I would like to be able to carry my AR-15 slung over my shoulder when I go for a walk and where there are no gun free zones. Open carry is legal in my state. There have also been open carry walks with large groups of people carrying their AR-15s and have gone off without incident.
Yet watch what happens if I carry an AR-15 slung over my shoulder in my neighborhood. I'd have a dozen cops pointing their guns at me and telling me to kiss the concrete. I'd be lucky if I wasn't shot by a so-called friendly cop.
So, yes, the fact that a lot of good guys don't walk around as heavliy armed as a killer like this does water down the good guy with a gun argument.
Stephen Willeford stopped a shooter at the church in Sutherland Springs. He was only able to do that becuase he lived across the street from the church and kept his AR-15 loaded.
Imagine if one or more people carried their AR-15s in the chruch. The shooter may have only been able to hit one or two if he was lucky.
Imagine if someone in the concert had their AR-15 with a red dot sight in Las Vegas. A lot less people probably would have been shot.
The problem, as already said, is that when the cops see anyone with a gun; even a good guy; that person gets perforated. Recall the shooting of Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. in an Alabama mall. He was trying to rescue people and the cops shot him.
I agree that a good guy with a gun can stop a lot of these shootings. The problem is that society, politicians, businesses and cops are the ones who try to discourage the good guys from carrying guns in the first place.
