Concealed-carry supporters argue that concealed weapons will allow people to defend themselves against mass murderers. Texas and other states are considering legislation to allow concealed weapons on college campuses.
"The American Way", Bob Herbert, New York Times, 2009-04-14
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14herbert.html
Will it really work? Will one or two people with minimal training in the use of a pistol be able to stop some idiot with an assault weapon. Is everybody with a pistol a Navy Seal sniper?
Consider the number of police officers who have been killed by assault weapons. These officers have regular target practice. They are trained to react to armed people. Three officers were killed by a single gunman in Pittsburgh. Four officers were shot to death in Oakland.
Consider the Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Killeen TX in 1991. My memory from the newspapers of the time is that there were two police officers eating in the restaurant at the time of the shooting, but by the time they reacted, the gunman had already barricaded himself in restroom. I can't corroborate this easily today via Google.
On the other hand, one of the survivors had left her gun in her car instead of her purse. Both of her parents were killed by the gunman. She has become a strong advocate of concealed carry. But would she have been able to get close enough to kill the gunman before he killed her with his semi-automatic pistol? In fact, he was wounded by police before finally being shot to death.
Frankly, I don't think the gun question can ever be satisfactorily settled. The Constitution was written in a time when all guns were single-shot. One person could not possibly defend himself against a government patrol coming to arrest him. However, neighbors banding together could defend themselves somewhat from an out-of-control government. I think this is what the founders had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment (couldn't they have been less ambiguous). Even then, many of these groups didn't succeed: Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion.
