Sadly, the guy clearly went into wannabe cop mode.
It was reasonable for Antell to go back to his car to get his gun—at the time, he wasn’t aware if the guy was going to come back to shoot the woman or others (e.g., after retrieving ammo or more weapons). It was also reasonable for him to keep an eye on the guy (from a distance).
It was, however, a very bad move to go and try to apprehend the guy. From the story, he may have even gotten within arm’s distance of the guy. If that’s true, I don’t think a cop would have done that, especially without backup. I highly doubt that Antell would have done so if he didn’t have a gun.
Now his kids don’t have a dad and his wife is a young widow. He was a hero already when he stepped in to reasonable help, including going back to his car to get the gun. Sadly, he crossed over the line from hero to wannabe cop.
olaf
4308
So you think that “many” people that carry do so because they want to be a hero? I could not disagree more. I think that most, the vast majority, people that carry never want to be in that spot. They never want to be in a situation where they are presented with a choice to shoot someone. They carry because they know that if they are ever in a situation with their life on the line, having a gun is the best line of defense.
If you are getting shot at, the best defense is to have a trained professional, or a team of trained professionals, onsite to defend you. But that is not a realistic option for anyone outside of politicians or billionaires. Barring the trained professional onsite, the next best option is having a gun, and knowing how to use it.
We can’t know what this guy that got killed was thinking but I would bet all the money I have that he was not a gun owner just hoping for a situation to happen one day where he could become a hero.
ShivaX
4309
Dude, I fucking carry, but don’t pretend there isn’t a sizable segment of the people that do that think they’re John McClane because there is. You can find them in any sort of forum or social media talking tough about everything and anything and how they’d be a fucking hero if only they had been there, etc, etc. Back before the age of the internet you found plenty of those same people at gun ranges and gun shows. They’re out there and there are a shitload of them.
I said “many” and then you said “vast majority” but those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. 75-80% is a vast majority, but 20% of millions of people adds up to quite a few people.
olaf
4311
I just don’t think that a significant percentage of non-LEOs that carry do so because they fantasize about being a hero. I will concede that there must be a percentage of them that do, but 20% seems way high to me.
Not that they are the same thing at all, but I think a much higher percentage of people go into law enforcement because they want power than regular citizens that carry because they fantasize about being a hero. Texas keeps very detailed records on CHL folks and they are literally the most law abiding slice of society there is. They are not a bunch of people with itchy trigger fingers waiting to shoot someone or people that fantasize about being in the right place at the right time.
ShivaX
4312
Oh, I definitely agree on the LEO end of things. I think 20% is a fair number in my experience but its hard to tell since the idiots are always the loudest about it. But for every loud idiot there are several more that think the same way and just don’t shout it from the rooftops. And to be fair, a lot of non-idiots feel that way as well to varying degrees.
It’s not the sort of thing you can really poll that easily I wouldn’t think, but you never know. I’m mostly going by the numbers of people who say shit in person and on the internet and the cases where people do go full Terminator when in those situations, which somewhat high. But again, I don’t have an actual science to back it up, just anecdotes and experiences.
rowe33
4313
This is just quite the article, and comments below it: http://bearingarms.com/jenn-j/2016/05/05/extremely-bad-luck-robber-shot-memphis-sports-store/
A 25-year-old would-be robber was shot and killed before he was able to make off with any items from the Extreme Gear store in Memphis, TN.
Police said the suspect tried to rob the store, but was shot by someone inside.
No one seemed sympathetic toward the robber, who appeared to have chosen the wrong store to rob.
“They need to get a job; get a job, stay out of trouble.”
Sigh.
Now the comments. What I love most is the middle comment (#3 below) that goes without response, while comment 4 is misinterpreted as anti-gun when it clearly isn’t.
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awwwww
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Keep up the good shooting…eventually they might get the point
- a response
Some get the point...some get the hollow point.
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“They need to get a job; get a job, stay out of trouble.”
Yeah, I’m sure Satan will putt him to work ~ seeing as how he’s dead and all.
[/QUOTE]
4. [QUOTE]Reverend Al SHarpton: “This is an outrage! This poor young man is the victim of racism. He was only trying to support his family and had a bright future in front of him. So long as TV cameras are here, I intend to stay and convince the family to sue.”
Reverend Amos Connors: "The young people don’t believe in nothing but to take, and that’s it. God didn’t put us here to take from one another. I’m not going to take nothing from you, because it don’t belong to me.”
One of these reverends is a leader. The other gives snakes a bad name. Who’s confused on which is which?
- response:
With your comments. Seems to me you may be next in line.If anyone tries to take anything I own, I will respond with the same defence. I have been carried a gun for over 40 years and have never once had to use it. But believe me I will in a heartbeat if need be.
4b o.p. responds
Mark Cailler I may be next in line for what? I’m going to let you re-read my comment and try to understand what I’m saying. Then, I want you to clarify your comment. Because it seems like you just threatened a Second Amendment-loving, gun-owning patriot who just extolled Reverend Amos Connors, WHO CALLED OUT THE DEAD THUG.
I can tolerate a daily two-minutes hate for the latest outrage, but at least spare me the comments.
Timex
4316
I must admit that I don’t have a lot of pity for a guy who gets shot while committing armed robbery.
rowe33
4317
9 children (under the age of 18) are accidentally shot every stinking day in the United States. http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/28/health/shootings-by-children/index.html
We need better laws. Not everyone should have a gun. You should have to complete a mandatory safety course, all guns should be registered in a national database, and future firearm sales should have mandatory bio identity to fire (like a ring on the finger with an RFID). If you are an idiot with an unsecured gun and someone gets hurt, you get thrown in jail for a decade or two. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Last time I went to Golden Corral there were 3 400 lb rednecks in the parking lot showing off handguns and shotguns out of the trunk of their crappy car. It frightened us because we didn’t know if they were going to try to rob the place or they might accidentally shoot people as they passed. They were NOT being responsible gun owners. I ran in and notified the manager who was angry but said it was not the first time people waved guns around the restaurant parking lot and she also said calling the police would not help.
It is ridiculous people like myself, wife, nieces, nephews, family have to be scared about the increasing number of idiots carrying weapons. Not until Barack Obama became President had I ever seen this kind of behavior before. But each time I see a weapon carried around it’s not a woman, it’s not some mild mannered individual. It’s someone with a confederate flag on their beatup car or pickup. Like every stinking time.
There are not enough ShivaX’s out there who are responsible and carry for the right reason. If we didn’t have so many handguns in this country a lot less people would be shot by police when they pull out their cellphones and it’s only going to get worse with Police officers getting shot due to hesitation or them shooting people before identifying for sure if a weapon or a cellphone has been drawn. But the one thing that would help this situation would be proper gun controls. And before anyone calls me a liberal peacenik I come from a long line of hunters, most of my family are very active hunters and my sister is a cop. A lot of people in this country carry as an extension of their dick or to passively threaten people.
Spare me the bleeding heart flights of fancy. The only solution here is very obvious. Arm the kids. That will make people more cautious and reduce shootings.
Open carry, concealed carry, diaper carry
That solution will go to shit in a hurry.
sorry, can’t help it. I’m about 5 drinks in. 'scuse me. Imma go find the “I’m drunk” thread…
Really? That’s what you were worried about? How often is it reported people being shot at GC? I’d be more worried about my BMI and catching norovirus.
Well, the “accidentally shoot people” thing isn’t an unreasonable fear. One reason I gave up shooting a long time ago was the cavalier way in which a lot of self-professed gun enthusiasts handled their firearms. That, and the combination of weaponry and bigotry I constantly ran into in firing ranges in Georgia.
Lol. Well I have a pretty nasty set of diseases so my BMI isn’t ever going to be bad. But that was just one example, and we live in Michigan, not the South. Just another example is the girl who cuts my hair nipped me several times and I asked her if she was tired. She says yes because her neighbors keep shooting their guns late at night keeping her up (this live in the country). She can’t call the county sheriff because the neighbors will know who called on them since she and her husband are the only ones who aren’t gun people in their vicinity.
Another concealed carry accident. The Kansas police called the guy a “knucklehead” and I reckon that’s a good description.
The weapon owner in question was at a high school graduation ceremony and his gun was concealed in his sock… like you do.
Apparently this isn’t particularly comfortable, so he adjusted his sock and the gun went off went off, wounding him in the foot. That would be all well and good, but I guess he had lifted his foot up to adjust it or something because after leaving his foot, the bullet went another 50 feet before wounding some poor woman in her lower leg.
No one died, and the local police chief says he plans to press charges since it’s illegal in Kansas to carry a gun on school ground.
Timex
4326
How do you know that woman wasn’t a terrorist, and he foiled her plans before she could put them in action?
YOU DON’T. THAT MAN IS A HERO.
