“I don’t know this, but I am willing to bet that there have been armed people who ended up as victims in these mass killings. It’s dangerous to think that just because we have a gun we’re going to be able to thwart an attack – defending ourselves or saving others. How many cops have been killed in the last two months? They’re armed, highly trained, experienced in conflict, and have the backup of many other officers . . . and yet . . .”
Police officers have about 1/10th the murder victimization rate of the general population–in spite of having a job that necessarily puts them at high risk.
Funny, but I can’t think of a single example of a civilian victim in any of these mass murders who was found later to have a gun on them. And there have been a number of mass murders stopped part way through by civilians who drew a gun and either forced surrender (Pearl High School, Appalachian Law School), or in the case of Jeanne Assam in 2007, shot a mentally ill man who had already killed four people–and was headed into a crowded church sanctuary with an assault rifle and 1000 rounds of ammunition.
