Posted on 07/22/2012 7:04:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
I would venture to guess that the folks filing in to see the latest Batman installment in Aurora, Colorado last Thursday evening didn’t figure on over 70 of them getting shot before the credits rolled. The last count I received before filing this column was 12 dead and 59 wounded.
As the news starting pouring in about what happened in the theater this week when Satan’s spawn James Holmes donned Kevlar and a small battery of weapons and opened fire on an unsuspecting crowd, I kept thinking, “One fast-thinking and trained person who was armed/licensed with a concealed weapon could have stopped that SOB right in his tracks before the body count skyrocketed.”
Yep, the armed citizen could have either killed him, sent him running for cover, or at least diverted his fire away from the masses and toward their person. Some readers, no doubt, are saying, “Well that would be stupid. What if that citizen got shot trying to protect others?” To that I reply: Well, Dinky, if they would have been shot and killed at least they would have died a hero. Have you ever heard of the term “hero”?
The Aurora Dark Knight Massacre is exactly why I carry at least one gun everywhere I go—because crap always happens when you least expect it. That’s why, as responsible citizens and gun owners, we must always be ready and must always expect it because when it happens, it happens fast; if you’re not ready, you and others are screwed.
For instance, it’s a beautiful and quiet day on Miami Beach this morning. I’m drinking my coffee at an outdoor cafe, minding my own business while I work on this column and on my website. I don’t see any bath salt zombies on the prowl. There are no Trench Coat Mafia wannabes lurking around. There is no real foreseeable reason to carry a weapon. But I am. The reason? Well, I’m not omniscient. I’m just a dumb clunk living in a jacked-up world where med school students go bat crap crazy and shoot up normally peaceful places for inexplicable reasons. Therefore, I’m locked, cocked and ready to rock should some demented dill weed decide to strafe the local patrons sipping a cup of Joe.
For those who say, “Doug’s insane with all this concealed weapons crap. We should leave such affairs to the police,” allow me to point out that the theater was crawling with cops for the Batman opening to control the crowds. By the time the police got to the particular theater, it was all over. Blood was already running down the aisles and the gunman had already left the building. You, my friend, are your first responder … your first line of defense.
Look, stuff happens when and where you don’t think it’ll happen. My recommendation to you, the good citizen, is to get equipped with a gun—a fire-breathing dragon of a weapon. Get proficient with it. Make it like a cell phone: an additional appendage to your body. And then pray that you’ll never have to use it. However, should you be in line at the grocery store, or at Chili’s eating a burger, or at a park playing football with your homies, and some James Holmes wannabe shows up carting an arsenal and quoting Kafka as he shoots kids … you’ll be ready. Simply find cover if you can, draw your weapon, take a fine bead, and double tap the center mass of the murderous jackass. Should he or she have a bulletproof vest on then pull your sight picture up to the perp’s noggin and shoot him or her in the head; it’ll explode like a watermelon. You’ll feel bad for a nanosecond. But then the cops and families will show up and thank you for putting Jack the Ripper down. The end.
“I don’t care how small the gun has to be to fit, I’m carrying EVERYWHERE”
I do too. In hot weather it’s a little .380 Ruger LCP-CT which is easy to conceal under a t-shirt in a inside-the-pants holster.
It’s loaded with 6 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense ammo.
I remember a few years ago there was a similar shooting incident at a Colorado church. While several people were killed, the lone assassin was taken down by an armed female guard saving many lives.
I support 2nd amendment rights and I hold CCPs from several states. I usually carry, but would have left my firearm in the car due to the "no gun" policy of the theatre and mall.
That said, what if I had been there and had ignored the property owners legal request? It is a darkened theater full of smoke and screaming people. The killer is wearing black body armor. All I can probably see are muzzle flashes.
Nevertheless, I rise calmly from my seat and quicky drop the bad guy 40 feet away with a double tap between the eyes.
Or not. I'm good, but I'm not that good.
Keep in mind, he has the advantage of being able to "spray and pray." I don't have that luxury. At 40 feet, he with a rifle and body armor, I my 9mm and batman t-shirt, he with a great chance of hitting something when he pulls the trigger, me squinting through the dark and smoke for a target......well, I am overmatched. Don't get me wrong: it is my duty in that situation to engage and I would have, but upon opening fire....doing what I was taught and aiming for center of mass in the dark....I would have hit his body armor. The odds are very high that I would have gone down.
And the headlines the next day: CONCEALED CARRY MAKES NO DIFFERANCE IN KILLING SPREE. The anti gunners win another round in the 2nd amendment battle.
How many of you CC guys train for THIS scenario? I am thinking about adding laser or light to my CC firearm....but none of the holsters I've been able to find fit a gun with a light or laser.
This is just a bad deal all around.
The security guards were profiling people to stop anyone from bringing in outside food and drinks.
Seems like a lot of theaters are getting really strict about enforcing that, they rely heavily upon concession sales.
It’s an interesting scenario, however, as former Washington state CCW (and a current Czech Republic CCW - yes, you can get one here, provided you’re a permanent resident alien with a clean record from here and your home country, and you have to demonstrate firearms proficiency including marksmanship; oh, and you also have to undergo a psych exam) permit holder, I wouldn’t have returned fire except for under very clearly delineated circumstances, and here’s why.
The theater was inundated with tear gas; this would make it very difficult to properly acquire when you simply can’t see. The shooter threw in 2 tear gas grenades, which are available online easily enough, and then ones I looked at are 6 ounce size, military grade, capable of covering a 23,000 cubic foot area in 1 minute. You can find them at www.KeepShooting.com.
Aside from that issue, this is a semi-darkened environment, with only ambient light coming from the screen. Add to that this is now a tear-gas filled environment, and after the third round or so was fired, a tear-gas filled, semi-darkened environment now in a state of panic
So; you have a theater filled with low-light conditions, tear gas, and panicking people, and the perp is clad in black, with protective gear. He’s also shooting randomly.
The ONLY way in which I would use my CC pistol in this scenario is if the prep is 5 feet away or less, and provided that at that point, my vision had somewhat recovered to the point that I could actually clearly acquire the target.
If someone had returned fire, yes there is a chance he would have hit the shooter, though under the circumstances, probably not so good a chance. There’s just as equal a chance that someone returning fire would have hit an innocent bystander. Remember, when people panic or find themselves in extreme situations, they often act irrationally, and I’d imagine there were a lot of folks irrationally running pell-mell throughout that cinema.
If the hypothetical innocent person mentioned above survived the accidental injury, you can pretty much rest assured that a CCW responder would likely have his/her keester sued off for medical costs, pain and suffering, etc. A nice fat civil lawsuit, in other words.
Me? I would have tried to get myself into a defensive position, pistol at the ready, and only shot the perp (again, provided I could clearly acquire him) at close range, with a clear shot, and with no panicky people anywhere near my line of fire.
There’s a lot of folks out there in the world who think they’re John McClane, and they’re just gonna stand up and say, “Yippee ki yay, M*****F****r” and blow their target away with a clean single shot. Perhaps under the most optimal of conditions, that’s possible; however people must bear in mind that the conditions in which this massacre took place were far from optimal. Walking around with the notion that a CCW makes a person into a justice-dispensing Harry Callahan or Paul Kersey or Judge Dredd is not a responsible attitude to have when you carry a tool which literally has the power of life and death at your immediate disposal.
Life is not a “Die Hard” film.
News source provided this:
12:39 a.m.: Aurora Police Department receives calls about the shooting.
12:40 a.m.: Police arrive at the scene a minute and a half later. Twenty-five police officers are on the scene within the first few minutes; 200 are eventually on the scene.
When seconds count, the cops are just MINUTES away.
Agree with your post 100%
Now you will probably get flamed by all the Rambos who know better.
It appears Holmes had thought about that. Why else would he go in there with all that protective gear?
The most famous statement about carrying a gun for protection “when seconds count the police will be there in a matter of minutes” was proven when the police chief of Aurora said “we were there within 2 1/2 minutes after the call was received.”
Well! There you have it! The reason to carry.
Or John McClanes. :)
Leave the tackiness to the Left.
Carried by 6
Judged by 12
I have the same (even the same ammo) but, frankly, I don’t like it. Not enough fire power and long, long trigger pull. I’m looking at the new Springfield Armory XDs (I have a full size XDm). It’s a delicate balance finding a gun small enough to carry every where but still big enough to feel confident with.
Liberals have to lie about everything.
Personally, I think there’s a possibility he WAS expecting a CCW holder in the audience; he’d lived in Colorado for quite awhile, and I’m sure he would’ve been able to look up Colorado state firearms laws over the internet.
Only 5 minutes or so of research would’ve given him his answer.
So, you’ve got a perfectly legitimate point. I recall the 1997 North Hollywood shootout (because I remember watching that one live as it happened) and those two were armed for bear. Body armor, etc.,; they’d anticipated a quick response when they robbed the bank, so it’s also possible Holmes might’ve expected a heavily armed police response to his shoot-’em-up as well
Personally, I REALLY want to know what they find on this guy’s computer; aside from dating/fling sites, what else was he looking at? What was he checking out on YouTube, etc.? What did he download? E-mail contacts, etc.
That kind of information will speak volumes.
I don't quite agree. Over-matched, but probably with different priorities - he wouldn't know where you were and wouldn't stop shooting for long to find out. Yes, a decent pair of shots at an appropriate distance would have hit his body armor twice (you weren't going to go for the head in the dark, not unless you saw his armor before it got chaotic, were you?), but I don't think he would have known who shot him. The dark, the chaos, the gas, and the gas mask all work against him for spotting the threat in that situation. He would have been bruised and distracted, but he would not have known who shot him. Wait a ten count, and he'll move on to shooting easy targets instead of searching for the threat. Now go for the head, it's easier to find than you are - his head is just above and to one side of the spouts of flame from his firearms. He's probably moving slowly to be systematic, and to avoid tripping over the living and the dead, and my money is on a head shot timed for when he's not moving to take him down before he knows you're shooting again.
Note: I believe one of the dead was in the next theater and was shot through the walls. It would be prudent to consider that risk and avoid spraying bullets (not that spray and pray is an option with a concealed carry magazine), but I'd consider the risk of a pistol round aimed upward missing, passing through a wall, and hitting someone to be acceptable given the immediate reality of the theater.
Law-Abiding citizens do NOT carry a firearm (or exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms) to become “heroes”...If you do, and that is your intent, stay the hell away from me...
The author of this article definitely nails the proper perspective on folks who take their self defense seriously enough to jump through the hoops to carry in their state(s)...As much as I have a problem with asking permission to exercise that right...
Unless there is physical security (metal detectors, pat downs, wanding) I carry regardless of any signage (or corporate policy) posted by a private business...Because my business is as private as theirs is...If the law says don’t go in there with a gun, I’ll follow that provision in the law...
The most that can happen in most instances is if they somehow find out you are carrying, they can ask you to leave...If you refuse then, then it becomes, from what I have read up on in various state laws, is a trespassing charge (at least in Texas)...
The thing is if you don’t talk about it, don’t make a big deal out of it, don’t play with it, or adjust it on your belt, and keep the thing concealed, you won’t have too many problems...
I’ve been saying for years after one of these shootings, and like the author illuded to...”One law-abiding citizen could very well have made a difference...”
I have also said that I look forward to a day where I walk out my front door, get into my truck and think, “Shoot, I forgot my pistol...”, do I go back and go get it??? Nahhhhh, I don’t need it...
It is unfortunate, but I do not see that happening any time soon...
Just my opinion...
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