Doctor stops potential mass shooting by shooting the shooter

[krazen1211]

What a great and heroic action. Bad guy with gun enters gun free zone with gun. Good guy with gun shoots bad guy with gun. Problem solved!

Link

The patient who opened fire on a caseworker and psychiatrist in a small office at a unit of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Delaware County would likely have shot more people if the doctor hadn't shot him, a prosecutor said Friday.

Richard Plotts, 49, of Upper Darby Township, was carrying a loaded revolver and 39 more bullets when he arrived for the meeting at the medical center campus Thursday, authorities said. Plotts allegedly got off enough shots to kill the caseworker, Theresa Hunt, and wound psychiatrist Lee Silverman before Silverman drew his own weapon and shot Plotts three times.

But "if Dr. Silverman did not have the firearm, and did not utilize the firearm, he'd be dead today," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said said. "And other people would be dead today."

Silverman has a license to carry a concealed weapon, Whelan said,

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Massive FF.

[Miles]

Ok...there are a lot of good people that own guns, I like to include myself in that category.

[GaussLaw]

FF.


Gun free zone equals Open Criminal Zone if you ask me.

I am kind of mad at my governor Jay Nixon for vetoing concealed carry for teachers in Missouri.  I think all teachers should be allowed to carry guns to defend the children in the school.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

FF.


Gun free zone equals Open Criminal Zone if you ask me.

I am kind of mad at my governor Jay Nixon for vetoing concealed carry for teachers in Missouri.  I think all teachers should be allowed to carry guns to defend the children in the school.

Welcome to the small club here on the Atlas, Gauss. 

[CatoMinor]

FF

[Spamage]

Massive FF.

[dead0man]

chorus joined

[IceSpear]

I've actually been to that hospital a few times, it's only a 15 minute drive from here. Props to the doctor.

[Person Man]

Guns definitely help people out when the police can't make it in time or are not held in high regard locally.

[Franzl]

I can also agree with the chorus that this man is an FF.

But for those that might be tempted to use this as a political argument (often while coming up with all sorts of crackpot reasons why it's immoral, dishonest, whatever the other way around in other cases), spare us the BS. For every example of guns helping you get 10 or more examples to the contrary.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I can also agree with the chorus that this man is an FF.

But for those that might be tempted to use this as a political argument (often while coming up with all sorts of crackpot reasons why it's immoral, dishonest, whatever the other way around in other cases), spare us the BS. For every example of guns helping you get 10 or more examples to the contrary.

This.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

So we have our wonder good gun story for this week.  In the meantime, multiple stories such as the one below will get only local coverage because unlike the story in the OP, they are too common to be unusual:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Doesn't the fact that good uses of guns are remarkable enough to be national news suggest something?

Also, it looks like this case is also an example of our dysfunctional, overworked, underfunded mental health system.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I can also agree with the chorus that this man is an FF.

But for those that might be tempted to use this as a political argument (often while coming up with all sorts of crackpot reasons why it's immoral, dishonest, whatever the other way around in other cases), spare us the BS. For every example of guns helping you get 10 or more examples to the contrary.

Hear, hear.

[AggregateDemand]

I can also agree with the chorus that this man is an FF.

But for those that might be tempted to use this as a political argument (often while coming up with all sorts of crackpot reasons why it's immoral, dishonest, whatever the other way around in other cases), spare us the BS. For every example of guns helping you get 10 or more examples to the contrary.

That's because it is impossible to measure all of the crimes that don't happen due to gun owners.

Furthermore, about half of all violent crime is perpetrated by organized narcotic crime and gangs. There is no reason for Americans to live like criminals because the Feds can't fix our gang/drug problems.

[krazen1211]

So we have our wonder good gun story for this week.  In the meantime, multiple stories such as this one will get only local coverage because unlike this story, they are too common to be unusual:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Doesn't the fact that good uses of guns are remarkable enough to be national news suggest something?

Also, it looks like this case is also an example of our dysfunctional, overworked, underfunded mental health system.

It suggests that some people in south carolina have a strange definition of remarkable and national news.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

You seriously think that story that I linked will get any national press, krazey?  Granted, you likely could read a similar story in your local paper that happened locally at least once this week, but why would teens shoot two dead in Richland County in a suspected drug deal gone bad get any coverage in Pennsylvania?  You have your own shootings to read about.  But in reading over my post I will give you one benefit of the doubt.  My pronoun usage was a little unclear if one fails to make use of context, so I'll go clear that up so that it isn't susceptible to intentional misreading.

Furthermore, about half of all violent crime is perpetrated by organized narcotic crime and gangs. There is no reason for Americans to live like criminals because the Feds can't fix our gang/drug problems.

So you agree that we need to decriminalize drug use?  Because it'll be that and not arming every law-abiding citizen that would be needed to end drug violence.

[Flake]

Good for this guy, at least we have one story where the good guy wins. Too bad we have hundreds of stories where the bad guy wins.

[ElectionsGuy]

Massive FF.

[AggregateDemand]

So you agree that we need to decriminalize drug use?  Because it'll be that and not arming every law-abiding citizen that would be needed to end drug violence.

Yeah, decriminalizing drug use would be preferable to AR-15's at Chipotle. But the far-right gun culture will never lose steam until the Feds stop manipulating national gun laws to get at local criminals who openly flout our existing laws. 

[krazen1211]

You seriously think that story that I linked will get any national press, krazey?  Granted, you likely could read a similar story in your local paper that happened locally at least once this week, but why would teens shoot two dead in Richland County in a suspected drug deal gone bad get any coverage in Pennsylvania?  You have your own shootings to read about.  But in reading over my post I will give you one benefit of the doubt.  My pronoun usage was a little unclear if one fails to make use of context, so I'll go clear that up so that it isn't susceptible to intentional misreading.

Bad people shooting bad people rarely gets much national coverage.

Of course, the peculiar part is the definition of philly.com as 'national news'. With at most some limited exceptions, the heroic actions of Mr. Silverman are at most covered by local news. Without this thread, how would some liberal in South Carolina or elsewhere ever hear the full story of a defensive shooting in suburban Philadelphia, or the testimony of local law enforcement that Mr. Silverman's heroic actions saved many lives?

Of course, they would not! A mass shooting prevented by a heroic good samaritan gets much less coverage than a mass shooting enabled by gun grabbing liberals.

[tik 🪀✨]

I don't feel like several people being shot is something to celebrate even if the alternative is more people getting shot.

[Deus Naturae]

I can also agree with the chorus that this man is an FF.

But for those that might be tempted to use this as a political argument (often while coming up with all sorts of crackpot reasons why it's immoral, dishonest, whatever the other way around in other cases), spare us the BS. For every example of guns helping you get 10 or more examples to the contrary.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_High_School_shooting
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_School_of_Law_shooting
3. http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/armed-citizen/1996/the-chronicle,-muskegon,-mi,-82395.aspx?s=%22%27All+In!%27%22&st=&ps=
4. http://blutube.policeone.com/police-training-videos/935831023001-jeanne-assam-and-the-new-life-church-shooting/
5. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2911219/posts
6. http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=1446
7. http://theguntoter.com/citizen-stops-mass-slaying-at-golden-food-market/
8. http://www.ktxs.com/news/RV-PARK-KILLINGS-Witness-shooter-recounts-shootout-with-gunman-who-killed-two-in-Early/15933066
9. http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/armed-citizen/2014/homeowner-fights-off-burglar,-wrtv,-indianapolis,-ind-072214.aspx?s=&st=&ps=
10. http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/story/d/story/robbery/37544/QYol8e0JSU2jJyeFLtvZXQ

Many more examples can be found here: http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/armed-citizen.aspx

Please provide me with 10 counterexamples for every single story at that link, but start by giving 100 for every story I linked to.

[Deus Naturae]

Good for this guy, at least we have one story where the good guy wins. Too bad we have hundreds of stories where the bad guy wins.

The thing is, if anti-gun types had their way, all of the people whose lives were saved in the "good guy" stories would be dead, because their protectors were law-abiding citizens who wouldn't even possess firearms if they were banned. The same isn't necessarily true of every single "bad guy" incident, because criminals have no issue with disregarding the law.

[dead0man]

So we have our wonder good gun story for this week.  In the meantime, multiple stories such as the one below will get only local coverage because unlike the story in the OP, they are too common to be unusual:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Doesn't the fact that good uses of guns are remarkable enough to be national news suggest something?

I read stories at least weekly where a gun saves a person's life, most of them don't make the national news either.  This one made it because it was a doctor in a hospital during the day.