Accident?

"I want my baby out of jail. He's just a young boy. He didn't do anything wrong. It was a freak accident." These are the words of Marsha McMillan, a grandmother whose boys fired a 30-30 rifle into the air on New Year's night.

Neighbors complained. According to the news report, Roberto Bracey "removed the clip but didn't realize a bullet was still left in the chamber." At some point afterwards, Roberto Bracey had the gun in his hands, pointed it in the direction of his friend, Marquies "Hugga" Thomas, and pulled the trigger.

Thomas, who was shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the University of Mississippi Medical Center approximately two hours later. Oddly, other reports state the gunshot wound was to the victim's leg. Bracey has been arrested and charged with murder.

It's a tragedy when a friend kills a friend due to negligence ignorance or stupidity. What many people may not understand, or refuse to accept, is that this tragedy was not a "freak accident" as Ms. McMillan claims. People who fire guns into the air in celebration are inherently negligent. They do not have any concern for gravity or perhaps they believe the lead projectiles will safely orbit the Earth for eternity. Celebratory shots fired into the air kill people almost every year. So, by the very nature of his prior actions of firing a gun into the air, Roberto Bracey was either woefully ignorant or he did not give a damn about the lives of others.

Reportedly Roberto Bracey removed the magazine from the rifle. I have to wonder if it was a lever action rifle with a tubular magazine. If the media cannot agree on the location of the fatal wound, then how can we expect them to get firearms esoterica correct? Lever action rifles are by far the most common 30-30 rifles. The 30-30 cartridge is a rimmed cartridge that does not feed well from a box magazine. A quick scan of any gun shop or pawn shop rifle rack is all that is necessary to determine that the 30-30 cartridge is far and away more common in a lever action rifle, whether Winchester, Marlin or other manufacturers. However, the Winchester 54, the Savage 840 and the Remington 788 do exist. All are bolt action, magazine fed rifles available in 30-30 WCF.

Lets suppose that Roberto Bracey did have a 30-30 rifle with a box magazine, and that he did remove the magazine but failed to check the chamber afterwards. These actions demonstrate a complete ignorance of basic gun handling. His ignorance does not absolve him of responsibility. If he were to don scrubs and a surgical mask, and attempt to perform cardiac surgery, would his ignorance of medicine excuse him from his actions?

No. There is the expectation that reasonably intelligent people will try to prevent the killing of others, and will abstain from handling items that may kill others if they are ignorant of their use. Roberto Bracey demonstrated ignorance, and he demonstrated that he did not give a damn. At least he did not give a damn until he suddenly realized the life was escaping from him friend. I feel sadness for Roberto Bracey. His grief must be a heavy burden. However, he is responsible for his actions, no matter how much he may regret them afterwards. He killed Marquies Thomas, and Marquies Thomas is in the cold January ground, never to breathe or walk again. Roberto Bracey and his family may try to shift blame to the slow response of an ambulance service, to the short staffing of an Emergency Department, or anywhere else they may dream up. The fact is, Marquies Thomas would be alive if Roberto Bracey had not behaved recklessly, negligently, and foolishly with a gun.

I do not think first degree murder charges are applicable, but there is definitely a case for negligent homicide. Roberto Bracey is where he belongs. If he ever handles a loaded gun again, hopefully it will be after he learns to use it safely.

New Year Blood in New Orleans

As fireworks exploded over the Big Easy on New Year's Eve, 22-year-old Adolph Grimes III pulled up to his grandmother's home near the French Quarter after a five-hour drive from Houston, Texas. Grimes, who relocated to Texas with his fiancée, Shae Whitfield, after Hurricane Katrina, couldn't wait to get home with their 17-month-old son, Chris, and ring in the new year with friends and family. "He made it at 12 o'clock exact, with a second to spare," said his father, Adolph Grimes Jr.

Three hours later, Grimes lay dying on the sidewalk half a block from his grandmother's front door, with fireworks giving way to the hue of flashing police lights.

It was New Years, 2009. Adolf Grimes had a concealed carry permit. He was legally packing his 9mm handgun. He had never committed a crime.

The last acts of Adolf Grimes will likely result in manipulation of fact and torquing of reality to dovetail with a preordained conclusion in a heated debate over responsibility. Adolf Grimes was shot 14 times, including 12 times in the back, according to Orleans Parish Coroner Frank Minyard. Violently killed in the streets of New Orleans while waiting on his cousin. The first homicide of 2009 in New Orleans. Gunned down by New Orleans police officers. 48 spent brass casings were recovered from the scene.

Police Chief Warren Riley himself has stated he isn't confident that Adolph Grimes knew the members of a street clothes roving narcotics squad approaching him with guns drawn were undercover police officers. Nine officers have been reassigned. When a police shooting is being investigated, this is not unusual. Citing an ongoing internal investigation, the shooting report and the names of the officers involved have not been released. I suppose it has to be massaged first. According to Thom Kahler,

In the "Superintendent's Major Offense Log" for crimes between 6 a.m. 12.31.08 to 6 a.m. 1.1.09, an unnamed officer in car #4144 wrote in the gist for report #A00426-09 for a code 108 (officer's life in danger) that "officers approached a suspicious vehicle, the subject inside the vehicle pointed a gun at the officers. Officers fired at the subject. The subject expired on scene."

There was no mention of the subject firing a gun, only pointing it at the officers.

Then the next day in the Superintendent's Log, a "Sgt. McMullen" in car #4150 revised the early report, now saying "Officers approached a suspicious subject. The subject fired at the officers, the officers returned fire striking the subject. He expired on scene."

This time the report said the subject fired a gun.

At the time of the shooting, police were reportedly searching for an armed suspect a few blocks away. The car involved resembled the black Toyota Camry driven by Grimes. After he was killed, Adolf Grimes' car was impounded inside a chain link cage designed to preserve evidence. Two days later police discovered a shotgun and "extra ammunition" in it's trunk. How convenient. Police claim it took that long to obtain a search warrant in the case. This morning I personally have 1200 rounds of 45ACP, 2200 rounds of 22 long rifle and 200 rounds of 38 special in the back of my Jeep. I also have a black plastic shooty thing that is a defender of good against evil. On my hip I have a miniature version of a fierce 1911 military weapon. I suppose Little Darling and I could be painted as the next John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo if the NOPD surrounded my vehicle at Brookshires and killed us in a hail of bullets.

The FBI has announced they will investigate the case for any civil rights violations. Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina authority on police use of force, says undercover police officers have an "extra burden" to identify themselves when engaging a citizen at gunpoint. Theoretically, that may be true. The reality is the citizen often pays dearly if they are unable to swiftly and correctly identify what they perceive as a hostile and lethal threat to themselves.

As a result, it is incumbent on officers of the law, as the initiators of the contact, to take into account that honest citizens may be carrying legal weapons. It is incumbent on police departments to recognize that honest citizens have a legal right to protect themselves from a hostile and lethal threat. Just as police officers have a basic right to defend themselves from what they perceive as a imminent lethal threat, so do citizens.

Police officers engaging unknown citizens with guns drawn must positively identify themselves as officers of the law to prevent unjust killings. Shouting "Stop! Police!" while advancing towards the armed citizen is not enough. Any street thug can shout that. Flashing lights on the dashboard of a beat up and dusty maroon Ford Taurus are not enough. A gold badge swinging on a chain underneath a battered parka is not enough.

Procedures regarding searches for suspects that may be taken into custody at gun point need to be examined, and revised. Procedures must take into account that a lawful citizen has the right to arm themselves and protect themselves from what a reasonable man would perceive to be a lethal threat. It should be recognized that officers dressed like common street thugs will be seen as street thugs by the citizen. To protect the lawful citizen from an unjust death, perhaps only uniformed officers in marked cars should be used for the actual apprehension of the suspect. In this case, the undercover officers could easily have held fast and radioed for marked cruisers and uniformed officers to approach their person of interest. When the paths of a legally armed upstanding citizen and plain clothes undercover police officers intersect, the results can be tragic.



Local ministers with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have set up a hotline for info pertaining to the NOPD shooting of Adolf Grimes and other future issues at 504-853-7252 (504-TEL-SCLC).

The Legacy of Kristen Brydum

"Right now I'm rolling into New Orleans. I really don't know what to expect. An old friend of a new friend offered to pick me up from the station and get me to the house of another friend of a friend. I am overwhelmingly grateful to the strangers I have met along the way who have been willing to go out of their way to welcome me to their cities. The sun is setting on the bayou-licked lands and I am truly fortunate. I have rounded this beautiful Southeast corner on the Crescent line today and from now on I am westward bound."

Those were the last words she wrote. Two days later, her dead body was found on a sidewalk in the 3000 block of Laussat Place, in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. EMS paramedics responding to a call of a shooting were unable to save her. For two more days her body lay unidentified in the New Orleans morgue.

Kirsten Brydum, a young woman of 25, died after being shot multiple times in the head. Ms. Brydum's body was finally identified by a friend and by her fingerprints. Her killer(s) had apparently taken her wallet and her identification, as well as the bicycle she was riding. She was traveling about the country, and living off the offerings of strangers. She began a journey with an Amtrak train pass, in search of what she called "collective autonomy.

Her sojourn first took her to Manhattan where she marveled at the items people threw away. Brydum was known in San Francisco for her association with the "Really, Really Free Market," where people barter a variety of goods and services. Her next stop was the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, where she joined protesters. Then, she rode the train to Philadelphia, and finally to Louisiana.

Ms. Brydum was last seen leaving the Howlin' Wolf dance club on South Peters Street in the Warehouse District at approximately 1:30 AM on September 27th. She wore a green and white striped shirt over an off white dress, with flip flops on her feet and a feather in her hair. She was alone with her bicycle. Her killer(s) remain at large.

Ms. Brydum's friends, family and acquaintances, in their grief, deserve the utmost respect. Ms. Brydum herself may be upheld as a model for others to aspire to. That often occurs when we try to make sense of a death that we believe came too early. I suspect her mourners will strive to reconstruct her into a free spirited martyr. She was an idealist with a life of accomplishment ahead of her. Now she is dead.

"She was a woman with a huge heart and a huge brain, compassionate and wise beyond her years," declared one friend from San Francisco.

No. Face the truth. She was naive. Kristen Brydum was either in denial or ignorant of the dangers that were around her. Either that, or she had a death wish. She depended on dumb luck and the gratuitous indifference of strangers for her very survival. She was not wise beyond her years. She was a hippie chick cavorting around the country so she would have stories to tell. She was not doing research on some "collective autonomy." She was accomplishing nothing other than gathering experiences to promote a lifestyle that feeds off productive people in society. It is that frame of mind which brought about her demise.

Kristen Brydum was twenty-five years old. An adult. She was responsible for herself. I have to wonder if she would have ridden her bicycle through South Central Los Angeles at 1:30 in the morning on a Saturday night. I doubt it. She was familiar with the random violence there. Why did she so blatantly ignore the dangers elsewhere? Did she believe she had an invisible aura of protection that would inform predatory vermin that she was there to help them with some ethereal Utopia?

I don't know what was in her head, but I do know post-Katrina New Orleans. I can only consider her actions in that arena, and those actions were stupid. Damned stupid. They would be stupid if a 10 year old child proposed them. That a 25 year old woman did them speaks volumes of her naivete and lack of appreciation for her vulnerability in a hostile world. In New Orleans, she was an outsider, easily recognized as such by her accent and her wide eyes in a city infamous for it's drug lords, institutionalized crime and random murder before Katrina. Post-Katrina New Orleans is even more dangerous as the same resident drug lords and rival gangs searching for a piece of the action jockey for position, and petty criminals kill with impunity for bicycles and crack cash. Her supposed intellectual superiority born of a life of priviledge would not protect her from predators there.

There are some who will no doubt say Kristen Brydum would be alive today if she had a gun. That's doubtful. A gun is not a panacea for ignorance. Without the will to use it and the intelligence to keep you from having to use it, a gun is only another good luck charm. The reality is, people who are "wise beyond their years" do not do stupid things. They do not do stupid things like traveling around the country to the most violent regions possible, in search of a vague economic hypothesis that is strikingly similar to the age old barter system. According to the Times-Picayune, there have been 148 murders so far this year in New Orleans, 209 in 2007, and 161 in 2006. People who are "wise beyond their years" avoid such places.

If a person wants to safely travel to these types of places, their way of thinking must change. They must educate themselves. They must listen. They must be willing to learn. They must gain an understanding of the areas, and they must appreciate the vicious predatory nature of the sociopaths that populate them. They are stepping through the looking glass into the world of the predatory animal. They must heed the instincts that keep prey alive. They must develop street smarts, and learn to trust their instincts, not deny them. Then they should buy a gun and train to use it in case their primary means of protection, their wits, fail.

One of Kristen Brydum's friends described her as savy, adept at defusing situations. If your attacker is willing to kill you to prevent a witness to the theft of your bicycle, the only way to "defuse" the situation is through the threat or the application of deadly force. By the time her journey reached that point, a gun would only have saved her if she had the willingness to use it.

Somehow I think that those who knew and loved Kristen Brydum would have tried to prevent this journey to the 9th Ward of New Orleans if they had known of the dangers. The dangers are there. Waiting. They are real. A wise person has an appreciation of those dangers. I would not travel there at 1:30PM on a bike myself, and I am a large man with a gun. It is not because of fear that I would not travel there, but rather because I recognize the dangers and realize my own mortality.

It was not the lack of a weapon that doomed Kristen Brydum. It was the lack of appreciation of the hazards that she repeatedly injected her life into. She lived on the edge, and she paid for it with her life. She espoused "anarchist economics," the sharing of wealth in a "gift market." The true sociopathic anarchists of New Orleans discovered her, disregarded her pleas for mercy, and killed her for her bicycle and her wallet. An innocent, easily preventable death occurred not because the world is a bad, mean and unforgiving place, but because the victim ignored the fact that some human predators are.

I read with dismay that Kristen Brydum's mourners are placing ads on Craig's List and elsewhere to arrange for rides with strangers across the country, to San Francisco in remembrance of her life. It continues. I wonder if her spirit mourns for them.

No Safe Places by Don Myers

Recently, there were two Christian musicians who were leaving a recording studio and were murdered for two dollars and their car. Initially, I paid little attention to the news reports nor did I listen to the names of the two victims. Three days later, I received an e-mail from a woman friend who had received her CHL by taking my course along with her son and daughter. The e-mail read, "Hi Don, my son, Steve, was murdered Thursday. His funeral is at...."

I sat there stunned. Steve had been licensed through my instruction. I had been to a couple of activities that he and his mother attended - in both cases they were armed. I knew Steve's mother believed as I do that you never go anywhere unarmed if it is legal to carry in those places. I did not know Steve as well as I did his mother, but I found him to be very likable and smart. In fact, I later discovered that he was probably a genius. Of course after getting that terrible news, I couldn't help wonder if he was armed that night. I assume that he wasn't because of the deadly results of his encounter with two heartless thugs. Both criminals were captured the next day. A television interview showed that one of them was almost proud of what they had done. Apparently, he is feeling good about being a "gangsta" now."

I attended Steve's funeral wishing that I could ask if Steve had been armed that awful night, but knew it would be totally inappropriate to ask such an insensitive question. After the funeral service was over, I watched as the ushers allowed the family members to leave the sanctuary first. I couldn't help notice that Steve's mother and sister were carrying handbags made of nylon that were an odd shape. Of course, it was obvious to me why they were carrying those bags and what was in them.

I waited my turn to give condolences to Steve's mother. Then as I approached her, she said in a voice that was a mixture of crying and disbelief, "Don, Steve didn't have his gun! He always carries his gun! When he comes to my house, he has his gun on him under his shirt. He doesn't go anywhere without his gun! Don, he didn't have his gun! In fact, when the police were telling me about the shooting, I asked them where Steve's gun was. They said that they had not found his gun so I told them that the criminals have it. Later, we found it at his home."

I was sick. The tragedy was bad enough, but for him to be killed on one of the few nights where he had forgotten to take his gun seemed to rub salt into the wounds of those of us who cared for him. I am always amazed at how many people who have taken my CHL class do not carry all the time. Some almost never carry a pistol. And yet, here was a case where someone who practically always heeded my advice to be armed at all times was killed while the others who continue to walk around in an un-armed condition, in a mental state of white, don't pay the price that Steve did. No, I don't want those others to pay that price. It's just that they are more likely to be hurt or killed than those who do carry where it is legal. The irony cannot be ignored.

One of the reasons that I became a CHL instructor was because of a conversation I heard during my first renewal class. An elderly gentleman asked the instructor, "I live in a nice neighborhood. My wife and I go walking nearly every evening. Do you think I should take my gun with me?"

Incredibly, the instructor replied, "Well, that's a personal decision that you will have to make for yourself."

I wanted to scream, "Of course, you should! There are no safe places!" In fact, I was so stunned at the stupid answer that I didn't say what I was thinking. I still feel guilty about not speaking up. However, I do speak up now. Throughout the classes that I teach I use examples, many of actual shootings, to show the need to carry all the time. One such example is an appeal to logic. I ask the students if you could turn off and on your fire insurance at will, would you ever turn it off because there was little chance of a fire on a particular day? Of course, you wouldn't! But, that's exactly what you do if you decide to leave your home unarmed. You have chosen to let yourself be vulnerable to a mean world that can take you or your loved ones from this world for two dollars or for your tennis shoes.

There are no safe places! One woman who took my class has for many years worked as a contractor in federal housing, i.e. high crime areas. Unfortunately, her employer will not let her carry her gun in her car (she can't go in the federal buildings armed), but she has never needed a gun in those high crime areas. On the other hand, she has needed a gun for protection three times in "safe areas."

She started carrying a gun at seventeen because the police would not believe that she and her boyfriend had been robbed and that she had nearly raped (she said that she was in her menstrual period or she would have been raped). The police did not believe her because at that time there had never been any crime in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens (this occurred in the 1960's). This "safe place" soon became a hot spot of rape and murder during the following year causing it to be fenced and closed at night. Fortunately, the gang of youths were caught and convicted of multiple rapes and murders.

Those of you who are instructors have probably had many stories of similar need for a gun for protection told by your clients. I use real life stories as much as I can, but I am still frustrated at how many people have the "it won't happen to me attitude" and don't carry all the time. I have finally decided that few people really take to heart my cajoling and warnings. Fortunately, many have, but I want to be even more effective in getting that point across since not only are they safer being armed, but we are too.

Since many of you who are reading this newsletter are instructors, I invite you to e-mail me if you have found effective methods to get the point across that it is important to be armed. Hopefully, there will be enough information that I can pass it on to others via this newsletter. If you have something that will help, please e-mail me at happydad1@sbcglobal.net. If I do write another article on that subject I will give you credit for your ideas.

I truly believe it is important for us to teach our clients and friends that CHL holders should be armed whenever possible and this safety advice is just as important to teach as it is for us to teach conflict resolution and the use of deadly force required by the state. I hope you agree. Be armed; be safe.

Don Myers
Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor
North Richland Hills, TX 76180

Pippa, Grizzlies & Guns

I was referred from a link over at Breda's place to the saga of Pippa Bacca, an Italian peace activist and "artist." Bacca, whose real name was Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, embarked on a mission for peace and world harmony. Her plan was to hitch hike from Italy to the Balkans and finally to the Middle East and Israel in a wedding dress. Her goal was a message of peace, trust, and "marriage between different peoples and nations."

A motorist in Turkey really liked her idea. He liked it so much, in fact, that he raped her, strangled her, and left her dead body to rot like so much garbage beside the roadway.

"She thought that in the world there were more positive than negative people, and that it was right to be trusting," said Rosalia Pasqualino, Pippa Bacca's sister, "Trust is a very human factor, and she believed that to understand people, you had to get to know them." Sadly, there are some people animals that a sane person does not want to know or understand. Pippa's friends and audience grieve for her, real grief for an idealistic life cut short by it's very idealism.

It is common that the young and naive think the old and cynical know nothing. I am reminded of an axiom among flyers though....There are are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots. In our lives we take our choices. Our choices define us, and make us who we are, and unfortunately, sometimes who we were. The henious barbarism that brought an end to Pippa's misguided journey is by no means an abberation. It is common. Any person who has lived on the road can inform the neophyte traveler that caution and suspicion will keep the traveler alive and traveling. I, too, am saddened by the loss of Pippa Bacca, even tough I have never heard of her before now. No life should be snuffed out so cruely and so selfishly by the scum that prowls the Earth. The scum should be wiped out instead.

I cannot help but be reminded of Timothy Treadwell, the man who gained fame, and ultimately death by camping among grizzly bears. I can't help but wonder if at some point, Pippa Bacca might have a film such as this in her memory.



Rather than a movie memorializing your life, how much better is it to have a .44 magnum when you really need it? Or better yet, some respect for the dangers that can kill you, to be applied judiciously to your life so you will never have to bring the .44 magnum into play? The truth is though, while these two people were killed as a result of their absolute disregard for the dangers of their activities, malevolence can visit the most careful person. In that case, the gun becomes a life preserver.

Rest well, Pippa, I hope at least one of your friends learns from your death and buys a gun.

When Being a Good Guy Isn't Enough

Taking two events where the good guy fell victim to the deranged shooter, and analyzing what went wrong is a task worthy of a skilled diplomat. A Tactical Analysis of the Tyler Courthouse Shooting and the Tacoma Mall Shooting by Syd of The Sight is just such an article. Syd has done both Mark Wilson and Dan McKown justice, recognizing their heroism while examining their mistakes. From that, we all can learn, and perhaps be better prepared to survive. Thank you Syd. Give it a read!

A Hero in Tacoma

On November 21,2005, Dominick Sergio Maldonado, 20, of Tacoma, Washington pleaded not guilty to assault, kidnapping and firearms charges for shooting up the Tacoma Mall. He is being held on $2 million bail. Police say Maldonado stormed through the mall shooting randomly at shoppers. He surrendered to law enforcement about four hours later after shooting six people and taking four hostages in a Sam Goody music store. On November 22, police were still trying to determine how Maldonado, a convicted felon, had obtained the two weapons he carried into the mall. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is helping Tacoma detectives trace the history of the weapons. Enough about the criminal scum. His deranged actions simply set the stage for the real story.

Brendan "Dan" McKown was delivering a bank deposit for Excalibur Cutlery, a mall gift store, when gunshots scattered shoppers at noon in Tacoma. Dan McKown was an armed CCW holder. Witnesses state that McKown stood about 20 feet from the gunman when he faced him and drew his own pistol before being shot. Whether he spoke to the gunman is unknown. "Our understanding is that Dan drew his weapon and confronted the gunman," his stepmother, Beverly McKown, said during a news conference Tuesday at Tacoma General Hospital. “Dan is always one who believed in protecting people and he put his life on the line for other people,” McKown's father said. “His actions and the actions of others like him may have prevented additional casualties by confronting the aggression and possibly changing the gunman’s action early in the conflict.”

McKown, 38, was shot twice in the abdomen and has been on life support, said hospital spokesman Todd Kelley. The two bullets severely damaged McKown's intestines and abdominal muscles, but doctors were able to repair the damage. Tragically, McKown also suffered injury to his spinal cord. A second surgery to remove bullet and bone fragments from his spinal canal was successful, Kelley stated, but the bullets caused "significant nerve damage that will likely result in permanent paralysis." McKown was being brought out of a medically induced coma Tuesday. The other shooting victims were treated at hospitals and released. A longtime friend of McKown's who talked with witnesses after the shooting said McKown always carried a gun. "He's always been worried about the way society is going, and for him, carrying a handgun was less for himself than for others," Syrus Corbin said. McKown "has always had a fear of being there when someone flips out and just starts shooting people, and I'll be damned if it didn't happen to him." Employees of the Kits Camera store, where McKown fell, cared for him for more than an hour before he could be rushed to the hospital. He was conscious, they said, but were unsure if he said anything.

The McKowns, of Yelm, Thurston County, described their bachelor son as a look-alike of late-night TV host Conan O'Brien, with a great sense of humor, a passion for photography and a deep Christian faith. They said that while they are worried he may be paralyzed for life, they are certain McKown's faith will sustain him. The Dan McKown Medical Fund, set up to help offset McKown's expenses, has been established through the Bank of America. Donations may be made at any Bank of America branch, the family said. The account number is 83799 577. The family would also like to encourage people to go to their local blood bank and donate blood in Dan McKown's name.

The McKowns, who are active in prison ministries in part because McKown's father spent some time behind bars years ago for his own "bad choices," said they have been praying nonstop for their son and for Maldonado. "We are not angry," said Beverly McKown. "We are praying for Dan and we are praying for this boy. God is a healer."

Many, including myself, will argue whether Brendan McKown's decision to take on a rifleman while armed only with a handgun was a wise decision. What is inarguable is that it was a courageous decision. Brendan "Dan" McKown, thank you. Your actions are a credit to CCW holders everywhere.

Update on Dan McKown