Jeff Stahler for September 20, 2013

That has got to be the silliest single thing I have ever read you post on this site. Which given your propensity for bombastic nonsensical utterances is saying a lot.

“Bet then he wished some patron possessed a gun to “save” his own butt.”Even most police officers and armed security personnel would not have time to react under those circumstances.

To a gunman intent only on killing (not robbing), anyone else with a gun is a threat, and therefore the first target. They will have full control of the situation, and will e able to react to a concealed carry gun owner as he or she tries to draw. A live fire situation is both frightening and disorientating, Let’s say there are several “good guys with guns” available. If everyone is sitting minding their own business, most will only hear the first shots, not see who is shooting. This means that if someone can draw and fire back (adding more bullets into the crowd, as most people defending themselves will empty the magazine), the third person has a 50% chance of firing on the wrong person. More bullets means more casualties. The military calls it friendly fire, and it happens all the time in combat among veteran soldiers. Armed civilians are even more susceptible to panicking when fired upon. Nothing will protect you (except perhaps some body armour) from the truly deranged who want to kill a large amount of people in a small area. The key is keeping the guns away from them in the first place. If tis means passing Obamacare so that every American can have their mental health history entered into a database to be accessed during a gun sale, perhaps that is what the NRA should support, if they truly care about the safety of the American people.

“What does that have to do with open carry and those that open carry being harassed and turned away?”There is a guy who used to open carry in my town. I outweigh him by at least 60 pounds (I’m not fat, just taller and stronger). While we were both at the 7-11, I asked him about his gun, and then asked him what was stopping me from hitting him from behind and taking it from him to rob the store or shoot everyone (I know the owner an cashier personally, so nobody called the cops). The next time I ran into him, he had no gun, so I asked him where it was. He said I scared the Hell out of him, so he suddenly felt safer without it.That is the point. Bringing a gun into any place does not make it safer. If I want to hurt people, yes I can use a knife, a pipe, a display of candy bars, but seeing an available gun is a prime opportunity. It also has to do with the friendly fire situation. Less bullets in the air = less deaths. It’s easier to dodge one shooter than 2, 3, 4 or more.

Simple history lesson; IF the “armed citizen” with a concealed weapon can stop an armed attacker, explain how a shooter can go into a coffee shop, shoot and kill four ARMED POLICE OFFICERS, and walk away?

Actually, taking that coffee with him, and holding it between his legs as he drives, then spilling it, may be as deadly as carrying a gun!! Four THOUSAND pounds of steel can be just as deadly as four pounds.

“well if someone wants to rob or even kill sees a gun in a holster, they are less likely to act.”And as I said before,I would see my first target, or another available weapon.

Obviously a Wall Street banker… He’s robbing the customers not the corporation….

…The NFL’s weapon of choice is the football helmet.Of course,theNFL player’s helmet doesn’t hurt other players,the NFL player using the helmet hurts the other player…

..but that being said,the NFL is trying to eliminate helmet injuries.They are not trying to get rid of the helmets,just trying to eliminate the injuries…

…I think-ultimately-that the NRA will see the light just like the NFL and try to do the same.As it is,the NRA by taking the stance that it is taking,is basically saying that without the person on people gun violence they could not/would not be able to sell as many guns as they do now.

…As a pro~gun person,I find this lack of faith by the NRA in it’s own product very disturbing.It is as the NRA is actually endorsing crime because if they don’t business will go down.

“Doesn’t take most; only takes one.”That the best response you can come up with?

Sorry, it does not, the odds are against it.

Well, the cartoon gave me a chuckle, but a number of the comments were truly hilarious.

First, no matter how much you may deride the idea, armed citizens HAVE stopped mass shootings. As they say, “you could look it up’”

Mut just to set the record straight, Stahler, just offhand, can you cite even one instance, anywhere in America, at any time, where a citizen who was legally and openly carrying a firearm in a Starbucks has EVER drawn the weapon and pointed it other customers?

How about all you other commentators?