Lauren Hogg, the sister of anti-gun activist David Hogg, turned a few heads with her argument explaining why a “good guy with a gun” can’t stop a “bad guy with a gun.” According to her argument, trying to stop someone with a firearm with another firearm, would be like if firefighters fought fire with fire.
I’m tired of people saying, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.“
Fighting fire with fire never got anything done. It just burned everything down.
It is the same reason why we must never fight hate with hate. Only love can drive out hate.
— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) April 26, 2018
While Nickolas Cruz, the Parkland shooter, did surrender himself to authorities, most mass shooters commit suicide once confronted with armed resistance. I’m honestly confused at what Lauren is arguing. Once an armed madman enters a public area and begins shooting, the worst has already happened. How could someone trained with a firearm possibly make things worse? And do cops not count as “good guys with guns” according to Hogg?
Her tweet prompted a reply from Parkland survivor (and pro-gun activist) Kyle Kashuv, and many others.
Okay, so if someone comes at you with a gun make sure you offer them a hug. Let me know how it goes! https://t.co/XPBPH6xbs7
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) May 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/AdamBaldwin/status/991344170403950592
Well, you might as well give that a shot when you're protected by the Broward County sheriffs. @johncardillo @KyleKashuv https://t.co/QjcoEni3pz
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) May 1, 2018
Actually @lauren_hoggs, fighting fire with fire, i.e. controlled burns, is a common tactic used to prevent and stop wildfires.
Just go back to being a kid and leave this stuff to the adults. https://t.co/RO2duDKhWk
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) May 1, 2018
According to Stanford University Libraries’ dataset of mass shootings, there have been 153 cases where 3 or more individuals were killed by guns (and not as a result of gang violence), but many of those included family murders. 54 incidents fit what we think of as a “mass public shooting,” where someone picks targets at random.
Of those 54 incidents, the shooter chose locations where guns were banned 37 times (69 percent). Alternatively, the shooting occurred where guns were legally allowed only 17 times (31 percent). But here’s the key statistic:
Of the 17 shootings that occurred where citizens could legally carry firearms, 5 (29 percent) were ended when the gunman was stopped or slowed by a gun permit holder’s intervention.
In other words, when someone began shooting into an area where law-abiding gun owners could conceal carry, there was someone there with a concealed carry permit to fire back a third of the time.
While having an armed school resource officer at Stoneman Douglass High School proved ineffective because of the resource officer’s own incompetence, an armed teacher would’ve proved more effective. Football coach Aaron Feis, who had a concealed carry permit, threw himself on students to shield them from bullets as Cruz opened fire. Had he been allowed to carry on campus, he would’ve fired back.
As radical an idea as it sounds, it’s already more common than you’d think.
What do you think should be done to stop mass public shootings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
