Skip to main content

A good guy without a gun

We've all heard and read the mantra of the National Rifle Association and their rabid supporters that says that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, the implication being that the good guy with a gun will shoot the bad guy with a gun. Crisis over.

 Not necessarily. James Shaw didn't have a gun when he rushed and disarmed a man with an AR 15 rifle who was shooting up the Waffle House in Nashville. The man had killed four people and seriously injured others. Who knows how many might have died if James Shaw hadn't had the courage to act?

 Maybe I've missed them but I haven't seen or heard any statements from the NRA or the usual suspects, including the tweeter-in-chief, lauding Shaw for his courageous action. Perhaps it's because once he got the gun away he didn't use it to shoot the attacker. Or maybe it's because he just doesn't fit the profile of the "heroes" in the fables they tell themselves. 

James Shaw, an ordinary man who "just wanted to live." (Image from The New York Times.)

Yes, sometimes what it takes to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with his bare hands. And courage.

Hat tip to Nick Anderson.


Labels:

Comments

  1. FavoredApril 24, 2018 at 11:53 AM

    Well done, Mrs. Dorothy!! Sharing this on my facebook page. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Judy KruegerApril 27, 2018 at 2:11 PM

    He who lives by the gun dies by the gun, mostly. The last place I would get my news from is anyone from the NRA. Good and necessary post Dorothy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersApril 27, 2018 at 3:43 PM

      I was simply amazed by Mr. Shaw's actions. I can't even imagine doing such a thing. Even more impressive is the fact that he started a GoFundMe site to aid the victims of the mass shooting. It goes a bit of the way to redeem one's faith in humanity.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
19 comments
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters!  Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...
6 comments
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
24 comments
Read more