I see your argument and I can't say I disagree completely. However, you're assuming that every CCW holder is an honest citizen who's well trained and means no harm. Well guess what, the shooter in question was one of them until just prior to his death. He had a permit and no prior criminal history. He just didn't take his pills and got angry. Even people who don't take pills can get angry and do something they will regret. When bullets are flying there's always going to be some confusion and little time to think. I remember reading about the Utah mall shooting. The off-duty cop who was confronting the shooter had to yell several times to the approaching cops that he's one of them because they couldn't hear him or didn't believe him. Imagine several people confronting the shooter and the chaos that would result. Also there's no guarantee that a "CCW citizen" sitting next to you would have the time to pull out his gun or the desire to use it. He might chicken out and try to flee like everyone else or get killed.

Arming everyone is definitely not a panacea. I'd say it's more of a double-edged sword. Some of the most heavily-armed societies are also the most violent. Africa and Iraq come to mind. I think what we need to address is the root of the problem. Why does this crap happen more often in this country than most other countries? Could it be that in this country too many people feel self-righteous, isolated, under severe pressure and/or hopeless with nothing to lose? There's definitely something wrong with too many people in this country.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL