Where were all the good people with guns in Las Vegas?

[guillaumeb]

NOTE: This was originally posted in July of 2016, but it could have been posted 272 times this year alone.




So, to repeat myself, Where were all the good people with guns in Las Vegas?


You know, the "good people with a gun" who are the only thing that can effectively respond to gun violence.

The NRA gun fundamentalists love to state that the only defense against a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. They say this nonsense after school shootings, after theater shootings, after every type of mass shooting. So what happened in Las Vegas? How do we explain this utter absence of response by the mythical "good person with a gun"?

Some thoughts:

1) There apparently are no good people with guns in Las Vegas?


2) The good people with guns were paralyzed with fear and unable to respond?

And if a good person, or many good persons, had pulled out weapons when the shooting started, what would have been the outcome?

1) Would there have been many more murders because a general shooting free for all would have ensued?

2) Or would a good person with a gun have instantly found the bad person and neutralized the threat?

What is incredible, and not at all surprising, is that NRA apologists and paid shills can continue to make the same argument when all the evidence shows that there simply is no protection conferred by carrying a gun, nor is there any statistically significant effective response to this violence by an armed civilian.

How soon before I can repost this again?

[PJMcK]

1. Probably in about 2 to 3 weeks (n/t)

[guillaumeb]

4. Perhaps a poll is in order? eom

[Spartikis]

2. Wish there was one

From my experiences at concerts everyone is usually drunk and they don't permit firearms in there. He was literally shooting defenseless fish in a barrel. i think the good guy with a gun concept works when its someone trying to car jack you from 5 feet away, very different when someone from 400+ yards is raining down full auto fire.

I think its important to realize that just because civilians werent able to help this time doesn't mean it universally applies to every self defense situation.

[guillaumeb]

5. I am Spartacus.

Welcome to DU, and the conversation.

Self-defense is one thing, but recognizing that the "good man with a gun" meme is propaganda for the gun industry is vital. It promotes the idea that possession of a gun is truly a defense mechanism.

And it can be,
if the gun carrier is aware of the threat, and
can react in time, and
can react with accurate aim in a stressful situation.

[Plucketeer]

3. Ya gotta love it!

The TOTALLY lame-brained notion that when a bunch of trhe "good guys" draw and look for someone with a gun, it's a recipe for disaster! Not to mention the dumbass ASSumption that all that are packin' are great shots and practice their skills at least weekly.

Also consider (in this instance) trying to determine just WHERE the shots were coming from! Hell, the videos tell how the sounds of that gunfire echoed off of the other buildings - where ya gonna aim your puny .32??? The NRA ain't stupid - but they're counting on us to be!

[guillaumeb]

6. And they would have been firing hand guns uphill, so to speak,

at a sniper on the 32nd floor. Assuming that, as you noted, these gun owners could determine exactly where the sniper was.

[billh58]

7. Like much of their deceptive

marketing, the right-wing gun lobby, as represented by the NRA, created the myth of a "good guy with a gun" in order to sell more guns, which leads to more gun violence. They play to the fantasies of the aging gun culture's desires to feel important and play the part of a wannabe cop, soldier, or wild west cowboy hero.

To these gun nuts, the sacred Second Amendment gives them the right to "stand their ground" and to shoot anyone they deem as threatening, unpatriotic, or "different."

The bottom line is that more guns equals more gun violence -- period.

[guillaumeb]

8. And when politicians ask: "what can we do"?

we can respond: "google Australia/Port Arthur/1996" and allow them to see what can be done if the political will is there.