Tucson shooting fires up gun debate [ He kept his weapon in pocket and tackled Loughner instead ]

Los Angeles Times ^ | Jan 14 2011 | Molly Hennessy

[NoLibZone]

Joe Zamudio was out buying cigarettes last Saturday when he heard what sounded like fireworks but quickly realized were gunshots. He reached into his coat pocket for the 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol he carried, clicking the safety off.

He heard yelling around him: "Shooter, shooter, get down!"

Zamudio saw a young man squirming on the ground and an older man standing above him, waving a gun.

Zamudio, 24, had his finger on the trigger and seconds to decide.

He lifted his finger from the trigger and ran toward the struggling men.

As he grabbed the older man's wrist to wrestle the gun away, bystanders yelled that he had the wrong man — it was the man on the ground who they said had attacked them and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). The gun the older man was holding had been wrestled away from the shooter. Police later identified 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner as the suspect.

[HappyWarrior2012]

I also saw him in an interview and thought he was very level headed. He was asked why he didn’t shoot and his response was actually that the older lady knocked the gun out of the shooter’s hand. Someone else hit him with a chair and knocked him down and when he got closer to help an older man had picked up the gun and was holding it.

He said he was pretty sure that they guy on the ground was the shooter but not 100% since a man standing was holding the weapon. Someone yelled at him to help hold the guy down and that is what he did.

It was clear to me that he didn’t shoot because he wasn’t 100% positive who to shoot but being armed made him confident to intervene and help.

Sounds like every gun owner I personally know. Smart, well trained and responsible.

[fortheDeclaration]

What? He didn't go in and just start shooting?

Isn't that the argument against 'right to carry' that the gun owners won't know how to handle the situation and overreact and start shooting people?!

[Secret Agent Man]

When you don’t have state immunity you can’t just rush into a scene where you don’t really know what’s going on. Good thing the guy used sound judgment and didn’t fire at the old guy holding the gun. Lots of other concealed carry folks would do the same thing. If he had done so he could easily have been regarded as a second gunman and things could have gotten a lot worse, needlessly.

Good for this guy. Ready, and using his head.

[Secret Agent Man]

Trained gun owners know they aren’t police, aren’t protected like police, and don’t want to be police. we carry to protect ourselves and our loved ones. If others choose to go unarmed as we aren’t cops and don’t ‘play cops’ we aren’t looking to go around saving everyone else. We don’t look for fights and don’t become willing participants when we aren’t threatened ourselves. It’s a lot easier to get involved if you are in ‘stand you ground’ states, however.

[Kickass Conservative]

There are gun owners in CA alright, but very few can get a Conceal Carry Permit. You have to prove that you are under threat, (dangerous security job, diamond merchant, who knows), to even be considered.

Being a Law Abiding Citizen means nothing here.

If you're a Celebrity or a Politician, well that's a different story. I heard that Senator (Ban guns if I could)) Feinstein has a Permit and of course we can't forget that Rosie O'Donnell’s personal body guard was armed.

[TigersEye]

But gun control advocates see Zamudio's story as an example of how Arizona's gun-friendly culture and lax gun laws have not only failed to make the streets safer, but also have potentially endangered lives.

The theory doesn't match the reality though. He was prepared to deal with an armed bad guy. He did make the right decisions. He did make things safer.

[JustTheTruth]

The shooter had three more clips and 60 rounds he’d have used on more victims if he could have. The concealed carry guy almost had to be the one to act to stop further mayhem. Good for him being prepared!

[Tunehead54]

From your excerpt: "said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Washington-based Violence Policy Center. “Well there was, and he almost shot the wrong person.”"

When Zumudio heard the shooting, per the article, he reaches into his pocket and flipped off the safety and then ... "Zamudio saw a young man squirming on the ground and an older man standing above him, waving a gun.

Zamudio, 24, had his finger on the trigger and seconds to decide.

He lifted his finger from the trigger and ran toward the struggling men."

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The way I read it he never took the gun out of his pocket, never assumed a shooting stance, never aimed and if true its bad practice to have your finger on the trigger with the gun in your pocket unless you're considering shooting through your coat at a target VERY close to you.

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The guy did great and the "finger on trigger" was probably the writer's supposition/dramatization and an actual shot was a long way off. IMHO. ;-)

[archy]

The weapon gave him the boldness to act. But his good judgment allowed him to determine he didn’t need it.

Neither not having his own weapon available nor having been wounded himself prevented 74-year-old retired Marine colonel Bill Badger from tackling tyhe Tucson shooter.

I do wish he had been better armed that day, and I suspect he does as well. But I think he did right well. After all, he was a military pilot, used to taking immediate corrective action when things went wrong.

Ret Col. Badger and his wife Sallie.