Good Guys and Guns

Just in case there’s anyone left who hasn’t heard, there was a shooting in a hospital last Friday. A mentally ill patient brought his legally-owned gun into his psychiatrist’s office, where he proceeded to shoot and kill his case worker. He then pointed the gun at the doctor, who ducked behind a chair, drew his own legally-owned, concealed-carry pistol, and proceeded to shoot the patient in the arm and torso, disabling him and preventing him from utilizing the rest of his ammo (approximately 40 bullets total). Official comment was swift and relatively unanimous: Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that “without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives.” “Without that firearm, this guy [the patient] could have went [sic] out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition,” the chief said. Wow. There it is. Can’t argue that at that specific time, in that specific place, in those specific circumstances, a guy with a gun he wasn’t supposed to have (per hospital policy) shot an armed individual who had already killed, preventing him from killing more people. No, the first guy should never have had the gun. No argument there. And as it turns out, at this particular time and place, the doctor’s actions were appropriate. (The word “heroic” has been used; I do not disagree.) I can hear it now; all the 2A fundamentalists gleefully preparing to jump me: “See! How can you...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Politics Source Type: blogs