While media outlets breathlessly demand gun control, they often ignore stories like the one that occurred in a Texas church Sunday, when an intruder opened fire before being quickly killed by armed churchgoers.
This was yet another case of a good guy with a gun saving potentially dozens of lives. The notion of a good guy with a gun has been repeatedly derided by media outlets as a right-wing, NRA-funded narrative. However, the White Settlement shooting was far from the first example of armed Americans defending themselves, while saving the lives of others.
After a back to school event in Florida last year was interrupted by gun shots, a bystander with a gun took down the shooter and prevented any casualties. In 2012, an 18-year-old mother in Oklahoma shot dead a knife-wielding intruder, potentially saving the lives of herself and her son. The mother, Sarah McKinley would not have had the opportunity to be armed in several blue states, where the law requires you to be 21-years-old to purchase or own a firearm. Several members of Congress and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have introduced laws that would bar adults under 21 from obtaining firearms.
A similar situation also unfolded in Oklahoma City in May 2018 at Louie’s Grill & Bar when a man opened fire on the restaurant and shot two people before being subdued by an armed patron. The only fatality in that shooting was the suspect. If all of the patrons had been unarmed, it’s possible that many innocent people could have been killed.
In August, an off-duty firefighter prevented a man carrying more than 100 rounds of ammunition from causing any damage at a Missouri Walmart. The firefighter held the man at gunpoint until police arrived, possibly preventing serious carnage in the process. Despite a good guy with a gun possibly saving lives at one of its stores, Walmart announced earlier this year that it would no longer sell handgun ammunition.
Texas State Troopers keep watch at the makeshift memorial for victims of the shooting that left a total of 22 people dead at the Cielo Vista Mall WalMart in El Paso, Texas, on August 6, 2019.
In 2012, a 71-year-old Florida man saved several lives at an internet cafe after two teenagers walked in with a baseball bat and a gun. The man, Samuel Williams, was sitting at his computer when he witnessed the incident, and quickly pulled out his .380-caliber handgun to prevent carnage.
In 2010, a 69-year-old Alabama widow shot a burglar three times to protect her home. The robbery took place at 3 a.m., but the Alabama grandmother sprung into action with her .38 snubnosed revolver to keep herself and her home safe.
In 2016, a pregnant mother of two potentially saved her life and the lives of her three children with her firearm after intruders broke into her Ohio home. Her estranged boyfriend and the father of her unborn child attempted to break into her house, breaking down the door of her apartment. The pregnant women prevented a potentially tragic situation by being armed.
Despite the listed examples and many more, establishment media outlets have typically snarled at the notion of a good person with a gun acting to save lives. Susanna Lee of the international news outlet Quartz referred to a good guy with a gun as a “deadly American fantasy.” Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post called the notion a “Hollywood’s most dangerous lie,” placing the blame for mass shootings at the foot of one of America’s most left-wing institutions.
Wayne LaPierre, NRA vice president and CEO attends the NRA annual meeting of members at the 148th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on April 27, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A statement was read at the meeting announcing that NRA president Oliver North, whose seat at the head table remained empty at the event, would not serve another term.
“Elected officials should be ashamed of hiding their inaction behind this vapid slogan. The industry that’s profited off this image for decades should feel ashamed, too,” Rosenberg wrote. “The entertainment industry has played an enormous role in promoting the idea of the invulnerable action-hero cop, to the detriment of civilians and police officers.”
The ominous PBS documentary “Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA” decried the NRA’s influence in American politics, and ridiculed NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre for saying that good guys with a gun have the ability to prevent mass shootings.
“And he almost immediately goes right back to what they usually say, which is that the answer to this is more guns,” CBS News political correspondent and former Washington Post reporter Ed O’Keefe says in the documentary.
Despite this being the settled wisdom of the establishment media outlets, the examples listed above, and findings by the FBI that good guys with a gun can and often do prevent tragedies. The FBI published a study in 2017 of mass shootings that occurred in 2016 and 2017, and found 10 incidents where a good guy with a gun engaged the bad guy. Of the 10 incidents, eight were resolved successfully.
“Armed and unarmed citizens engaged the shooter in 10 incidents. They safely and successfully ended the shootings in eight of those incidents. Their selfless actions likely saved many lives. The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike,” the report stated.
The media and the left may not believe that a good guy with a gun can prevent a tragedy, but there are countless examples and an FBI report that suggest otherwise. It will be fascinating to see if these inconvenient truths are given the time of day as states such as Virginia fervently debate gun control.
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