The Hall of Amendment #1
Mark Wilson is a friend of mine who used to run an indoor shooting range in Tyler. He lived downtown in an upstairs apartment at the site of the shooting. I'm not surprised he engaged the guy but I'm a little surprised he was not trying headshots.
My girlfriend and I were eating lunch at the OTHER Don Juans about a mile down the street. I was carrying a Colt Diamondback with a really good trigger.
God Bless Mark. What a strange way to go.
A very sad story indeed. I have but two comments:
1. This nut used an AK-47, so brace for the usual cries from the gun grabbers.
2. Mass has CHL permit holders?
Ravenwood, this happened in Texas if that is what you meant in #2.
Robert,
"I'm not surprised he engaged the guy but I'm a little surprised he was not trying headshots."
He probably was. The AK-47 firing back at him probably threw off his aim a little, dontcha think?
Oh, and Ravenwood?
"Mass has CHL permit holders?
"
Yes, they do. They're rarer than hen's teeth, but they exist.
Just talked to the friend who is handling the details for Marks family. He said Mark was IN his apt, evidently heard shooting outside and grabbed his carry gun, a Glock 9mm, and went out the door. He said Mark had expected a shootout at the courthouse sooner or later.
Unknown which Glock 9mm, and unknown whether he shot dry. This friend said Mark went prone for cover, then was shot trying to evade the gunman when the gunman closed on his position behind the gunman's truck.
Witnesses say he had several hits on the gunmans torso, all absorbed by the body armor.
So, here's my Mark story:
Mark, after several years of trying to put a deal together, opens On Target, a state-of-the-art indoor shooting range here in town. We are all hot to shoot there, so he starts an evening pistol league. Every week, he sets up a different course of fire and you come pay money and shoot.
I had a buddy who owned a bunch of pretty good pistols, so I borrowed a Highpower and went out and shot for six weeks. Turns out I won the league.
There were several cops and serious pistol folks, CCL instructors, DEA, ATF guys in the league and they were taking this VERY seriously, so Mark starts the league up for the second round. I think I shot a Colt Python the second six weeks, and lo and behold, won again.
So, Mark didn't compete, but always fancied himself a pretty good shot, telling us several times that he always put them all in one hole, et, et. After the second win, he announced that anyone who wanted could have a one-target shoot-off, and anyone who could beat HIM would get a free box of ammo. I was down the other end of the line and turned to the guys next to me and said: "Mark's going to have at least one wild flyer in his target." The guys looked at me, and BOTH of them said, "make that a COUPLE of flyers."
So, Marks target came back in, and he shot well, but not spectacularly, but he did have about 4 shots in the white outside his silhouette. He was like: "You guys shot my target...right?" -and we were saying: "hey, no excuses here, no whining! Where's our ammo?"
Mark was a good enough sport to give everyone, about 20 folks, a free box of whatever they were shooting.
I made sure I did a lot of business out there after that and so did a couple of other folks. He was a good guy.
Sorry.. was thrown off by the headline, which clearly states this happened in Tyler Mass.
If only more people were willing to carry maybe we wouldn't get killed having to be the lone gunman. The worst of it isn't even the gun bigots, I've met several people who believe everybody should carry, and they still don't carry themselves. Firearms enthusiasts need to consolidate against this sort of hypocrisy and continue to actively get more new people out to the range.
Lucian,
that's a good point and a tactical consideration I've had rolling around in my head for years.
Of course, up here in the People's Cuddly Paradise of Canada, I can't go around properly armed anyway, but that doesn't mean I get to live in Condition White either.
After the shootings at Ecole Polytechnic in Montreal, I pondered my reaction to the 'lone gunman scenario'. In Montreal, the men (and I use the term loosely) in the classroom complacently walked out under the direction of the gunman Gamil Gharbi. They assumed that it was some sort of holdup and that someone would be waiting at the door to dutifully collect their wallets (like test papers I guess... talk about Pavlovian response).
I like to think that in the same situation I would 'go for it'. Even if I didn't get him, I figure I could at least provide a good distraction while somone ELSE did. It was only a Mini-14 so even if I took one for the team, modern medicine is pretty decent.
Then it occured to me. What if I made my move, drew his fire, took a hit, and my last sight in this life was the parade of sheep walking out the door to allow 14 women (and one very annoyed Jake) to be easily killed?
And that made me pause. If I knew... flat out certainly KNEW... that two or three other people would take the clue and act, then I wouldn't hesitate. But to die poinlessly for sheep. I honestly have to wonder if it's worth the trade.
So now I'm thinking... even if we (ok, you all) get more CCW's out there, it's also important that we 'freely associate' so that in the moment of truth there's an understanding that we WILL act.
Jake
(who would still go for it, but he'd be waiting for the punks at the Pearly Gates with a tire iron).
Jake: You're not taking one for the sheep, you're taking one because you're a sheepdog, and that's what sheepdog do.
Remember the old "Texas Mozambique" (two in the pelvis, one in the head).
Works every time. A broken pelvis = game over. The head shot is insurance.
Total bummer.
A bad day for the NoR, indeed.
Dallas paper says Mark was shooting a .45. Guy who is in charge of securing his apartment, a good friend of his, says it was a Glock 9mm.
Million Mom March spokesman managed to insult Texas Concealed Carry folks in the Dallas Morning News today.
Marsha McCartney, Dallas Chairman of the MMM:
"Concealed handgun carriers sometimes commit crimes and sometimes are heroes. Unfortunately, the hero part doesn't happen very often and what if he had hit a bystander while he was firing?"
Dallas Morning News, Feb 26, 2005.
Memorial service for Mark Wilson this Sunday afternnon on Tyler Fountain Plaza downtown at 1:30. Will send the Geek photos.
Drinks afterwards at Ricks on the Square, one of Marks favorite watering holes and hunting grounds.
What can the rest of us learn from this tragic event?
I salute Mark Wilson for his courage in running to the sound of the guns... but why didn't he grab a rifle or a shotgun instead of his handgun?
Think how this story would have ended if he had grabbed, say, an AR-15 (every patriotic American should own an AR-15 as their SHTF gun). The BG's vest wouldn't have stopped the rounds... and if it did a headshot would have been far easier. Or, think how several rounds of 00 buck would have made shredding the BG's legs, arms, and/or head a lot easier at the relatively short range that this gunfight occurred, or how a slug would have made hash of the BG's vest, or at least broken some ribs beneath it.
Above all, all of us who carry guns for self-defense need to remember that when the chips are down and Plan A isn't working, then go to Plan B... or Plan C... or Plan D. And we need to have alternatives already thought out, because once the bullets start flying there isn't a lot of time to think. If you shoot a BG in the body and he doesn't react, and you are forced to go to cover behind a vehicle... LOOK for other parts of his body to engage (feet, legs, etc.). This was the successful strategy used by LAPD SWAT during the North Hollywood bank robbery shootout--the good guys went down to avoid the bad guy's shooting, saw his legs and feet, and started pouring in rounds. Plan B (or C, or D) might be to run away, and although you can't outrun a rifle bullet you CAN outrun someone you just shot in the ankle, who might be more worried about his mangled foot and the massive pain caused by multiple broken bones than someone disappearing between cars a block away.
Again, this isn't to criticize Mark who was a very brave man. It is for the rest of us to THINK realistically about what it means to use a gun in defense of ourselves and others, to remember that guns (especially handguns) aren't the Hammer of Thor and that we need to CONSIDER what we do next when we put a few in the ten-ring and our opponent's only reaction is anger, and to have a plan, and a second plan to use when the first plan fails. Guns don't win gunfights, TACTICS win gunfights.
Never take a handgun to a gunfight if a rifle is available. A handgun is what we use to fight to get to our rifle. Never take your eyes off of your opponent--if you duck behind a car, get down to ground level so you can see his feet, see where he's heading, scoot around to keep the car between you and him, and shoot him in the feet if possible to eliminate his mobility. Never do at close range what you can do at long range, and remember that you don't have to get close enough to the bad guy to hit him with the gun, just close enough to hit him with the bullets. A gun (even a handgun) isn't a contact weapon.
Here's to you, Mark. You had the courage to try.
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