I have to agree with James. In that sort of scenario, there's a lot of bodies moving around rapidly in a confined area, in darkness, with smoke (possibly OC). I'd have had my Glock (CCW holder since '01) in hand...but would I ever get a clear shot? Especially if I'm in amongst the (panicked) crowd, or on the far side of it?
This might not have been the most applicable "If" scenario for CCW.
I actually planned it all out before the previews came on (I don't usually do that, I'm not paranoid or anything). I always sit at the very back, usually just a few steps from the right hand aisle. A bad guy would have had to come to me. I've been in OC/ tear gas/smoke too, so I don't believe I'd have a panic response - one of the blessings of training.
That said, I wasn't there, and won't criticize anyone for what they might have done and didn't. I'm just glad there weren't even more casualties.
Licenses are available to those who desire them and are legally able to carry concealed firearms in most states, but they aren't forced on you. On the flip side, I don't think it's reasonable to cut the rights of tens of millions of law abiding citizens as the result of the behavior of a tiny handful of individuals.
You are correct in stating that neither option will provide absolute security, but individuals can do a lot to make themselves and those in their immediate vicinity safe.
'Stand your ground' law under scrutiny in domestic violence case.
I found this article interesting. Instances of a spousal abuse victim killing or injuring the offender are grey areas. My uninformed opinion is that they shouldn't be - a victim of domestic violence should have as much right to protect herself from a violent partner as the average person on the street has to protect themselves from a violent stranger. It's easy to say 'leave', and frustrating if they don't, but there can be complicating factors like children, finances, not having anywhere to go, and leaving is no guarantee of safety.
I don't think spousal abuse or killing are in any way grey areas. That said, I find this article questionable. We should hear the husband's side of the story too. I think that the problem might have been him only saying "I'm going to kill you" when he apparently saw that she had a pistol. In addition to intent, I believe one must also have the ability or means to carry out the threat. Simply sitting or standing there and saying so isn't a deadly assault. In this case, a woman who returned to the house with a pistol AFTER fleeing might have lost her rights under the Stand Your Ground law.
I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just throwing out some food for thought.
I know. I exaggerated on purpose to illustrate the rift between the two camps. A total ban on bearing arms in public could've prevented this, says one side. An armed citizen could've prevented this, says the other. That's crystal ball speculation though for if you will, reality all boils down to the following equation: more guns ≠ more victims ≡ less guns ≠ less victims. It's a rather endemic problem of societies as advanced as yours and mine that we think regulations will absolutely go to solve any given problem. Actually I don't really care because for all I know, gun control cannot reduce violence and I could just as well be shot in a Colorado theater by some gunman on a killing spree because I stumbled into the only hall with no armed citizen in the audience to protect me. Maybe I'm waffling right now but my point is, I simply have no illusions about it.
By the way this rant is about the amok run and not the advantages (or the lack thereof) of concealed carry and whatnot. I'll admit I was somewhat stunned about the Texan 20 dollar tip jar vendetta a couple of weeks ago but all in all, I'm in favour of the self-defender and gun ownership.
It's true the article doesn't have a lot of detail, it was the only 'neutral' one I could find that wasn't reported on a blog with a clear agenda. I said spousal abuse killings are a grey area because to many it seems that the victim might have more chances to leave a situation; anecdotally speaking I've encountered a lot of victim blaming in such cases. In this particular case the woman is claiming she couldn't leave because the garage door wouldn't open and she left her keys in the house, but it has come down a 'he said - she said'.
I guess in the context of a 'justified self-defence' thread it's interesting to look at how self-defence and Stand Your Ground laws might be applied in domestic violence situations.
^^^ In my garage at home I am able to open the door simply by pushing a button on the wall. I suspect that in the case you mentioned circumstances were interpreted by LE as her returning to the house and confronting her husband or whatever after he'd stopped threatening or pursuing her.
http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/...er-dead/nRLjK/
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —Instead of saving money at a Northside dollar store, a 57-year-old grandfather ends up saving the day.
The man was doing some late-night shopping at the Dollar General store on Dunn Avenue when all of the sudden, two men stormed in and tried robbing it.
Unfortunately for one of them, the man happens to have a concealed weapons permit, and Lt. Rob Schoonover with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says the man wasted no time springing into action.
"There was a citizen who had a concealed firearms permit that was inside the store as a customer," says Lt. Schoonover. "He fired at the suspect, striking him and killing him."
The other robber ended up getting away -- he is described by police as a black male about 6 feet tall and wearing a blue bandana. He drove off in a small SUV.
There are no charges pending against the customer.
http://www.woai.com/mostpopular/stor...rbElEBOTQ.cspx
Armed bystander stops stabbing outside school
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/23/...home-intruder/
A 12-year-old Oklahoma girl took extreme measures to protect herself when an unfamiliar man broke into her home last Wednesday. The girl, who was home alone during a day off from school, shot and wounded the home intruder, local NBC affiliate KTEN News reports.
Kendra St. Clair, was home by herself when a man rang the doorbell to her Bryan County, Okla., home. She didn’t answer, so the trespasser walked to the back of the house and kicked open a door. St. Clair called her mother, who advised her to grab the family’s gun and hide, according to an interview she gave to local broadcaster KFOR-TV. Authorities said that the girl found the gun and took shelter in a bathroom closet.
“I was sitting there in the closet, really scared, holding the gun, not knowing what was going to happen,” St. Clair told KFOR-TV.
Bryan County Under Sheriff Ken Golden told KTEN that the intruder worked his way through the house and to the bathroom, and he was turning the doorknob to St. Clair’s closet when she fired through the door.
The girl then called 911 for help.
“She was very brave, she stayed on the phone with the dispatcher the whole time—talked all the way through it and was still on the phone with dispatch when we got into the house,” Golden said to KTEN.
The intruder, who KTEN says has been identified as 32-year-old Stacy Jones of Texarkana, was flown to a hospital in Plano, Texas. Jones survived the shot to his shoulder, and he has been charged with first-degree burglary, according to KOCO TV.
St. Clair has been widely lauded as a hometown hero for her quick actions, KFOR reports.
“When I had the gun, I didn’t think I was actually going to have to shoot somebody,” St. Clair told ABC News. “I think it’s going to change me a whole lot, knowing that I can hold my head up high and nothing can hurt me anymore.”
According to a 2010 survey by the Daily Beast, Oklahoma ranks as the 12th “most armed” state in the nation. The University of Chicago’s General Social Survey found that 35 percent of Americans have lived with a gun in their house in the past decade. Telephone polls from Gallup and other sources have suggested this number may be closer to 42 percent.