Monday, December 22, 2008

Heroes

As a card carrying LTCF holder, who carries 24/7 except where prohibited (rassafrassarappafrappinfrassarassa) I've commented long and often about the role of the sheepdogs among us. Not only the personal but social responsibility one takes on when they decide to carry a firearm. Including the possibility of putting yourself between harm and innocent lives.
Such personification, a hero of mine since the day God directed her return fire December 9, 2007, is Jeanne Assam, who saved countless lives when she took down Matthew Murray at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs after he had already killed 4 and was hellbent on more.
This may seem off topic for IBA but I don't think it is. Pasto & I have discussed this once or twice in comments already. Sooner or later, the jihadis will come, and it's going to be the sheepdogs on the front line, while the cops are on the way, surrounding the place, trying to figure out what to do. And the media, breathlessly reporting every shot they hear fired.
The grandfather in the mall with the .45 he's carried since the war, single mom in church with the shiny snubnose, coworker at lunch with you who has a .38 in an ankle holster. There is no better reason to support the 2nd Amendment and (oh did I reach for this) Support Your Local Gunfighter. Unless you'd rather that gunfighter just walk away and leave you to the jihadis & their devices.
Who do you want between you and the next Mohammed Atta? The bimbo trying to figure out how to dial 911 on her brand new cellphone? Or that ordinary looking geek who just pulled out a 4 inch .357 that he has been training with 3 or 4 hours a week, just in case.
Anyway, heroes. Found this over at Xavier Thoughts. Jeanne Assam (and others of New Life Church) one year on.

Jeanne Assam - One Year Later

On Dec. 9, 2007 Jeanne Assam was forced to shoot Matthew Murray after he killed two sisters at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Once shot and cornered, Murray turned his violent rage on himself. With her valiant actions, Ms. Assam ended a murderous crime spree that took the lives of four people in two cities.

She found herself an instant focal point in a debate over the legitimacy of concealed carry for collective defense. She was an armed citizen to be taken down by the Brady Campaign, painted as a security guard by the mainstream media, and the darling of internet gun forums. Through it all, she remained a quiet, introspective person. A year later, in this article, she reflects on the action she was forced to take. "He didn't start off to be mixed up and confused," Assam said of Murray. "He started off to be a good person but he went down a wrong path."

While watching the children's Sunday school area, Assam heard shots in the parking lot, and then saw Murray coming down the hall with a rifle. "I saw him, it seemed like the halls cleared out, and I saw him coming through the doors, and I took cover. I waited for him to get closer, I came out of cover, and I identified myself. I engaged him and I took him down," Jeanne Assam said at a news conference afterwards. Jeanne Assam fired 10 shots from 63 feet away. She hit the gunman once in the wrist and twice in the leg. Unable to continue his rampage, Murray then committed suicide.

"I don't feel bad about what I had to do," Assam says today. "I'm sad that people died. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It still feels a little surreal for me for some reason."



Carry a gun. The life you save may be more than your own. You may never know how many you saved, only how many you didn't. -- MR

12 comments:

Pastorius said...

Assam is, as I understand it, a Muslim name. And, Jeane is Lebanese. Proving several things,

1) that being of a Muslim family does not preclude one from being a good human being

2) race has nothing to do with with ideology

3) ideology does, however, have something to do with whether one is a good person

midnight rider said...

Dead on for all your points, however:

This particular Assam is a Christian, who was praying to the Holy Spirit for guidance the entire time she was returning fire.

(Assam may have been her married name though I don't know that for sure).

midnight rider said...

Pasto you are indeed correct about the Lebanese ancestry. If interested I found this: http://northshorejournal.org/more-about-jeanne-assam

Pastorius said...

Yeah, you're right, she is a Christian, but if I'm not mistaken, the name connotes Islamic heritage.

Pastorius said...

I looked it up further. I'm 98% convinced Assam is a Muslim name. Her family must have been Muslim at one point a few generations in the past. So, my points are important to take note of.

Especially for all those who would like to align with Ethnic nationalist parties.

midnight rider said...

Point well taken.

The site I mentioned above said the family was not particularly religious, until her mother became so later in life. Jeanne only became so a year or so before this incident. And she's a 2nd generation immigrant.

You're right. VB would trash them on name alone. Until, of course, the only thing between a Mathew Murray and DeWinter was Jeanne and her Beretta.

Anonymous said...

Probably descendants of Crusaders.

Michael Travis said...

Many, many, many people in the Middle-East change their names to "Mozlem versions" to avoid the wrath of their neighbours.

However.

The ancestors of Middle-Eastern Christians were converted by Christ's original apostles......not a fat guy on TV or some fellow in a circus tent.

In a meeting with Christian groups last week-end in Atlanta, I was told that those long suffering Middle-Eastern Christians were not "real Christians". I guess they have suffered and died for 2000 years...in vain.

Someone call Rick Warren quick!

(I am awaiting the inevitable, feeble, knee-jerk repudiation of this post.)

Pastorius said...

God created balls.

Jesus Himself had balls. They were hairy.

God Created Big Hairy Balls, and He created them for a reason.

Jeanne Assam has Big Hairy Balls.

Pastorius said...

MR,
You said: the only thing between a Mathew Murray and DeWinter was Jeanne and her Beretta.


I say: Yep, and her will to use it. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

midnight rider said...

Michael -- sounds like some folks in Atlanta need a bitch slap. Not only are they real Christians, in the middle east they would have been among the first Christians.

Pasto -- she's got stones, that's for sure. Just walked him down firing 10 rounds while being fired upon. She must have had an army of guardian angels that day. God Bless her.

Michael Travis said...

"....they would have been among the first Christians."

The Southern Baptists being the very first! :)