Update: On my previous post, I had written that even if I had been in that crowd with a concealed pistol that I would not be sure if I would have made a definitive difference in stopping James Holmes:
Some were insistent that if someone had been carrying (open or concealed) in that theater, some of those that died or were hurt could have been saved. I was the only dissenter in that if you looked at the environment and looked at how the shooter, James Holmes, had equipped himself, it would be unclear. A dark theater, a deranged shooter who was in rapid fire mode wearing complete body armor (ballistic helmet, body armor including throat and groin protection) who also had thrown two “grenades” that emitted a noxious gas that affected breathing and sight (not sure exactly what as I haven’t seen or heard the details, but it could have been tear gas or pepper spray cannisters – or something homebrewed). Mass confusion – people screaming, moving to get out; unless someone was a trained SWAT or Spec Ops operator used to working and reacting PROPERLY in such a situation, I’m not convinced if a single person would have been able to make a difference.
Oh sure, as a distraction I might have made a bit of a difference: somebody firing back would have given him something to think about, allowing others to escape. But to stop him? At the time I wrote that, I didn’t think so. But then I read this from Clayton Cramer‘s blog:
TacticalGear.com filled an order received on July 2 from Holmes, who allegedly opened fire inside an Aurora, Colo., theater on Friday, killing 12 people. Holmes paid $306.79 for an urban assault vest, two magazine pouches and a tactical knife.
Chief Executive Officer Chad Weinman said despite its name, the urban assault vest is not bulletproof, but is simply a vest made for carrying accessories.
Get that? James Holmes was not wearing full body armor – initial reports seem to be wrong (as always). Here’s a link to the tactical vests they have to offer – they HOLD things, not block rounds. This means that IF the theater was NOT a self-proclaimed “gun-free” zone, IF some CCW holders had been carrying their firearms, they very well could have made a difference in the result.
Heck, I could have made a difference. You never know, however, how one would react given actually being in such a scenario. I hope that I would be counted as one of the Sheepdogs. Sheepdog? Yes. From Eject, Eject, Eject (the blog that Bill Whittle did before joining PJ Media et al), here is part of one of my all time favorite posts that forever made me cognizant of being self-responsible and being responsible for others :
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” Or, as a sign in one California law enforcement agency put it, “We intimidate those who intimidate others.”
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath–a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
We here at the ‘Grok are sheepdogs of a sort – we try to protect our foundational beliefs and all those that believe in them as well – with ideas and arguments rather than with physical objects. But in a real world scenario, I would hope that I would not be a “sheep in denial”.
