Where’s The Coverage Of Heroes Who Stop Mass Killings?

By Dr. John R. Lott Jr.
This article was originally published by Fox News.

Colorado –-(Ammoland.com)- Heroic citizens stopping someone from killing a large number of people don’t seem to be considered news worthy.

Don’t people want to read about a brave soul risking his life by running towards the sound of gunfire while others run away?  Yet, such stories never get national news coverage by the national mainstream media.

While accidental gunshots get national coverage, few people have any idea how often concealed handgun permit holders stopping mass killings.

The lack of news coverage allows left wing media outlets, such as Mother Jones which should know better, to falsely claim: “In not a single case was [a mass public shooting] stopped by a civilian using a gun.”

The truth is that the more successful these heroes are in preventing people from getting killed, the less media coverage they receive, but the lack of fatalities doesn’t explain the lack of news coverage.  And if the heroes hadn’t been there, the attacks would have been successful and the national mainstream media would have been talking about the attack for days.

While accidental gunshots get national coverage, few people have any idea how often concealed handgun permit holders stopping mass killings.

Let’s look at some of the recent cases that should have gotten some national attention.

• New Holland, South Carolina: Earlier this month a man started firing a gun and threatened to shoot into a “crowded fire station parking lot full of children and firefighters.”  Fortunately, two volunteer firemen at the scene drew their permitted concealed handguns to stop the attack.  They forced the gunman to put down his rifle without them having to fire a shot.
• Chicago, Illinois:  More than three weeks ago, on a Friday night, an Uber driver stopped a man who opened fire into a group of people on a Logan Square busy sidewalk.  According to Assistant State’s Attorney Barry Quinn, the Uber driver, who had a permitted concealed handgun, “was acting in self-defense and in the defense of others.”
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: In March, NBC Channel 10 described how “Police say a man likely saved the lives of several people when he shot and killed a gunman inside a West Philadelphia barbershop.”  As luck would have it a concealed handgun permit holder was walking by the barbershop when the attack started.
• Chicago, Illinois:  Last year, gang members were angered when a woman removed a cup of liquor that one of the gang members had placed on top of her car.  The gang members opened fire on four people who had just left a party.  But luckily one of the four was in the military and who had a permitted concealed handgun.  That permit holder was able to wound one of the gang members and allow his friends to escape.
• Darby, Pennsylvania: outside Philadelphia in July 2014, a convicted felon, Richard Plotts, opened fire in a hospital, killing a caseworker.  Fortunately, a psychiatrist, Lee Silverman, had his own gun and returned fire, hitting Plotts three times and critically wounding him.  After Plotts was killed, he still had 39 bullets on him, bullets that he could have used to shoot many other people.

Other recent cases involve permit holders stopping shootings in malls, churches, stores, down city streets, and outside courthouses.  Permit holders have stopped knife attacks as well as attacks with guns and bombs.  They have saved police officers lives in these attacks…

Read the rest here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/05/22/wheres-coverage-heroes-who-stop-mass-killings.html

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