Orlando Mass Shooting In Gay Club Leaves 50 Dead, 53 Injured

ORLANDO, FLORIDA — While final figures are still pending, it appears that fifty people have been killed and fifty three injured in an attack on a gay night club in Orlando, Florida, just before closing time around 2 a.m. on Sunday. To be clear, it’s the third attack perpetrated by an alleged Islamic terrorist who has claimed ISIS affiliation in the past two years. While media scramble to figure out how they’re going to spin this story, we’re going to cement the details as they’re presented.

Just before the attacks are alleged to have taken place, the shooter is confirmed to have called 911 and pledged his allegiance to ISIS prior to engaging in the attack, according to NBC News. This and other details have strongly pushed the FBI’s stance in designating this an act of domestic terrorism.

Florida police have confirmed that he does have several firearms-related permits including a concealed carry license and a security guard permit — both of which he actively used in his profession as a security guard.

And that’s where the details pretty much end. As we’ve stated in the past: we don’t care about the shooter. His personal ideology, philosophy, or whatever it was that drove him to prematurely ending the lives of several dozen people are really of little concern.

What is concerning is there appears to be an increase in these types of incidents in the last two years.

• The first one we covered happened in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the target was a Marine Corps recruiting depot and reserve center.
• The second was the San Bernardino shootings in a mental health facility, carried out by a man and his wife for supposed ideological reasons.

And now there’s this.

While anti-gun media will focus on what type of firearm the shooter used, perhaps we need to be discussing a bigger picture of how we can better protect ourselves from these sorts of attacks in the future.

The problem is that the government is not good at identifying these types of individuals prior to them executing their vile attacks. We’ve seen it in both domestic terrorism cases as well as just routine cases as well.

The government cannot protect you. You must make steps to protect yourself.

We cannot openly advocate for people to carry concealed while going out into situations that involve an altered state of thinking. That said, perhaps it’s time to have a designated buddy. We have designated drivers when we go out to drink, perhaps we need designated concealed carriers — guys and gals who don’t mind being sober and don’t mind staying equipped with a daily carry handgun.

Before anyone boo-hoos this idea: it’s worked in the past to stop a mass shooting in a bar. In 2008, one bar patron who was legally carrying a concealed handgun, successfully stopped a man who indiscriminately opened fire in a bar. These types of stories don’t fit the media narrative, so don’t expect people to be talking about it all the time — but a good guy or gal with a gun is truly the only defense for a bad guy with a gun. It’s inconvenient for the media narrative, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

You can wait for the FBI to identify the next domestic terrorist prior to that terrorist attacking a place that’s arguably a gun free zone… But if you’re holding your breath, that’ll be quite a feat.

The best solution is having a well armed, well trained populace that is knowledgeable and accountable with firearms. Our condolences go out to the families affected in Orlando and we pray for a speedy recovery to the injured.