Are these people really that stupid? Yes. Yes, they are.
One of them waxed "eloquently" about how he had "served" [sic] and my "Monday morning quarterbacking" showed I was never in the army or marines. And, even with his superior training, he doubted he could have effectively shot the bad guy.
In fact, why don't I just post his entire response right here in all its glory.
It's alright to be angry about this as well as the knee-jerk reactions of the "gun control" camp.
A lot of us are, but, as an Army vet (trained in a variety of weapons and situations), I can tell you that, under those circumstances, I doubt that even I could have taken the useless bastard down.
Your assessment indicates that you are not a veteran, or not a veteran of the Army or Marines, at least.
Very few people in this world are not temporarily (much more than just a few seconds) debilitated when CS gas is a factor ( I have met only one - a Drill Sgt in basic), having dealt with it in training, and even the best of us, in those circumstances, would not be able to get an accurate shot off (possibly targeting/hitting a civilian, instead).
Your argument is just "Monday morning quarterbacking"; something that I suspect there will be a lot of with this, just as there was after Columbine.
The gun laws are both the problem and not the problem.
There needs to be some sort of lawfully mandated test to determine the mental stability of someone who decides to purchase a weapon (particularly if they purchase multiple weapons and are not a licensed collector), be it a rifle or handgun.
Until we can make THAT happen, then these sorts of things will always be a possibility. Do we know if he even had a concealed carry permit? I haven't heard on that and my guess is that he did not have one.
So I responded "So you'd rather keep it so that only bad guys are armed. Good to know."
Idiot.
Sorry, but my tolerance for these morons is running low.
.
