Please cite examples of when a private citizen has had a positive impact on mass killings. BTW, there were 142 school killings in the last year alone.
The Pearl, Mississippi school shooting was stopped by the vice principal Joel Myrick with a Colt .45, The Appalachian School shooting was stopped by two students with handguns. Both of the above incidents were stopped by the armed citizens threatening the shooter without firing.
Plans to slay everyone in the Muskegon, Michigan, store and steal enough cash and jewelry to feed their “gnawing hunger for crack cocaine” fell apart for a band of would-be killers after one of their victims fought back.
The mass church shooting in Colorado Springs was stopped by the shooter being shot by a church member with a CCW permit.
The Santa Clara gunshop shooting in 1999 was stopped by an armed citizen after the shooter declared that he was going to kill everyone. Police found a list of intended victims in his car. Only the perpetrator, Richard Gable Stevens was shot.
The December, 1991, Aniston, Alabama defense where a CCW holder stopped armed robbers who were herding employees, customers, and his wife into a cooler. He shot both robbers, killing one.
July 13, 2009, in Virginia at the Golden Food Market: The gunman tried to shoot several people, was stopped by a CCW carrier.
Just recently, in Early Texas, armed citizen Vic Stacy shot and stopped a deranged man who had just murdered two neighbors and was firing at police with a rifle. Stacy made a very long shot with his revolver, three times as far as the perpetrator was from the police officer, who had an AR-15 type rifle.
Abraham Dickman had a history of anger against employees of the AT&T store in New York Mills, New York. On May 27th, 2010, he walked into the store with a .357 and a list of six employees. He shot the first employee, but was stopped from further attacks when Donald J. Moore, an off duty police officer who was allowed to carry his own handgun when not on duty, drew and fired his .40 caliber, killing Mr. Dickman before he could fire any more shots.
Another off duty police officer stopped the Trolley Square shooting with his personal handgun. He stopped the killing and contained the shooter until police reinforcements arrived and ended the situation.
The shooter, Ernesto Villagomez, entered the Players Bar and Grill and killed two people. He reloaded and was continuing to shoot when a citizen with a concealed carry permit shot him and stopped the killing.
Kiarron Parker rammed his car into another in the church parking lot, got out and attempted to kill multiple church members. He was only able to kill one before a member of the congregation, the nephew of the lady killed, and an off duty police officer, drew his handgun and shot Parker, stopping the killing.
Whenever a mass shooting is stopped by a gun owner there are going to be fewer victims so these stories are often under reported or not reported at all by major news outlets. And of course since self defensive gun uses do not help the agenda of gun control activists these stories will continue to be ignored.
FBI report shows importance of armed citizens in stopping mass murder sprees: Friday, October 24, 2014 by: J. D. Heyes
A new study from the FBI that says active shooter incidents have risen dramatically since 2000 doesn't focus on one aspect of such shootings: that the presence of armed private citizens can be the biggest factor in ending mass shooting sprees, saving countless lives by ending such frightening incidents more quickly.
The FBI says the study -- the first of its kind -- was done merely to "provide our law enforcement partners--normally the first responders on the scene of these dangerous and fast-moving events--with data that will help them to better prepare for and respond to these incidents, saving more lives and keeping themselves safer in the process," according to a bureau press release. But given the anti-gun nature of the Obama Administration -- and given the recommendations made by the FBI in response to its findings -- one can only speculate why the effect of the Second Amendment was downplayed in the study's final report, even though the information was there.
What about good guys with guns?
According to the study:
There were 160 active shooter/mass shooting incidents between 2000 and 2013
That translates to an average of 11.3 incidents per year, though incidents in the final seven years of the study rose to about 16 per year, on average
In all, the shootings produced 1,043 casualties
Of the casualties, 486 people were killed and 557 were wounded
All but six of the 160 shootings were male suspects
In 21 of the 45 incidents where law enforcement had to engage the shooter to end the threat, nine officers were killed and 28 were wounded.
Also, the study found, "The largest percentage of incidents--45.6 percent--took place in a commercial environment (73 incidents), followed by 24.3 percent that took place in an educational environment (39 incidents). The remaining incidents occurred at the other location types specified in the study--open spaces, military and other government properties, residential properties, houses of worship, and health care facilities."
What was not emphasized in the study:
Five of the mass shooting incidents were ended by armed civilians who subdued the shooter
21 of the incidents ended with unarmed citizens subduing the shooter (a dicey proposition at best).
Obviously, if you're confronting someone who is armed, it is much better to be armed (and trained in the use of that firearm) yourself; this would save many more lives than waiting on police.
At least 25 of the shootings ended with the shooter getting away before cops arrived
Only 28 percent of the 160 incidents came to an end after police exchanged fire with the shooter(s); of these, 20 percent ended with the shooter killing himself
The FBI, in its press release, noted:
Because so many of these incidents unfold so rapidly, Special Agent Katherine Schweit--who heads the FBI's Active Shooter Initiative--says she hopes the study "demonstrates the need not only for enhanced preparation on the part of law enforcement and other first responders, but also for civilians to be engaged in discussions and training on decisions they'd have to make in an active shooter situation."
"Citizens need to be ready and think about what they might have to do," Schweit went on to say. But getting a federal law enforcement agency to admit that a vital right in the Constitution could actually make its officers and those of civilian law enforcement agencies safer, as well as society in general, is virtually impossible.
