The National Rifle Association is pushing back on critics of expanded concealed carry freedoms with a new and emotional twist on its “good guy with a gun” pitch first made after the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Noting the media’s general refusal to report when legally held guns are used to repel attackers, the NRA said today that it occurs over 1 million times a year.
But, the Virginia-based Second Amendment rights advocate said, the nation’s five largest newspapers offered just 10 stories in 2021 about legal gun owners defending themselves, families, and friends.
The group said those same papers ran 1,743 stories in which the words “murder,” “gunfire,” or “shots” were mentioned.
The new online campaign features the story of Phoenix-area NRA member Raul Mendez and how he broke up a mass shooting despite having his eye shot out and being left for dead. It’s a story he believes was not covered by major media because he succeeded in quickly recovering and killing the alleged assailant.
“If I didn’t have my gun, everyone in the house would have died,” he said. “The news vans would have been front and center. But because I did, you never even heard about it,” he added.
On July 3, Raul Mendez was celebrating freedom with his family and friends when a man walked in and opened fire.
Raul was shot through the head, but still got up, pulled his concealed carry, and took out the shooter.
The media never covered his story. And we all know why. pic.twitter.com/fjWe8tlvcP
— NRA (@NRA) September 7, 2022
According to news reports about the shooting in Surprise, Arizona, 25 miles northwest of Phoenix, Mendez and his family were socializing at a friend’s house on July 3 when a neighbor they didn’t know opened fire in the home.
Mendez was shot in the head, losing his left eye, and a friend was instantly killed. As Mendez’s wife and children fled to a bedroom, the gunman pulled out a second gun and headed to the bedroom. Mendez recovered from his injuries quickly enough to fire four shots into the assailant, killing him.
His family has created a GoFundMe, promoted by the NRA, to help with his medical bills, raising over $17,000 of a goal of $100,000.
His wife, Cynthia Mendez, wrote of her husband, “We pray to God our hero will one day recover enough to have a normal life. We give daily thanks to God that he was there to protect his family and that he was carrying his ever-present concealed weapon – he certainly prevented further casualties in the defense of our family and loved ones by stopping the threat.”
Mendez said he was in the hospital for five days. “When I finally got out, I bought my family two handguns to train with. Evil will always exist, and we are more ready to confront it with equal force now more than ever. This family will never be victims again,” he said.
Since Sandy Hook, concealed carry permits have been in strong demand despite media criticism. It has jumped recently, especially among minorities, amid the national crime wave, especially in cities.
Gun sales have also nearly doubled since 2012, according to the FBI, especially among women and minorities.
