Liberal Press Is Silent as Yet Another Armed Civilian Saves the Day

Over the last few days, Americans have witnessed two attacks that ended very differently.A stabbing at a Michigan Walmart on July 26 was stopped by an armed man, a Marine veteran, who went to the shooting range but “forgot to take his pistol off his hip.” The New York Times, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, NPR, NBC News, the BBC, and many others completely ignored the gun used to stop the attack. Yet an eyewitness described how others who had tried to stop the attacker were stabbed, but it took the Marine with a gun to stop the attack. The attack was stopped several minutes before the first responders were able to arrive. One thought is that this hero might get some coverage in the legacy press simply because he is Black and the attacker is white.This case was far from unusual. Between January 2021 and December 2024, concealed handgun permit holders stopped 37 attacks that police said would have turned into mass public shootings if not for their intervention. Yet they rarely get national news attention.Defendant Bradford Gille, accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart on July 26, 2025, at Traverse City, Michigan. Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office via APUnfortunately, after Monday’s attack at New York City, Democrats drew the wrong conclusion. Governor Hochul, a Democrat, responded by calling for a federal assault weapons ban and blaming the tragedy on the absence of such a law.Their gun control laws ensure that there won’t be any armed civilians there to save the day. The murderer who killed four people broke numerous gun control laws — he openly carried a rifle that was already illegal to possess or carry in the state. New York state and New York City prohibit open carry of loaded long guns in public and ban so-called assault weapons, such as the AR–15-style rifle. Even concealed carry permits do not authorize openly carrying a rifle in public. Meanwhile, the law-abiding victims were defenseless, disarmed by the city’s strict regulations. There are currently only about 6,000 active concealed handgun permits in a city with almost 7 million adults, so less than 1 percent of adults. And carrying a permitted concealed handgun is extremely difficult, as there is a very long list of places where you are banned from carrying (e.g., public transportation such as subways, any places that serve alcohol, Times Square, government buildings and educational facilities, and public gatherings). The total costs for getting the permit run about $770, for fees to the New York Police Department and the required course.A ‘Gun Free Zone’ sign at Times Square. AP/Yuki IwamuraThe problem is simple: Someone intent on murdering four people won’t be deterred by extra gun control penalties. Even if the killer had survived, he would have already been facing four life sentences, which makes adding a few more years meaningless. For attackers who expect to die during the assault — as most mass public shooters do — those laws carry no weight at all.Yet for law-abiding citizens, the consequences are severe. Violating these laws could turn them into felons and upend their entire lives. The laws meant to stop criminals end up disarming the innocent instead.These murderers take advantage of the laws that ensure they will be the only ones with weapons. Again and again, diaries and manifestos of mass public shooters show a disturbing pattern: They deliberately choose locations where they know their victims can’t fight back due to restrictive gun laws. While it remains unknown whether this particular killer made such a calculation, his actions align with a pattern we’ve seen repeatedly in other cases. It isn’t too surprising that 92 percent of mass public shootings occur in places where guns are banned.Two of the four people murdered in the New York City attack were security guards, but people don’t appreciate what an extremely difficult job uniformed police have in stopping these active shooting attacks. “A deputy in uniform has a difficult job in stopping these attacks,” Sheriff Kurt Hoffman of Sarasota County, Florida, said. A New York police officer stands watch on 52nd Street outside a Manhattan office building where at four people were shot, including a police officer, July 28, 2025, at New York. AP/Angelina KatsanisHe added: “These terrorists have strategic advantages in determining the time and place of attacks. They can wait for a deputy to leave the area or pick an undefended location. Even when police or deputies are in the right place at the right time, those in uniform who can be readily identified as guards may as well be holding up neon signs saying, ‘Shoot me first.’ My deputies know that we cannot be everywhere.”Indeed, even though civilians stop more of these active shooting attacks, 19 police officers were killed in these attacks versus two civilians with permitted concealed handguns. And surveys of academics who have published peer-reviewed empirical research on firearms show that criminologists and economists strongly support letting people carry concealed handguns in order to stop mass public shootings.While politicians rush to call for new laws after each tragedy, they often ignore the basic reality that killers intent on murder are attracted to attack in places with strict gun control. Instead, those laws disarm only the potential victims, leaving them vulnerable and defenseless.This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

Liberal Press Is Silent as Yet Another Armed Civilian Saves the Day

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