Another story about an armed civilian trying to do the job of law enforcement.
The short version: A man and a woman were arguing at a Walmart. The man drew his gun and fired two shots at the feet of the woman, who was injured in the ankle from one of the shots. The shooter left and climbed in his truck, but a concealed-carry holder pursued, retrieved his own weapon from his car and confronted the shooter. After a struggle, the shooter fired another shot, hitting the second guy in the head and killing him instantly.
This is pretty much a textbook case that could be cited as justification for concealed-carry: a violent man had just injured someone and was about to get away before the police could stop him. He is by definition armed and dangerous and by letting him go, you may be allowing a violent psychopath to continue a reign of terror across the town. Even though he died, the guy who tried to stop the shooter died a hero, right?
Well, maybe, maybe not. It’s been almost thirty years since I took my criminology class in college, but one of the stats that always impressed me was that upwards of 90% of violent criminals actually turn themselves over to police within a few hours of the crime. And so it was in this case - the shooter drove away, but within a couple of minutes he pulled over and called his army supervisors (he’s stationed at Fort Hood). They advised him to turn himself into the cops, and after calling his father, that’s just what he did. There’s every reason to believe that he would have turned himself in after injuring the woman (his wife) as well.
Maybe the guy was a murderous nutjob who would go on to kill others, but the overwhelming odds are that this is not the case. Was the good-Samaritan justified in trying to stop the guy? And just for reference, both men were trained in firearms - the shooter was active-duty Army and his confronter was an ex-marine.
Here is a much more cut-and-dried example of stupid: a concealed-carry gunman shoots an unarmed man after an already-finished dispute over church seating.
Mark Storms was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting at Keystone Fellowship Church in North Wales, a little more than an hour’s drive north of Philadelphia, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
The shooting victim, Robert Braxton, became disruptive during services before church members calmed him down, Steele said. Witnesses told police Storms approached Braxton, showed him a gold badge and a gun in his waistband and asked him to leave. Braxton then punched Storms, who fired two shots, killing him, they said.
Storms told investigators he bought the badge after he was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon, according to a police affidavit. He said he showed it to Braxton hoping to defuse the situation, the affidavit said.
