Spirit of Self-Defense [John Derbyshire]
As NRO's designated chickenhawk, let me be the one to ask: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals, why didn't anyone rush the guy? It's not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness' sake—one of them reportedly a .22.
At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands. Better yet, just jump him. Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am. And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad.
Yes, yes, I know it's easy to say these things: but didn't the heroes of Flight 93 teach us anything? As the cliche goes—and like most cliches. It's true—none of us knows what he'd do in a dire situation like that. I hope, however, that if I thought I was going to die anyway, I'd at least take a run at the guy.
I have a couple of issues with this. First of all, as someone who has had a gun pulled on him a couple of times, I can assure you that you never know how people will react when it happens. Once I ran, as it was the practical thing to do. Once I had to make a stand. (Retreat was impossible). In the instance where I had to make a stand, even after I had frightened the gunman off, the woman I was with was still paralyzed with fear. I literally had to shove her out of the somewhat still dangerous situation.
Secondly, just because The Derb can't shoot straight, it doesn't mean that neither can anyone else. Yes, handguns are not very accurate, but you don't hit fifty people on a spree like this by randomly firing into a crowd. The guy obviously knew his way around a gun. It may even be that some did try to rush him but were unable to "run through a .22". You take a head shot and a .22 will stop you.
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