooter had no reasonable ability to further retreat, given the physical surroundings, proximity of other people and the actions of Schiffler,” the attorney’s office said in a press release.

Gun-grabbers might say that’s not the same as “justifiable” homicide.  They’re right.  It’s better.  The cops and the county attorney believe there was no point in taking the case to court; nobody needs to prove it was justified.

I’d say “I love a happy ending” – but of course it’s not a happy ending; even insane and impaired people are human beings, usually with some sort of parents or sibling out there.

But then, so were the people that Mr. Schiffer threatended with a knife.