General Discussion

ehrnst

(32,640 posts) Wed Dec 19, 2012, 09:26 AM Dec 2012

A reminder from the Giffords shooting about why guns in well meaning civilian hands could be deadly

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2011/01/friendly_firearms.html

"I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready," he explained on Fox and Friends. "I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this." Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. "And that's who I at first thought was the shooter," Zamudio recalled. "I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!' "

But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter. "Had you shot that guy, it would have been a big, fat mess," the interviewer pointed out.

Zamudio agreed:

I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds. Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. … I was really lucky."

6 replies

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A reminder from the Giffords shooting about why guns in well meaning civilian hands could be deadly (Original Post) ehrnst Dec 2012 OP

Shattered his white-hat Bam-Bam fantasy all to hell Care Acutely Dec 2012 #1

I was told in self defense class that often a gun stops a person thinking from their wrist up. ehrnst Dec 2012 #5

Wow so a concealed carrier did exactly what the police would do justanidea Dec 2012 #2

He was lucky. He did not have the training to make the decisions. ehrnst Dec 2012 #3

So your aversion to law enforcement would prevent you from calling 911, then. (nt) ehrnst Dec 2012 #4

K & R Care Acutely Dec 2012 #6

Care Acutely

(1,370 posts)

1. Shattered his white-hat Bam-Bam fantasy all to hell

Reply to ehrnst (Original post)

Wed Dec 19, 2012, 09:31 AM

Dec 2012

He knows he almost killed an innocent human being. He almost killed a real hero.

ehrnst

(32,640 posts)

5. I was told in self defense class that often a gun stops a person thinking from their wrist up.

Reply to Care Acutely (Reply #1)

Wed Dec 19, 2012, 10:58 AM

Dec 2012

And you can use that to your advantage in a hostage situation.

The 'confidence' holding a gun gives you often clouds judgement in an untrained person.

justanidea

(291 posts)

2. Wow so a concealed carrier did exactly what the police would do

Reply to ehrnst (Original post)

Wed Dec 19, 2012, 09:53 AM

Dec 2012

Be ready and assess the situation before taking any serious deadly action.

Actually on second thought, he didn't do what the police would have done. The police wouldn't have yelled "Drop it" they would have just shot the guy. Then they would have found out where he lives and shot his dog.