I mean, presumably the police officer who was killed was armed also.

It's just so very deeply stupid to think having a gun is somehow a good way to protect yourself. As someone who has loved ones who also shop at that store, I'd appreciate any way you can dissuade your brother from making it a more dangerous place, Steph.

You were raised in Alabama, right? Yikes, that would be a shocker (and rather large disappointment, I imagine).

Yep, and it was a huge disappointment indeed.

But I do not buy into the Good Guy With A Gun theory, not even when it's my own brother.

In our active shooter training at work (and how fucked up is it that campus police routinely gives such trainings and will walk through your extremely open-plan office advising you on where best to hide if you can't make it to the stairwell, which would be the file room and the wellness/lactation room, neither of which is very big for a floor with ~100 employees), the officer giving the training stressed that if we ended up in a situation where we had to fight and successfully tackled the active shooter and seized the gun, we should put the gun down out of the shooter's reach and be sure no one was touching it because of course if the police come around the corner and see someone holding a gun they WILL think you're the shooter and they WILL act accordingly and this is the one situation where their being trigger-happy makes SENSE. (OK, they didn't say that last part, but still.)

As someone who has loved ones who also shop at that store, I'd appreciate any way you can dissuade your brother from making it a more dangerous place, Steph.

I desperately wish I could.

Good guy with a gun theory is total bullshit. The few law enforcement people in my life find open carry a complete horror which makes knowing the good guys from the bad guys that much more complex.

I appreciate your efforts, Steph.

I know women in Texas who when shown the statistics of how women with guns are more likely to be the victim of violence from said gun, no matter the training, just looked at me and said “well, not me”.

Tep, I'm sorry your brother is nutty in a not-fun-way

Being in the Bay Area I have access to Super Fancy Artisanal Donuts with Rare and Exquisite Fillings piped in.

They are pretty fucking delicious.

Yeah, but you can't really beat Bob's. [link]

I'm a simple person when it comes to my doughnuts, though. I just want yeasted dusted with granulated sugar. Or maybe an apple fritter. Anything else is overkill (to me).

I mean, presumably the police officer who was killed was armed also.

Yep. And the point above about the police seeing you with a gun. And heck what if there’s multiple good guys with guns and they shoot each other? Are you sure you’ll shoot the right person? Even if you shot a mass murderer are you prepared for knowing you killed someone? Prepared for legal issues that might arise? Ugh.

We had a little presentation in my office and one thing they emphasized was that when/if police arrive to make sure your hands are empty and in plain sight. (Also, our office would be a terrible place to hide - not only is it open, enclosed offices have glass walls, the lights come on when there's any movement in their sensors' range ... they go out if there's no movement for a while as an energy-saving measure.)