The Discerning Texan

Seems some whackjob decided to shoot up a church. However, an armed woman decided to end said whackjob’s plans. Ahab notes that:

Colorado state law requires that an armed security guard who is not a member of law enforcement must be in possession of a concealed carry permit. I am currently in the process of determining whether the guard at New Life was an off-duty cop, or a civilian volunteer with a carry permit. Because no media have referred to the guard as an off duty police officer, my hunch is that he (or she, I suppose) is just a regular concerned citizen like us.

As Glenn said: People don’t stop killers. People with guns do

Well, armed citizens have a reasonable record at stopping mass murderers:

1 Tyler, Texas: Shooter on the loose. Mark Wilson hears the noise and grabs a gun. He intervenes and saves the life of one man (who turns out to be the shooters’ son). He also drew fire from the murderer and likely saved more lives. Sadly, Mr. Wilson was murdered on the scene.

2 Tacoma, WA: Brendan “Dan” McKown was delivering a bank deposit for Excalibur Cutlery, a mall gift store, when gunshots scattered shoppers at noon in Tacoma. Dan McKown was an armed CCW holder. Witnesses state that McKown stood about 20 feet from the gunman when he faced him and drew his own pistol before being shot. Whether he spoke to the gunman is unknown. “Our understanding is that Dan drew his weapon and confronted the gunman,” his stepmother, Beverly McKown, said during a news conference Tuesday at Tacoma General Hospital. “Dan is always one who believed in protecting people and he put his life on the line for other people,” McKown’s father said. “His actions and the actions of others like him may have prevented additional casualties by confronting the aggression and possibly changing the gunman’s action early in the conflict.”

3 courtesy of Mr. Burnside Pete Odighizuwa. He’s the man who killed three innocent people at the Appalachian School of Law. But was likely stopped by two armed students who had to run to their cars to get their guns. There’s some dispute as to what caused Pete O. to surrender because he was also out of ammo.

4 Another, via comments, was the Utah mall shooting:

An off-duty police officer having an early Valentine’s Day dinner with his wife was credited Tuesday with helping stop a rampage in a crowded shopping mall by an 18-year-old gunman who killed five people before he was cut down.

He was off duty. Good thing he disregarded the mall’s no gun policy that day. And another one:

5 In Pearl, Mississippi:

Vice Principal Joel Myrick held his Colt .45 point blank to the high school boy’s head. Last week, he told me what it was like. “I said ‘why are you shooting my kids?’ He said it was because nobody liked him and everything seemed hopeless,” Myrick said. “Then I asked him his name. He said ‘you know me, Mr. Myrick. Remember? I gave you a discount on your pizza delivery last week.”

6 another: A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring five before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.

7 Allen Crum, an armed citizen, was deputized when Charles Whitman climbed a tower and started shooting people. Read Mr. Crum’s account here. He used a borrowed rifle.

8 Kenneth Gage.

I like the odds more when good people are armed.

Add number 9 to the list.

UPDATE: What Uncle Jimbo said:

I hate to be crass, but this woman is magnificent and I think MKH may have serious competition.

Assam described how the gunman, Matthew Murray, entered the east entrance of the church firing his gun."There was chaos," Assam said, as parishioners ran away."I saw him coming through the doors" and took cover, Assam said. "I came out of cover and identified myself and engaged him and took him down....

Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed."

You took an awful situation where two sisters were killed in a church parking lot and made sure it didn't get any worse and thank you for that ma'am. There were over 7,000 people at this mega church at the time. Of course a church should obviously be a gun-free zone and I hope they will re-evaluate their policy. But in this case it seems to have worked out about as well as it could have. A tortured soul now knows whether Hell exists, or not, and he was stopped before he fired the 1,000 rounds he was carrying. You even have to wonder if he was trying to get killed, because he shot at her.

Thanks again from a fellow sheepdog,a wolf is dead and the flock may offer their own thanks for their safety and that metaphor could hardly be more apt.