Shootings that armed citizens HAVE stopped

[Robert Hairless]

Important: the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons

Another problem with public health and gun control is the way the subject of guns and violence is reported by the media ‹ with bias and sensationalism. Let us, for example, take a look at how the media reports mass shootings in America. Three illustrative cases will help us draw inferences as to the nature of these incidents and their reporting by the media.

In Pearl, Mississippi, in 1997, 16-year-old Luke Woodham used a hunting rifle to kill his ex-girlfriend and her close friend and wound 7 other students. It was Assistant Principal Joel Myrick who retrieved his handgun from his automobile and halted Woodham¹s shooting spree. Myrick held the young delinquent at bay until the police arrived. Later it was discovered that Woodham had also used a knife to stab his mother to death earlier that morning. While the shooting was widely reported, the fact that Mr. Myrick, an armed citizen, prevented a larger massacre with his gun was ignored by the media.

In Edinboro, Pennsylvania, in 1998, a deadly scenario took place when 14-year-old Andrew Wurst killed one teacher and wounded another as well as two other classmates. The shooting rampage here was halted by merchant James Strand who used his shotgun to force the young criminal to halt his firing, drop his gun, and surrender to police.

But yet, in another unreported incident in Santa Clara, California, Richard Gable Stevens, rented a rifle for target practice at the National Shooting Club on July 5, 1999 and then began a shooting rampage, herding three store employees into a nearby alley, and stating he intended to kill them. When Stevens became momentarily distracted, a shooting club employee, who had a .45-caliber handgun concealed under his shirt, drew his weapon and fired. Stevens was hit in the chest and critically wounded. He was then held at bay until the police arrived. A massacre in the making was prevented. The unknown employee was an unsung hero ignored by the major media. Why are these and other similar incidents, where the tables are turned and citizens use guns to protect themselves and others, not reported by the mainstream media?

The above is from a fascinating and important two-part series entitled "Public Health and Gun Control: A Review" on the web site of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons by the editor of AAPSOnline.

The quotation is from Part II, "Gun Violence and Constitutional Issues." Search for "Pearl" to get to the quotation.

Useful and interesting too is Part I, "The Benefits of Firearms."

Both parts are worth saving for future reference and for distribution to friends.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

A lot has been made of the Appalatian School of Law incident. One of those two citizens who stopped that event was actually a sheriff's deputy who was off duty.

It's difficult for a law-abiding citizen to use a firearm for defense when these criminals keep attacking victims by bringing guns into a "Gun-Free Zone".
(Schools, shopping malls, workplaces)

Maybe so, but most such events do not occur in gun-free zones.

Whether in gun-free zones or not, it is amazing to see how many folks are unwilling to actively try to stop attacks even when they have numerous resources available. Cowering/hiding and flight seem to be some of the most common responses. Some will attempt to stop incoming harm. Few will try to counter attack the threat. Hupp's own description of the Luby's event was that of folks mostly cowering, a couple who tried to tackle the shooter and were shot in the process, but in a room of knives, forks, ceramic plates, glass drinking glasses, salt and pepper shakers (glass), fire extinguishers, etc., most did little or nothing.

At VT, the only active responses seemed to be blocking the door to prevent entry and re-entry of the shooter. Many were shot while trying to hide behind desks and ended up being stationary targets.

Guns or not, stopping these events in a timely manner is going to require active responses by those involved in the events. Waiting for help to arrive has proven to be quite costly time and time again.

 

[Rumpled]

The Santa Clara gun store employee is not totally unknown. But it probably didn't make the media much.
He's an internet poster and has posted his story of the events. I'ver read his account. He had some pretty memorable quotes he gave from a trial or deposition, sorry, I can't remember which.

The NRA magazines publish a dozen or so of these every month, all taken from the media. It's called the Armed Citizen.

 

[Zen21Tao]

May I suggest this thread be pinned for easy reference in the future. The storys presented in this thread could definitely be a great resource for use in debating or counter arguing anti-gun anacdotal accounts of gun violence. I can't count the number of times I have been able to use these types of anacdotal accounts or simply the the ability to present such accounts as a means to get anti-gunners to move away from premises based on their own anadotes to premises built on a foundation of logic and facts.

 

[Robert Hairless]

Zen21Tao:

Good idea. I hope the moderators agree. It would be good to have them in one place. And I think we're going to need them a lot.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

On the fifth anniversity, NET News Service carried an interview
with one of the survivors of the 2002 Appalachian School of Law
shooting in Grundy VA. Tracey McGuire Frisk, law student, and
Kim Boyd, librarian, barricaded themselves in the library office:
"Hearing a struggle outside, the pair fearfully crept to
the window. Peering out Frisk watched as two law students,
former policemen armed with handguns, confronted and
subdued Odighizuwa...."--11 Mar 07 Kingsport Times-News.

 

[coyote_jr]

Do a Google on Israel. This happens there ALL the time. Teachers, bus drivers, soccer moms, all carry UZI's.

Darn near pissed myself reading this....the Jews God Bless 'em

 

[ZeSpectre]

The collection of information you want is...

The NRA "Armed Citizen" collumn.

http://www.nraila.org/ArmedCitizen/Default.aspx

 

[NM234]

while these stories are good, in order to combat anti-gun legislation we need statistics, because anti-gun people will just counter with the story about the moron who left his gun on the kitchen table and his kid got.... you know how the rest goes. We need to show anti-gun legislators (mostly "liberals", I use qoutes because I'm opposed to gun legislation and would consider myself a liberal, a real liberal would not support gun legislation; I feel I'm the last real liberal around) that these events happen more often than the story about the kid.

 

[shooting time]

In every issue of the American Rifleman 2nd or 3rd page is the armed citizen true stories

 

[Sistema1927]

While we can attempt to list the instances where armed citizens intervened, it is very difficult to quantify the entire story. This is due to the fact that the knowledge that armed citizens are present serves to deter some crimes, and many others are never reported. It may also be a case where quick intervention defuses a situation that may have escalated into multiple fatalities.

For example, a guy entered the Wal-Mart where his ex-wife worked, and began to stab her. A New Mexico CCW holder intervened, and shot the attacker dead. The wife did not die from her injuries. Who is to say that this looney tune wouldn't have finished her off, then attacked her co-workers, managers, fellow customers, etc.?

 

[Tim James]

in order to combat anti-gun legislation we need statistics

I'm starting to disagree. (Of course, he quotes statistics in there too so here's another one from a quick Google search.)

Hacking at leaves and roots and all that.