The week of May 22, 2022, there were two mass firearm assaults. One in Uvalde, Texas I am sure you are all aware of – 19 children and 2 adults dead. The second, Charleston, West Virginia, you would probably never have heard of except for this editorial.
It was far less noticeable because no one died, and that is precisely why they deserve comparison.
In both incidents, there was one gunman. Both gunmen chose the same weapon for their attack: an AR-15. Both gunmen are dead. One occurred outside, the other occurred inside, though in some regards it might as well have been outside, for many of the barriers were unlocked, or even open. The Texas gunman obtained his firearm legally. The West Virginia gunman obtained his firearm illegally. In Texas, the police arrived about 12 minutes into the incident and organized their response as the events played out. In West Virginia, the police arrived after the incident was over. The biggest difference was that in West Virginia there was an armed partygoer.
The party was a birthday and graduation party going on at an apartment complex attended by dozens of people. The gunman sped through the parking lot, and someone asked him to slow down because there were children around. He left and returned with his firearm, exited his vehicle, and opened fire on the partygoers. He didn’t count on one woman at the party being armed with a pistol. She shot and killed the gunman before anyone else was killed.
It is important to note here that the West Virginia gunman obtained his firearm illegally. He was a convicted felon. Laws do not, and never will stop crime. Laws only determine the penalty imposed on those convicted of committing crimes. Generally, the police do not prevent crime either, they arrive on the scene after the crime has begun, or been completed. Their job description is to investigate the crime and provide the evidence necessary to convict the criminal. Before the turn of the century (when there was an “assault weapons” ban) I was told by a person associated with a biker gang that, “It is faster, and easier, to get a gun illegally than legally. More expensive, but faster and easier.” I can put that in quotes because it burned into my brain at the time.
The only remedy to the mass firearm assaults is an armed citizenry. The schools must be reasonably hardened: one way in, many ways out, locked from the inside. The system must be verified multiple times per day. In some situations, it will be advisable to have the school guarded around the clock During the day, there must be multiple people inside armed and trained to deal with an assault on the school.
History has shown that “gun-free zones” have been, the preferred target (for example theatres and schools). This is because the gunman knows that armed resistance is less likely. Here’s a secret, outlaws don’t obey the law. Gun-free zones don’t stop the gunman. Anyone willing to die during, or as a consequence of, the assault won’t be deterred by the threat of a jail sentence. Gun-free zones only stop the person who might stop the assault. Gun-free zones ought to be eliminated, but must be made financially liable for anyone killed or injured by any assault that occurs within them. This must be the case whether the assault is committed using a firearm, knife, baseball bat, or any other tool. When schools are no longer attractive targets, the armed citizenry will be even more important because the targets will be even less predictable. Those that survive a mass firearm assault will likely do so because someone was there that was armed.
