Courage and selflessness...would that Americans as individuals had more of those qualities.

[usmbguest5318]

Everyone here likely is, by now, aware of what happened in Sunderland, TX. In perusing the Internet to see what various outlets are reporting about it, I came upon the following information:

Authorities revealed that a heroic and unidentified citizen in the church 'grabbed his rifle and confronted the suspect,' who was armed with a 'Ruger AR assault type rifle.'​

I don't know a thing about the citizen who did that, but whoever s/he is, I commend him/her for showing that one does not need a gun to deal with a gunman. What one needs is courage and selflessness.

In listening to gun rights advocates, I hear a lot of rhetoric about defending oneself, but I hear nothing about either of those traits. I hear people present the "bringing a knife to a gunfight" saw. And yet, one citizen in TX brought only his/her bare hands and quick thinking, which deterred the gunman from continuing to shoot. How many people would be alive now were the gunman to have been among the people whom tighter gun acquisition laws prevented from obtaining one? I don't know, but I think it safe to say it'd be fewer than 26.

 

[Compost]

People who are courageous and selfless tend not to brag about it.

 

[OKTexas]

Seems I once suggested that the best way to deal with a shooter in a closed area, was to bum rush them and take them down and got nothing but laughs from most on this board. These shooters expect passiveness and fear, it they are shown aggression, it wouldn't be hard to stop them. The next best thing is allow people with concealed carry licenses to carry anywhere.


.

 

[usmbguest5318]

I should point out that while the OP uses the matter of the shooting in TX as it's initial example, shootings and literal life and death situations aren't the only ones whereby the lack of courage and selflessness are manifest. For example, I learned that yet another man has shared that Kevin Spacey had an ongoing sexual relationship with him when Spacey was 24 and the man was 14. And what has the man said about it that shows his selfishness and timidity?

“I have worked really hard to have a nice life and feel safe, and I’m not giving that up for him. I don’t want them to be able to find their way back to me.” The man is now a 48-year-old artist living on the East Coast with a long-term partner, and he wishes to remain anonymous. (Source)​

Clearly the man doesn't realize that his stepping forward is for neither his nor Spacey's benefit, but rather for the benefit of others: It's for the benefit of organizations and individuals who can emplace controls, be they formal or informal, that reduce and deter the incidence of sexual abuse of minors. They need to know that it's happening and the nature of the circumstances that facilitate it happening because that about which one does not fully understand the nature, extent and timing of its occurrence is that about which one can do nothing.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "It's the end times...

... Bible says men gonna be more an' more self-centered...

... an' only out fer demselves...

... an' more violent an' hopped up on drugs.