a Congresswoman's security detail was not as super as one might imagine but did stop the guy as soon as he paused to reload
Congressmen and Women generally don't have a security detail. They travel as private citizens, unless they have been threatened or are members of the house or senate leadership.
Right. There was no security detail. If the senator had been threatened and had a security detail, the event likely would not have been held out in the open as it was.
I can't help but wonder if there was anyone there, leo or civilian, who may have been armed? If so then did any of them try to shoot shoot back? If armed and did not try to shoot back then why didn't they at least try?
If no one else there was armed then why not? After this took place in Arizona one of the most gun friendly states in the Union?
This guy was carrying.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/01/08/exp.az.zamudio.witness.cnn?hpt=T1 He says he was there, but he wasn't. What was his response? He was in the drug store buying cigarettes when he head the shots and discussed them with the clerk before springing into action...after all the shooting was over. He never drew his gun, though he mentions multiple times that he would have if needed.
I don't understand your surprise. Being a gun friendly state does not scare people into not acting. While a considerable number of mass shootings occur in gun-free zones such as school campuses, they don't occur there because they are gun-free, but because that is where the shooter had issues. The same for work place shootings. The shooters don't typically go to some other school or some other place of business to take out there vengence, but to the place they had issues.
Those who are willing to die are put off by security gun ownership within a state.
I do understand your sentiment. If there was a public mass shooting like this, AZ would be the place you would expect to hear how armed citizens responded. They have legal open carry and concealed carry without a permit. Basically anyone of age and not a felon can carry a pistol. The event was not held in a gun-free zone. So there was nothing in place that would preclude the general populace from having a gun there out in front of a busy Safeway grocery store where there was a lot of customer/pedestrian traffic.
All in all, this event has some significant lessons for a lot of people who conceal carry guns who buy into a lot of the myths about guns, criminals, and self defense.
Mass shootings just don't happen in gun-free zones. They happen either where the target(s) is going to be and/or where the shooter had issues (such as work or school)
Mass shooters are not put off by the notion of possibly encountering a citizen carrying a gun.
Being unarmed does not mean being defenseless. It just means not having a gun. Several mass shooters have been stopped by folks who responded with force but no weapons other than themselves.
So yeah, nobody shot back. The shooter was stopped by unarmed people.
There's a guy on FNC being interviewed was one of the four who tackled the shooter. He was carrying and had the presence of mind not to produce his weapon. He saw a person with the gun assessed the situation and seen the Glock was at slidelock so he didn't produce his weapon.
That was Zamudio. He did not help tackle the shooter. He came way too late to the fight and the shooter was already grounded. He did see the shooter was to slidelock and he didn't produce his own gun. Interesting. He wasn't there and on his late arrival sees one guy down and assumes that there is only one shooter without doing anything to verify the claim. He was correct, but the decision could have been very costly.