I saw this graphic floating around the Int3rw3bs the past few days:

I didn’t have time to look further into it to know if there was anything actually sound behind that data or was just someone with access to Photoshop and an agenda.

Turns out someone actually did the math.

The average number of people killed in mass shootings when stopped by police is 14.3

The average number of people killed in a mass shooting when stopped by a civilian is 2.3.

That’s pretty telling on many levels. And you should go read the article backing up the statistic because it appears he did his best to take a proper sample. I admit I don’t have the time to replicate his study, so I’m just trusting the guy.

The big take-home is you cannot rely upon the police to protect you. All LEO’s I personally know do believe in “to protect and serve”, but none of them (or any of Austin PD or Travis Co. Sheriff or Texas State Troopers) are here right now to protect or serve me. I’ve seen APD response time at best to be about 5 minutes, and while that’s awesome response time, 5 minutes is a VERY long time when bad things are happening to you.

But who is here right now that can do something about it? You are.

Look at the recent story of Samuel Williams, the 71-year old man that drew his concealed handgun when two thugs came to rob an Internet cafe. Where were the police? Who was the first responder? Samuel Williams.

How about Kelvedon Hatch, the convenience store in Essex that foiled a robbery attempt of his store by throwing cases of beer at the robber? There were no police, and there was no successful robbery either.

This isn’t so much about guns as it is about accepting that putting the responsibility for  your own safety into someone else’s hands may be acceptable in some particular circumstances, but ultimately only you can and must be responsible for your safety. When people are willing to be thusly responsible, look at how much better things turn out? Sure, bad things start to happen, but they get cut off before they can become horrible events. When good people are legally crippled, when good people don’t do anything for themselves or their fellow man, look how bad things can become.

In the end, the tool may enable and enhance a person’s ability to perform work, but it’s still ultimately about the person. None of us want to see tragic events happen, but we must consider careful what roads will help us minimize the chances of these events happening, and when they do happen, minimizing the damage done. Knee-jerk reactions based upon fear and emotion are not sound ways to make policy. Look at facts, look at data. Truth always comes out, and we suffer less the sooner we accept it.