NPR - "Armed 'Good Guys' And The Realities Of Facing A Gunman"

[MaverickNH]

Armed 'Good Guys' And The Realities Of Facing A Gunman

EXCERPT "As the nation ponders how to stop the next mass shooting, the gun rights movement offers a straight-forward formula, laid out famously by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre said last month, as his group responded to the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. In Washington state, one such "good guy" — a private citizen who drew his gun in defense of others — paid a heavy price...It was 2005, at the Tacoma Mall in Washington state. McKown had been chatting with friends when gunshots rang out. Everyone hid; but McKown had a pistol. For years, he'd carried a legal concealed weapon, with the thought that someday he'd protect others. Now it seemed that moment had come. Dan McKown, who confronted a gunman at a shopping mall in 2005, says he doesn't regret his actions, although he was shot five times and is now in a wheelchair. Dan McKown, who confronted a gunman at a shopping mall in 2005, says he doesn't regret his actions, although he was shot five times and is now in a wheelchair.
Gun drawn, McKown scanned for the shooter. But the gunshots stopped. Unsure what had happened, McKown tucked his pistol back under his coat — just as the shooter walked right in front of him. "So anyway, I'm standing there like Napoleon Bonaparte, with his hand, you know, in his jacket," he recalls. "So I said, 'Young man, I think you need to put your weapon down.' That moment of vulnerability gave the other guy just enough time to shoot McKown. The bullet hit his spine, and he found himself unable to aim his own gun. "I prayed the most un-Christian prayer of my life, which was: 'God, please let me shoot this guy before he kills somebody else.' Because I was sure I was dead," McKown says. "Then he hit me again, again, again. And he spun me like a pinwheel."

This story has some good information but seeks to find the down-side of CCW, as expected from NPR. Rather than review all of the work by John Lott on Multiple Public Shootings, they only pick the case where things didn't turn out so well.

 

[ldp82]

yeah i read it with disgust. at least they do not try and hide their agenda

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

I actually think this story provided a fairly compelling, but cautionary, argument in favor of carrying.

My take-away was how little is required to disrupt an active shooter and throw him off his game. Dan McKown, the subject of the story likely accomplished that objective, but paid a heavy price in doing so. Although his actions probably kept more people from being shot, McKown himself was wounded and paralyzed. If anything the story supports the idea that if you're going to do anything in a shooting situation you need to aggressively engage.

"The right thing to do tactically in that situation, legally in that situation, and morally in that situation," he says, "is end the shooter's ability to keep shooting. And that means apply lethal force now."

Mr. McKown's actions were 'wrong' only in a relative sense - sub-optimal is a more accurate description. He probably had the opportunity to engage and stop the killer but erred by giving the shooter an opportunity to surrender. Anti tirades against carry usually focus on how much more dangerous a good guy with a gun is. That wasn't the story here.

 

[jtorbin88]

If I'm ever in that situation its eliminate the threat he can surrender himself to his maker.

 

[crazymjb]

I thought it was a good, unbiased, piece.

Mike

 

[freedom2012]

Npr is an arm of the fifth column.

 

[jonw]

Npr is an arm of the fifth column.

Not this time.
I saw a hero who paid with his ability to walk again.

 

[SteelShooter]

I misread the title and thought it said NRA instead of NPR, I was surprised

 

[drgrant]

Typical NPR douchebaggery abound.

I wonder if they have the balls to bring up Mark Wilson or not. ****ing a**h***s. (He failed to stop the BG but likely saved the life of the BG's targets in the process of engaging the BG, forced the BG to go off script. )

You know damn ****ing well they wouldn't bring up every LEO who tried to stop a BG and failed in the process (or got wounded or killed).

A gun is not a panacea but bringing this up is ****ing retarded. It's like saying "We shouldn't have firefighters because they sometimes die in the line of duty" or "medevac helicopters are bad because they crash once in awhile" etc.

-Mike

 

[TLB]

I read an article recently (no link - can't remember where) that spoke about police altering their protocols in these situations. They were recommending immediate engagement, even if there might be collateral damage (innocent people in the crossfire). It was an acknowledgement that these guys will keep shooting anyway and tend to off themselves quickly when they face resistance.

 

[doctorbossman]

My take-away was how little is required to disrupt an active shooter and throw him off his game. Dan McKown, the subject of the story likely accomplished that objective, but paid a heavy price in doing so. Although his actions probably kept more people from being shot

i heard this NPR piece in the radio. They did in fact mention that the trajectory of the shooting was altered by McKown's actions. After shooting McKown, the shooter stopped shooting and took hostages instead. There were no more shootings and the shooter surrendered.
One of the commentators addressed the benefits of making a deranged shooter pause and consider his actions.