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“We believe the existence of a personal, malevolent being called Satan who acts as tempter and accuser, for whom the place of eternal punishment was prepared, where all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for eternity,” Oikos University’s website proclaims. “He can be resisted by the believer through faith and reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit.” But not, apparently, armed self-defense. I’m not saying that an armed student or teacher could have taken out spree killer One Goh before he shot and killed seven students at California’s [non-accredited] Okios University. But I am saying that not personally preparing for an active shooter in a school environment—or, worse, gathering en masse during the crime—is like being a lamb to the slaughter. It’s early in the reporting process, but here’s sfgate.com‘s account . . .

Paul Singh, 20, of Santa Clara said his sister was among the victims shot and survived.

Singh said his sister, Dawinder Kour, 19, was attending her nursing class when the shooter burst through the door.

“He grabbed a lady that was filing, and brought her in and said everybody get against the board,” Singh said outside of Highland Hospital, where his sister recovered from a gun shot wound to the forearm.

What happened next in the classroom was not clear, Singh said.

“My sister called me, running, saying I’ve been shot,” he said.

This account differs in some details from other reports (e.g. the most recent AP article). But the bottom line seems to be that Goh gathered his victims and shot them. sfgate.com characterizes the assault as some kind of “spray and pray” attack.

“The suspect used a .45-caliber handgun, spraying a classroom with gunfire and firing additional shots as he ran out, said the source, who did not wish to be identified because the investigation is ongoing.

Not to go off on a gruesome tangent, but if Goh’s .45 handgun was California-compliant and there was but one kill zone, then Goh hit a victim with every bullet fired. (Except, perhaps, one bullet carried in the chamber.)

The number of victims would also reflect on the lethality of the .45 caliber round; especially when compared to the hit rate of, say, the Fort Hood shooter, armed with the FN FiveseveN.

The idea that gun laws will stop spree killers has been dead for some time. Unless the Trayvon Martin shooting has reawakened the sentiment and tipped the balance towards mindless gun control. Which I doubt.

Truth be told, the real tragedy here is that academics and gun control advocates continue to leave our children in gun-free zones (the cop above said some of the victims were “locked behind doors that didn’t lock”). Equally, we fail to provide unarmed students with an appropriate survival strategy for an “active shooter.” With predictable and tragic results.

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33 COMMENTS

    • Exactly. Jesus is both a lamb and a lion. Sure, he said we should be nice to each other, but that’s not why they killed him. One would think that the conservative Christian colleges at least would be able to get with it- it’s not like they command much respect from secular universities anyway.

      I think they’re afraid of liability. If something goes wrong, they can say that do what every other university does.

  3. Guns don’t kill people. But self-defense free zones certainly do.

    “Now there was no blacksmith throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, ‘lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.'” 1 Samuel 13:19.

  5. School Shopping List:
    1) Books
    2) Pens
    3) Binders
    4) C2 Taser

    While a Taser might not be as effect as a firearm, it offers some protection in gun free zones and even more effective if everyone was issued one giving a class of students multiple chances of stopping the attacker.

      • Good point, assuming you don’t live in; Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and I guess add California and North Carolina to that list.

  6. It seems that one of the only things an unarmed person in a situation like this can do is to lock themselves in a room. As this story says, some closed themselves in rooms without locks. It occurs to me that if I had a student going to one of these schools, I might equip them with one of the small (2 oz.) portable hotel room secondary locks that are available for about $10. They appear quick and easy to use and might just make a difference when a gunman runs around and checks for open doors.

    http://www.corporatetravelsafety.com/catalog/portable-door-lock-p-1150.html

    • Sadly, after thinking this through a bit more I may have missed something. I believe that in public buildings the doors are mandated to open outwards to eliminate crushing deaths during a panic stampede. These locks only work on inward swinging doors. As they say, in theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not.
      I will have to give this more thought.
      Pat

  7. Here is an idea. Go become a reserve deputy or officer in your local jurisdiction and they carry to class on HR 218. The best part is most departments will even issue you the firearm and soft body armor. Just saying.

    • Great idea, which I investigated when I moved into my new abode. Unfortunately, my town does not have a reserve and even if it did, I would not be considered a LEO for any purpose under state law. So being part of a reserve would give me no gun rights that my existing LTC-A carry license don’t already recognize. Except that maybe I’d be able to beat a parking ticket. Maybe.

  8. I work in a preK-12 school. I think about this problem all the time. Our “lockdown” drills only serve to enhance my sense of despair.

    • I have never understood the lockdown idea. If someone is actively shooting you should get as many potential victims out of the line of fire as possible, not lock them all in the building with the person attempting to murder them.

  12. But I am saying that not personally preparing for an active shooter in a school environment—or, worse, gathering en masse during the crime—is like being a lamb to the slaughter.

    To be frank, BS. preparing for events like this as a civilian is a bloody waste of time, and, by neglecting more important preparedness, is liable to cost your life, not save it. You must prepare for the probable severe events you face.

    Mass shootings like this are very VERY rare: something both the gun control types and this crowd both neglect.

    With ~300M population, and an event like this about twice a year, you have a 1 in 10M or so chance in a given year. Compare this with the 1 in 100 odds in a given year that you’ll face an 8+ earthquake if you live in California, the type of event that will kill hundreds or thousands, not half a dozen, and it becomes clear that, as a California resident, you need to spend thousands of times the effort preparing for an earthquake over a nutcase on a rampage with a .45.

    The same basic calculation applies everywhere else in the country, just replace earthquake with hurricane, tornado, firestorms, blizzards, etc….

    As for high capacity magazines: I bet he just reloaded. Even glock doesn’t make a 15+ round .45 magazine. And even so, don’t worry about a federal ban: if Laughner couldn’t restore talk of a renewed ban on 30 round magazines, shooting a sitting congresswoman and a judge, nothing will.

  13. He [Jesus] said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” – Luke 22:36 NIV

    • As I recall, this is to fulfill prophecy, not for defense. Not that right after this is said, Jesus is told that they have two swords, and he replies that this was enough.

  14. The shooter came from Virginia in the recent past, so whether he had a CA compliant handgun is unkown at this time. Second, he did not simply target a gun free zone–he had a specific beef with this school and its administrator after he’d been expelled for poor performance. He also had an issue with other students who had mocked him for his poor English skills (a Korean native, he is a naturalized US citizen). Third, victims were scattered around the school–he just went randomly down the halls shooting into class rooms. He must have had reloads–early reports suggest as many as 30 shots fired.

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