One Man With a Gun

Dude that is upside-down thinking. Even if he had tried it in American, the only place where people openly carry guns and aren't afraid to use them are in small towns in Texas, and in deep urban, inner-city areas (ghettos and barrios). In which case he damn well knows he'd not have gotten far before getting a beatdown from 2 or 3 hard-hitting niggas or chulos.

My point is, this guy chose a "harmless" area intentionally. He could have done the same in America or anywhere else in the world where people do NOT carry guns around. That includes my neighbourbood, the places where my wife and me shop, and the neighbourhoods of my friends. I suspect, it includes YOURs as well.

This tragic crap could happen ANYWHERE, and he'd have still stabbed a bunch of people before getting arrested or beatdown.

Sorry, your logic is so off the wall here, I'm not even sure where to start.

How would "one man with a gun" have stopped this guy from running his two-ton truck into pedestrians? Are you suggesting that we shoot everyone driving two-ton trucks, just in case they are on a murderous rampage?

How would "one man with a gun" have stopped him after he jumped out and started stabbing people? Are you suggesting that someone whip out his pistol and start firing into a crowd of screaming and running people, hoping to hit the madman?

Here's another thought. Let's say the "one man with a gun" *was* this guy, on a murderous rampage. How many more people would he have killed?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting#Notable_shootings

Well, let's see. "One man with a gun" killed 33 people at Virginia Tech. Too bad there weren't a couple other guys with guns to shoot him. Unless, that is, those two other guys with guns were Harris and Klebold. They might have just decided to help out with the massacre.

I'm not anti-gun. I'm pro-gun ownership. There are plenty of great arguments defending gun ownership. But you wouldn't know it from reading this post.

And I forgot to comment on your ending sentence: "Seventeen people were stabbed, and seven died, because there were no guns on the scene until police arrived."

Did you read the article? Or just jump right on your high horse?

"Police confirmed seven deaths -- six men and one woman -- but they could not say whether the victims had died of injuries from the truck or were stabbed to death."

There is *no* reason to believe that the seven deaths weren't the result of being run over by a two-ton hunk of steel.

Perhaps you should amend your post to read:

"In the overactive imagination of Kyle Markley, if Kyle Markley were there Kyle Markley would have torn open his flannel shirt (revealing his massive pecs), removed two .45 peacemakers from their concealed holsters, and emptied them into the madman's body, miraculously calling upon the combined experience of Chuck Norris and Clint Eastwood to ensure that no innocent bystanders were also killed."

I made no claim regarding the causes of death. However, the news report makes it clear that seventeen people were stabbed.

I feel obligated to underscore that, despite my readers' vivid fantasies, I believe a gun in private hands would have brought this incident to a close without a shot being fired. (Note, the police didn't shoot him.) The presence of a gun and the threat of its use is very often sufficient.

I invite you to browse the Civilian Gun Self-Defense blog, linked in my blogroll.

One guy with a gun could have stopped this, sure. Meanwhile thousands of other armed Japanese would be gunning down shop owners, neighbors, strangers, friends, family members and pets just as happens in any US city on any random day. Yeah, I can see the Japanese lobbying for a US-style system on the hope of stopping a few random loons like this one... NOT! (I've lived there; they think we're crazy.)

Someone with a gun could have helped though it seems to me that the crowd watching without doing anything is more to blame than a lack of gun. 10 people jumping on one guy can be very effective.

Proud Geek, you would be surprised how many people are carrying concealed guns in America outside of Texas or dangerous inner-city ghettos. I was working at a Hollywood Video last year in Portland, OR and asked a girl who looked between 18-22 for her ID to rent a movie. She didn't have her regular ID so she handed me her concealed weapons permit. I NEVER would've guessed. I also dated a guy whose middle-aged middle-class IT-person dad was extremely pro-gun in Colorado Springs, CO and he was packing a gun to dinner at the Olive Garden and on shopping trips to the mall.

I agree that you never know who is carrying a gun. It is amazing how just the mention of a gun is scary to some people. I have a concealed weapons permit and I think it would be safe to say that when I am carrying nobody knows it. The fact is that there are crazy people out there and should the need arise I would feel obligated to protect myself and those around me. Honestly I am more worried about some of the dogs in my neighborhood than the people. I have small children and there have been dog related incidents in our area before.