Two Criminals Killed by Concealed Carriers – In the past week we have seen two different occasions where a concealed carrier has dramatically changed what could have been an awful situation in two different states. The most notable would be the shooting in Indiana, where a 22-year-old concealed carrier was carrying Constitutionally, despite there being firearms not allowed sign on the entrances. The second involved an armed citizen that intervened when the would-be perpetrator held an innocent bystander at knifepoint and they dropped them. However, both of these instances are not being hailed in the mainstream media as heroic, and in some instances, they are even being touted as criminal events.
The most well-known event took place in the Indiana mall where a would-be shooter spent upwards of an hour getting all the firearms ready to commit his crime. Unknown to the now deceased dirtbag, a 22-year-old, who was carrying Constitutionally and AGAINST the mall’s no gun policy, was in the same food court when the shooter opened fire. Unfortunately in the approximately 15 seconds that the shooter had to commit his act, he shot and killed three innocent mall goers. It could have been significantly worse, but a brave man, 22-year-old Eli Dicken. This young man, breaking the rules and carrying where he was told it wasn’t permitted, drew his concealed weapon and got to work. Firing 10 times, with an 80% hit rate, at a distance of 40 yards Eli neutralized the shooter in under 15 seconds. When you consider that the average police response time is 11 minutes across the US, that is probably the best case for responsible citizens carrying a firearm. This comes on the heels of would-be gun grabbers like Stacy Abrams, who is chastising Georgia’s governor for allowing Constitutional carry in that state. If we average that the shooter was able to kill 3 people in 15 seconds, if we take that out, to 11 minutes, at that rate it would have meant Ms. Abrams was totally ok with 132 dead versus one young man carrying.
The second instance that I talked about was in St. Charles, Missouri on a quick trip. The perpetrator, who was homeless according to reports, decided to start a robbing spree at 3 a.m. He robbed a convenience store at Knifepoint and sped off in a stolen SUV, attempting to break into another gas station not far away. This is where situational awareness of a concealed carrier stepped in. At the third stop, the criminal attempted to again rob the store at knifepoint. The hero noticed that while he was walking back to his vehicle from the bathroom, an SUV blocked the front entrance as he exited, and watched and saw how the clerk was being robbed at knifepoint. He then entered the store to ask if everything was ok, knowing what was going on, and the perpetrator, once confronted with the now armed citizen, the would-be robber charged with a knife. Compared to Indiana, this shooting was close, likely around the FBI average distance of 7 yards or less, and the hero fired four times. When asked what helped make the difference, he replied “Instinct….I guess knowing that I am protected, I can protect somebody else.”
Takeaways:
- 1. Good guy with a gun is a formidable foe against
either a robber or a would-be mass shooter, which dispels the counterargument
by gun-grabbers - 2. When seconds count, police are only minutes away…so
be your own protection - 3. It can happen anywhere, at any time.
- 4. Mass shooter targeted an area he thought was a
“gun-free zone”, and when it wasn’t it ended badly for him. I am not a lawyer,
but the phrase “tried 12 is better than carried by 6” has some validity in the
first case. - 5. Training matters. Scoring 80% hits at 40 yards
or 100% on a moving target at 7 or less is incredibly difficult, and both of
their hit percentages exceed most police capabilities. - 6. You can only be prepared if you carry, and you are
more likely to carry if you have a comfortable holster like one from JM4, like the Original, Relic, or Roughneck lines.
Author: Ian Bolser