But it did. Blaine Tyler was openly carrying his handgun in a Richmond gas station when a teenage sociopath grabbed it. Unarmed, Tyler gave chase and was fatally shot with his own gun. To make things worse, his assailant went on to kill a second person hours later.
Tyler was deliberately targeted for his weapon, something people keep telling me never happens. Well, here we have it. Perhaps better situational awareness, equipment, or training might have helped, but at the end of the day, he would not have been targeted if his weapon wasn’t plainly visible.
Having the weapon exposed adds a significant element of risk back into an equation meant to mitigate risk in the first place.
4 thoughts on “They Said It Couldn’t Happen”
But point this out and the same people who tell you it never happens will tell you that you’re anti gun…
-Gene
You are correct. Police and soldiers should all be required by law to carry THEIR firearms concealed too, because Open Carry only contributes to the risk to which they are exposed…
Blaming the victim in this situation is sick. You are a sick, sick individual. The ONLY person at fault here is the sociopathic punk who murdered Mr. Tayler and Mr. Cosby the victims were VICTIMS of this mad-dog sociopath and hi insate cohort. If ANYONE besides the perps are to blame here it is the VA court system, but NOT the victims.
All you anti-OC people are sick, using this tragedy as a soapbox to slam OC and boost CC. The blood isn’t even dry–have some respect for the victims, you sick, opportunistic, wannabees…
After digging through the spelling errors, personal insults, intemperate language, and unfounded innuendo, I couldn’t find the point you’re trying to make. If you’re trying to convince me of something, you’re failing abysmally. Leonard Embody was more eloquent and clear than you are.
I didn’t blame Mr. Tyler (notice the spelling, please) at all. He’s no more to blame than a mountain climber who falls to his demise from an error in judgement. However, the parties in both cases are people who are taking risks by their actions. Others considering the practice need to be aware of that.
This situation does show that a risk exists with open carry, one which many open-carry advocates refuse to acknowledge. Police departments are well aware of it, which explains why they receive extensive training in weapons retention.
Frankly, my own feelings on the practice of open carry are apprehensive. There are risks and I’ve known it to cause problems. My concerns are usually met by responses like yours, which only contributes further to my reticence.
The problem is that you must get “permission”
to use concealed carry from a Government. The
Government HATES citizens exercising their rights and will show up at the “concealed carry” folks door first when it gets around to disarming the “little people”.