CCW patron could have stopped Aurora shooter? Remember those CA bank robbers?

[rfranklin]

Gunman Kills 12 in Colorado, Reviving Gun Debate

The gunman, wearing what Aurora Police Department officials described as nearly head-to-toe “ballistic gear,” including a throat protector and leggings, plus a gas mask and a long black coat, came in through a parking lot exit door near the screen of Theater 9.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/shooting-at-colorado-theater-showing-batman-movie.html

North Hollywood bank heist erupts in gunbattle; 6 civilians, 10 officers injured; 2 robbers killed: March 1, 1997
By Gregory J. Wilcox, Jaxon Van Derbeken and Jeannette DeSantis, Staff Writersdailynews.com

Armed with automatic weapons and body armor, two masked men robbed a North Hollywood bank Friday and then were killed trying to blast their way to freedom, spraying bullets into houses and cars as the world witnessed it live on television.

For five long hours, the heist gripped the east San Fernando Valley in terror, closing the Hollywood (170) Freeway, gridlocking North Hollywood streets, rerouting air traffic at Burbank Airport and shocking the city and nation with the naked brutality of these two robbers.

Nearly 350 heavily armed Los Angeles Police Department officers and FBI agents converged on the Bank of America branch near Laurel Plaza, trading shots with the two robbers. One was killed when his gun jammed. A second was badly wounded and bled to death in the street after trying to commandeer a pickup truck from a passing motorist who ran for his life.


http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_16164852

[geckosfeet]

1. The typical concealed carry pistol is barely effective as it is.

It would have zero effect against someone in body armor.

Rounds from a full size pistol would probably have distracted him for only a second or two. So face it Zimmerman wannabes, no one carrying a compact or a pocket pistol is going to stand their ground and trade shots with someone in body armor and a rifle.

This is another facet of a complex issue (firearms) - the escalation factor. I get a gun, you get a bigger gun. I get an even bigger gun and you get body armor, an assault rifle with a 100 round magazine and gas canisters. Those who carry for self defense are no longer able to defend themselves.

If you don't try to level the playing field somehow, the bad guys will tilt it in their favor. But even if certain firearms and high capacity magazines are illegal, people will find a way to get them. Law enforcement has been up against this problem for years.

I don't have a solution. Just making an observation.

[Lionessa]

2. I disagree, I have no doubt my Glock would've taken him down with a good shot, except...

as it has been told to date, the gunman inserted first some sort of smoke bomb iirc, so I would guess no one could've in this situation for lack of visibility between smoke, and general dimness of the movie theater, and for fear of an innocent getting or being in the way.

Anyway, I'm not sure what you're referring to as "compact" firearms. Everyone I know who carries, carries a 9mm semi-auto of some sort loaded with hollow points. These are certainly not compact in their ability to do the job.

[geckosfeet]

3. Hollow points are designed to expand and reduce penetration. They would

hit ballistic armor and bounce off. And you are correct - most people carry hollow points for sd.

Classic compact pistols, 3.5 inch or shorter barrels. The shorter barrels do nothing to improve ballistics.

Your Glock and hollow points may be useful against someone not wearing body armor. At the distances and involved, with the obstructions present, and with someone in body armor shooting back at you, your chances of lining up that "good shot" would not be good.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. Nonsense

The get stopped by the armor and the wearer absorbs the energy. Getting hit while wearing it hurts like hell, will disrupt what you are doing. If you are wearing a helmet it will ring your bell. What it will not do is bounce off.

Getting a good shot off in those circumstances if a valid question. As we know more about (police will do recreations) whether or not an off duty or retired LEO could reasonably have stopped him might come out. It was a civilian gun free zone.

[baldguy]

4. They wouldn't have stopped Holmes, but sure as shit they could have killed a few more bystanders.

[ileus]

5. I wonder if he had real body armor, or just tactical gear on.

http://tacticalgear.com/blackhawk-urban-assault-vest?utm_source=gs&utm_medium=sce&gclid=CLnxhfu5rbECFYeo4AodBF0AWA



This vest doesn't even have pouches made to insert plates much less Level 2/3 body armor. It's just a vest for holding magazines and pistols stuff.


I want them to release more info and pictures of the tactical gear he was wearing.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Damn, here you go with those despicable facts again