Concealed Carry Stops Mass Shooting in Church

[NugginFutz]

Not everyone has it in them to kill.

Exactly, which is why people should understand why being "armed" does not equate to being "safe from harm". If you aren't prepared to take a life and face a jury of your peers, don't carry a firearm.

Not everyone has the mindset of a predator and the first victim might have been in denial, or was hoping it was all a dream that someone else near him would help sort out.

I can't get into the mindset of the deceased, but I can attest to the "surreal" factor coming into play during traumatic events. In my own case, I vividly remember a sense of detachment while hurtling through the air at 60 mph. That is, until I went tumbling down the hillside. End of feeling detachment, begin feeling pain.

Or perhaps he was just a bit slower than others in working up the mindset to kill. Sure, they knew something was not right with this stranger but it's usually solved with quietly escorting them outside.

I know several people who either have LE backgrounds or are involved in protective services. Where the subject has come up, about half indicated that the moment they had a perp in their front sight and the shot was about to break, they were still processing ways to avoid the need to fire that shot.

When the gun comes out we are talking only seconds. The perp had the mental and physical advantage and the first victim had probably never fired his handgun from the sitting position. Plus, we're all evaluating this from the benefit of hindsight. We know this guy is a murderer from the start of the video. At the time they didn't.

He had the drop on everyone and used it until they stopped him; it was all over in less than 5 seconds. He was fast and the congregation were fast.

Exactly - Defenders #1 & #2 saw it unfold but were in reaction mode - the gunman already had won the encounter before the first shot simply by having the drop on them. Virtually everyone else was reacting to the events which, first, needed analysis and, second, needed physical response time. Given the time from the first shot to the last, I'd say the security team did exceptionally well.

Unfortunately two innocent people are dead and that sobers me knowing what can happen when you are bound to react.

This goes back to what others have said; "Training is key to success in such situations." In my mind, you need to know when it really is time to shoot as early as possible and commit. It could very well mean the difference between life and death.