Some in the media are genuinely annoyed that an armed security guard thwarted a mass shooting this weekend at a church in Texas, possibly saving the lives of hundreds of worshippers.
The guard, Jack Wilson, is being praised for his quick and decisive action, which cut short the shooting spree of gunman Keith Kinnunen. But that praise has been tempered by attempts to minimize Wilson’s heroics and prevent the story from bolstering the cause of gun rights.
The Arizona Republic, for example, published an opinion article Tuesday claiming it is “terrifying” that we do not know more about the other congregants who were armed that Sunday at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.
“Jack Wilson is a hero alright,” writes columnist Elvia Diaz. “Unfortunately, that kind of split-second heroism has been turned into a PR tool by gun advocates.”
Wait, that is the unfortunate thing here?
“The reality of Wilson’s heroism is a lot more complex. He wasn’t just an ordinary parishioner, as gun advocates may want you to believe,” she continues, attempting to throw cold water on the pro-Second Amendment side’s “good guy with a gun” mantra. “The church’s volunteer security team member is a firearms instructor, gun range owner and former reserve deputy with a local sheriff’s department … In other words, he’s exactly the kind of man you want around with a firearm.”
She adds, “But we know nothing about the at least six other parishioners who also appeared to draw their handguns … And that’s terrifying.”
Diaz then suggests, without any evidence, that Kinnunen may have acquired his firearm legally despite having a long arrest record. She even admits to making this assertion without evidence.
“We know firearms are readily available to anyone who wants one, really. And that’s part of the problem,” she writes. “Sunday’s shooting isn’t just about Jack Wilson’s heroism. It’s about how Kinnunen got a hold of a weapon in the first place, given his criminal record.”
Diaz’s article has been shared by multiple news outlets, including USA Today and Yahoo! News.
The Washington Post’s editorial board published an article Wednesday that is basically the exact same thing as what Diaz wrote. The board goes right from offering faint praise for Wilson to alleging Kinnunen “had access to a gun because of this country’s lax gun laws.” Again, this is just an assertion. The editorial then clarifies in the next two paragraphs that “exactly how” Kinnunen got his hands on a gun “is unclear.” Again, this is an admission that the Washington Post editorial board makes assertions even when it can’t back them up.
Like Diaz, the Post is also keen to argue that what happened this weekend in Texas does not count as an example of a “good guy with a gun” stopping a “bad guy with a gun” because Wilson is a well-trained professional. The editorial, whose key focus is to make sure gun rights activists cannot score a political win from Wilson’s heroism, also takes care to attack President Trump for politicizing the White Settlement shooting.
Elsewhere, CNN published an opinion article that likewise praises Wilson, but then asks, “Are we relegated to finding solace in the fact that only three people died inside of a church in the latest tragedy, and must we seek comfort in the idea that six people felt a need to be armed as they worshiped? Is this really how we live in America?”
The article then echoes the Post and Diaz in suggesting that Kinnunen obtained his gun legally. The basis for this claim is that “there are sufficient loopholes in firearms regulations and such an abundance of supply of weapons that anyone in America can get a gun, good guy or bad guy.”
If I did not know any better, I would say some in the press are more disturbed that gun rights activists were proved right this weekend than they were that a man nearly murdered hundreds of people inside a church.
