Dakota Beacon

On a Sunday in November, 2017, shortly after the beginning of the 11:00 service at a small Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a man entered, dressed in black, armed with a rifle.  He began to fire at the worshippers. For eleven minutes the helpless, innocent men, women and children were peppered with bullets. At some point, when the killer emerged from the church a neighbor shot and wounded him. A car chase followed and the gunman rolled over. He died in the crash, the cause not certain.  

Twenty-six innocent people died.  One grandmother lost a daughter-in-law and five grandchildren, with one seriously wounded.  One woman and her unborn baby were killed. A brother and sister lost both of their parents - their father was a guest preacher that fateful day.  The dead ranged in age from the baby to 72 years. Twenty-three were found dead inside the church. Two died outside and one died later in the hospital.  Others were wounded. The horror of a man firing uninterrupted at unarmed people for eleven long minutes is almost unimaginable. No motive was determined for this carnage.

Last Sunday, December 29, shortly after the beginning of service, at the Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, a man entered, in disguise, armed with a shotgun.  He began to fire at the worshippers. Within seconds five or six members of the congregation whipped out their handguns. Only one shot was fired in return, by a church security official, Jack Wilson.  With cool expertise, Wilson shot the gunman in the head and killed him. Tragically, before he could get his shot off, two innocent people were killed by the attacker. Families lost dads; friends and neighbors will mourn them.  Two is too many to die this way. But the attack ended within seconds.  

How can anyone say that it isn’t a really good idea to carry a gun to church?  The only reason that there weren’t many times the casualties is because good people were armed.  Had Wilson missed, one of the other armed citizens there would have stopped him with a bullet. The killer in White Settlement didn’t stand a chance.  In the wake of this traumatic and tragic event, there are those who unbelievably are calling for the disarmament of honest, peaceful citizens, depriving them of the basic natural right to self-defense, a right repeated in our Constitution.  

No decent person wants to kill another.  Wilson surely didn’t go to church that day wanting to kill anyone.  But thank God he was there and that others were there as backup. Two people are dead, friends of Wilson, friends of others there, but everyone isn’t dead who was there.  Some innocent person will almost certainly be killed in such an event because we can’t read minds and even if we could, we are not justified in shooting before someone attacks or threatens to attack.  Wilson reacted immediately, accurately and appropriately. The others who drew their guns, we should note, did not fire. There was no need and no desire to fire. Had there been the need they would have.  People who carry should and probably do, practice at firing ranges. They save lives, innocent lives, children’s lives, lives of mothers and dads, of elderly grandparents.  

When you hear reference to the Second Amendment, or to Concealed or “Constitutional” Carry laws, think of the people of White Settlement, of Sutherland Springs, think of the people in your church or synagogue.  (Given the current climate, it would be very well for synagogues to be sure that someone is armed.) Think also of the children in your local school, think of people out for a hockey game or a movie or concert. Instead of trying to grab guns or discourage Americans from exercising their rights to self-protection, we should make gun training part of growing up.  High school students should be learning how to safely carry and handle arms.  

Our Second Amendment wasn’t written for the Jack Wilsons of our communities.  Nor was it written for hunters or sportsmen. It was, in fact, written to provide for self-protection of people on our frontier and especially to prevent the abuses of a tyrannical government.  That it also provides for the protection of people in schools, churches, malls, parks and events is just a lucky side benefit. Following the horrific shooting at Parkland, Florida, a panel was assembled to consider how best to prevent a future event of that kind.  Most of us expected another recommendation for stripping citizens of their lawful guns. Instead, the panel, honestly and earnestly seeking ways to protect children in their charge, recommended that school teachers and administrators should be armed.  

There is nothing “bad” about our right to carry guns.  It would be impossible to count the number of lives that have been saved because someone with a gun stopped a shooter.  It has happened often. There is no way to assess the potential loss of life had such an armed citizen not been there. We should hope that if nothing else, this event last Sunday in a small Texas town will prompt others to prepare themselves to save their lives and the lives of others by getting a gun and learning how to safely use it.  Instead of little placards assuring would-be killers that a public place such as a church, a school, a theater or a mall is a “gun-free zone”, we should see large signs proclaiming that the people inside are most likely armed to the teeth. I know I would feel safer going into such a place. And when the gun-grabbers pipe up, idiots like Beto O’Rourke, for one, calling for gun bans, politely tell them to stuff themselves.  Instead of passing laws to subvert the Constitution we should encourage proliferation of firing ranges and gun training.  We are Americans.  We don't need to allow crazy people to slaughter us.

It has been observed before (by myself, for one) that it doesn’t matter after the smoke clears, what the motive was or what the mindset of the killer was, what his life story might have been.  In fact, I couldn’t care less. It will be different each time. Knowing what made the killer in Sutherland Springs, who killed 26 people, would not have prevented the attempted massacre in White Settlement.  It would have been a monumental waste of time. Each person in the universe is unique. Each has a story. Trying to know or understand them is futile if the goal is to save innocent lives. Better to look at what made it possible for the person to succeed in acting out his dastardly plan.  Make that impossible. Take away the advantage he might perceive. Let him know it won’t happen “here”. Post the sign telling him that everyone is likely to be carrying. No one can expect to make the kind of headline these people seek by blowing away one or two unarmed people. It avails us nothing - nothing - to search for motives.  The answer is to make the climate impossible for someone to succeed. 

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