Earlier this month, one of our companion websites posted the question of where or not conceal carry stops crime. The post was taken from the Crime Prevention Research Center. In this post, they listed several examples of where conceal carry permit holders have stopped mass public shootings and other mass attacks. One thing they pointed out is that few of these many instances are reported by the liberal mainstream media.

In their article, they listed the case of a Chicago Uber driver who used his conceal carry weapon to stop a man he saw firing a gun into a crowd of people on a busy sidewalk. In shooting the gunman, the Uber driver saved countless others from injury and/or death.

In other incidents, they reported:

“A Gresham man fired on a group of people leaving a party, only to be shot himself by one of the victims, a military service member with a concealed carry permit…”

“Just a couple of weeks after the Orlando massacre, a man, 32-year-old Jody Ray Thompson, started shooting at others at another nightclub.  Fortunately, unlike Florida, permitted concealed handguns were allowed in bars in South Carolina.  Before he could shoot a fourth person, the permit holder was able shoot back, wounding Thompson in the leg…”

They also mentioned incidents in Winton, Ohio; Conyers, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and more. To their list, I would like add a few more reports where someone with a conceal carry weapon stopped a crime or mass shooting:

  • On Oct. 1, 1997, Luke Woodham went to his high school after killing his mom and began shooting. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick grabbed his .45 caliber handgun from his truck and confronted Woodham and stopped his murder spree before police arrived.
  • On April 24, 1998, Parker Middle School was holding a dance at a local banquet hall when a 14-year-old student opened fire with .25 caliber handgun. James Strand, owner of the hall used his shotgun that he kept there to stop the shooting and hold the student until police arrived.
  • On Jan. 16, 2002, a former student started shooting at Appalachian School of Law, killing the dean, a professor and another student before being stopped by two law students who were also in law enforcement. They retrieved their weapons from their cars and apprehended the shooter and held him until police arrived.
  • On Dec 9, 2007, a man opened fire with a Bushmaster AR-15 on parishioners at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Earlier that day, the same man killed two and wounded two at the Young With a Mission training center in Arvada. Jeanne Assam, a former Minneapolis Police Officer had a concealed carry license and her gun was with her during the service at New Life Church. She pulled her weapon and shot the shooter, wounding him. He eventually shot himself, but her actions were credited with saving many lives before police arrived.
  • On May 27, 2010, Donald J. Moore used his personal firearm to stop a mass shooting at an AT&T store in New York Mills, NY. The shooter had a list of employees he was going to kill, but only managed to wound one employee before Moore shot and killed him, all before the police arrived.
  • On Aug. 30, 2010, Sullivan Central High School Resource Officer Carolyn Gudger drew her gun on a 62-year-old man with gun. Using her body to shield a student, she held the shooter in a standoff for 10 minutes until police arrived.
  • On March 25, 2012, Jessie Gates was observed getting a shotgun from his truck and heading to the door of Boiling Springs’ South Side Freewill Baptist Church in South Carolina. Aaron Guyton, grandson of the pastor, saw him and locked the door, but Gates kicked it in. Guyton then drew his conceal carry weapon and held Gates at gunpoint while two parishioners subdued him and the pastor disarmed him, all before police arrived.
  • On Dec. 11, 2012, Nick Meli used his concealed carry weapon to stop a shooter at the Clackamas Town Center Mall near Portland, Oregon. The shooter killed two and wounded one before Meli confronted him. The shooter stopped shooting, withdrew to a service elevator and then shot himself, before police arrived.
  • On April 30, 2014, a construction foreman in Austin, Texas used his legally licensed conceal carry weapon to stop a former employee who showed up and started shooting. The foreman wounded the shooter and saved lives after being wounded himself, before police arrived.
  • On May 16, 2014, an armed gunman entered the emergency room at Cache Valley Hospital in Logan, Utah. He demanded to see a doctor and then cocked one of his two handguns and said someone was going to die. A hospital security guard did his best to calm and distract the gunman. Two correction officers happened to be present and were able to confront the gunman from a different direction. The gunman was shot three times and no one else at the hospital was injured. All before police arrived.
  • On July 25, 2014, a patient entered the psychiatric clinic at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, PA. He shot his case worker before pistol whipping his doctor Lee Silverman. As the man left to go shoot more people, Dr. Silverman pulled out his conceal carry handgun and shot the man three times. He was hailed by local police for saving other lives before police had a chance to arrive.

Please note that these are only a few of incidents that have been reported. All of these incidents should cause everyone to question the safety of gun-free zones. It seems obvious that the majority of mass shootings reported by the media take place in gun free zones.

What would have happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School if some of the teachers and faculty had been trained and armed with conceal carry weapons? No one can answer, but it only seems likely that some of those young kids could have been saved.

Consider the fact that as many times Barack Obama has spoken out against guns and especially against arming teachers and faculty in schools, his girls attended a school that had numerous armed guards on patrol all the time. I would love the chance to meet Obama face-to-face and ask him why his girls attend a school with armed guards and yet he’s against allowing armed teachers and faculty in the public schools where your kids attend?

For centuries, it’s been known that the best defense is a strong offense. That’s why so many nations have armies and navies to protect themselves. When Germany invaded and conquered Poland in 1939, Poland had weak defenses and were an easy target. However, when Germany began bombing England, it was different. England had much stronger defenses with which they fought back and eventually helped defeat Germany.

If American leaders really want to prevent mass shootings and reduce violent crimes, they need to take measures to help train and arm law abiding citizens. The more people who are properly trained and armed with conceal carry weapons, the fewer mass shootings and violent crimes there will be.

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