>>>>>
>>>>>That could be a very interesting question to ask directly of the NRA: "How many shooting incidents in the last X years were ended by armed members of your organization, who were not trained professionals acting in the course of their regular duties?"
>>>>
>>>>I'm sure they wouldn't dodge the question as they have run a column in National Rifleman since 1958 addressing exactly that question
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>http://www.nraila.org/armedcitizen/
>>>>
>>>>http://www.old-yankee.com/rkba/armcit/
>>>>
>>>>Of course this isn't objective but I assume all the facts stated are checkable and I don't ever remember anyone "exposing" their making it all up and I'm sure in 52 years somebody would have if that were the issue.
>>>
>>>Thanks for the links - I looked for something like that earlier on the NRA site but couldn't find anything.
>>>
>>>Searching on the keyword "mass" gives a bunch of hits but most seem to be basically self-defense. On an admittedly brief scan, I didn't see any cases where an armed citizen, acting as a third party, ended an incident.
>>
>>Just a couple to get you started:
>>
>>http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2008/05/concealed-carry-permit-holder-defends.html
>>http://www.davekopel.com/2A/OthWr/principal&gun.htm
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James_Church_Massacre
>>http://articles.latimes.com/1992-01-01/local/me-1021_1_public-safety
>>
>>A lot of different media reports on this one and they still persist on some sights today (like wikipedia):
>>http://johnrlott.tripod.com/postsbyday/topic-appalachianlawschool.html
>>
>>An interesting perspective on the conceal and carry law:
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luby%27s_massacre
>
>So, there appear to be some. Although the St. James Church one was not 3rd party, return fire was from a congregation member so first-party.
>
>Still, they don't appear terribly common, especially if you have to go to South Africa for examples...

Come on, Al. The mass shooting isn't all that "common" - it is a small sample. The fact that it has happened at all should mean something.

Also, look at the paper I referenced in my reply to Tracy

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=272929&http://www.kc3.com/CCWSTATS.html

I think more telling is the curious failure of most media to report that that gunmen in the Appalachian Law school shooting was subdued by two *armed* students. Somehow it is not polite for the media to mention that.