Author: Grumpy
Categories
Rock Island Armory 1911 Review
Chris Eger
An armed private citizen chased down a school shooter at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school on Thursday afternoon, shot him inside the building, and ended the attack before officers had cleared their vehicles.
Three children and a teacher are still dead. Two more — a seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher — are in critical condition at St. Charles Medical Center. The suspect, a 16-year-old Bend resident with a long gun, was killed where he fell. What the armed citizen prevented is the counterfactual nobody will put a number on.
What Happened
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz laid out the timeline at a Thursday press conference, as KTVZ reported in its officials’ update. The first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m. A caller in a vehicle reported that someone with a long gun had fired at them multiple times. Dispatch then took dozens more calls in quick succession.
Silver Rail Elementary School went into lockdown at 1:01 p.m. The shooter forced his way inside by firing at the locked doors. According to Krantz, a community member saw the suspect enter the school, followed him in, and shot him before officers made entry. Krantz said the citizen “saw the suspect enter the school and pursued him and engaged him.”
Officers arrived shortly after, confirmed the suspect was dead, and swept the building room by room. Students and staff were bused to a nearby church to reunite with their families. Investigators were still working to determine whether the shooter had any connection to Silver Rail.
The Response
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the unidentified citizen in a Bend press conference that evening, saying the person “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life.” She added, “All Oregonians mourn this loss today.”
“Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden,” Kotek told the citizen, “and I just want you to know my thoughts are with you as well.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said agents were on scene assisting Bend PD and that the Bureau would provide whatever resources were needed.
What This Was
A 16-year-old shot his way through locked doors into an elementary school with the clear intent of killing children. He killed three of them and a teacher before the three-minute mark. He didn’t get further because a civilian with a legally carried firearm chose to run toward the gunfire instead of away from it. By the time police were on scene, the threat was already down.
That gap has a name in the training world: time to effective resistance—how long it takes someone capable of stopping the threat to reach it and act—is the only number that matters once the shooting starts. Police response time is a measure of how long before an officer can intervene. The armed citizen’s time to effective resistance in Bend was the time it took him or her to see the shooter, close the distance, draw, and fire. Krantz has officers on scene at 1:02. The threat was already down.
The polling has moved. The media coverage has moved. The country has moved. More Americans are carrying — more women, more first-time owners, more people from communities that didn’t carry a generation ago — and the reason is the one playing out in Bend today. When someone decides a classroom full of children is a target, seconds count when first responders are minutes away. That is why law-abiding Americans keep buying guns, and why they keep carrying them.
Three children. A teacher. Two more fighting for their lives. And a civilian who did what the moment required, who will carry the weight of that act for the rest of his or her life. That person saved an unknown number of kids. The country owes them more than a thank-you.
James Talarico wants a seat in the U.S. Senate, and the National Rifle Association is making sure Texas gun owners know what he wants to do with it: ban commonly owned firearms and standard-capacity magazines.
The NRA has released a new 30-second ad targeting the Democrat’s support for so-called “assault weapons” bans. Titled “Yes Absolutely,” the spot uses Talarico’s own words to put his gun-control positions before voters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The Texas ad is part of the NRA’s broader multi-million-dollar investment in congressional races nationwide, aimed at protecting and expanding pro-gun majorities in the House and Senate.
Talarico’s Own Words Make the Case
According to the NRA’s announcement, the ad features a video in which Talarico endorsed banning “assault weapons” and commonly owned magazines. It pairs that footage with a more recent NewsNation appearance.
Asked whether an “assault weapons” ban remained “on the table,” Talarico answered: “Absolutely.”
For Texans who own the firearms and magazines targeted by those proposals, that answer leaves little room for comforting campaign spin. Talarico supports federal restrictions on arms that law-abiding Americans choose for defending themselves and their families.
“James Talarico has been coming for our guns for years,” the ad states. “He would outlaw the most popular firearms in Texas.”
The NRA has dubbed Talarico “Beto 2.0,” invoking another Texas Democrat whose gun-control agenda became a defining feature of his political identity. Talarico’s continued embrace of firearm bans gives gun owners ample reason to take the comparison seriously.
The Second Amendment protects the people’s right to keep and bear arms. It does not give politicians authority to reduce that right to a list of firearms they find politically acceptable.
NRA Makes Texas Senate Race a Priority
NRA-PVF Chairman John Commerford said Talarico’s support for a federal ban should disqualify him in the eyes of Texas gun owners.
“By vowing to vote for a so-called assault weapons ban if elected to the Senate, James Talarico kicked a hornet’s nest. Nearly half of Texas households have guns, and millions of law-abiding Texans own the very rifles and standard-capacity magazines he would ban. Gun owners will decide this election—and Talarico just gave them another reason to vote.”
The NRA’s release also points to Talarico’s legislative record, including his vote against constitutional carry and support for stricter gun-control measures.
Taken together, those positions show opposition to both carrying firearms without a government permission slip and owning categories of arms targeted by gun-ban advocates. Texas voters deserve to weigh that record when considering who will represent them in Washington.
Gun Bus Tour Backs Advertising With Grassroots Outreach
The NRA is pairing its advertising campaign with its Gun Bus battleground tour and traditional get-out-the-vote operation.
The organization says the bus will make multiple Texas stops, giving members and gun owners opportunities to learn about candidates’ records, receive issue updates, and participate in local voter outreach.
The broader operation includes millions of NRA Orange Cards, targeted text messages, and door-knocking efforts across Texas and other battleground states.
Commerford said the organization is combining advertising with “boots-on-the-ground outreach” to mobilize gun owners while control of the Senate hangs in the balance.
Talarico has supplied the central issue himself. Asked whether banning commonly owned firearms remains an option, he said “Absolutely.” Gun owners should take him at his word. Electing a senator who supports those bans would give Washington’s gun-control bloc another vote against their rights. Texans have every reason to remember that when they cast their ballots on November 3.
About Duncan Johnson:
Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor and editor-in-chief for AmmoLand News and is responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.
