How The Good Guy With a Gun Got Shot By the Bad Guy Without a Gun
Remind me again how this good guy with a gun thing works.
In south Florida, a 72 year old disabled Vietnam combat vet had volunteered to help protect sea turtle nests. Stan Pannaman went with the South Florida Audubon Society president to monitor some sea turtle sites.
When they go there, they were confronted by a 38 year old man named Michael Q. McAuliffe. McAuliffe hates the sea turtle people. I mean, hates them. And he expressed as much.
McAuliffe took a swing at the South Florida Audubon Society president and then came toward Pannaman. Here’s where the story gets crazy.
“That’s when I pulled a handgun from the pocket of my shorts.”
Pannaman said he did not point the gun — a .32 caliber Kel-Tec pistol — directly at his assailant, but turned so the man could see it. “He stopped,” said Pannaman. “I thought I had defused the situation.”
And then, of course, once he had put the gun back in his pocket, the 38 year old McAuliff jumps the 72 year old disabled Pannaman and gets the gun out of his pocket.
Of. Freekin’. Course.
Luckily, Pannaman was able to turn away from McAuliff so he only got shot in the butt.
He explains.
“After he shot me, the guy looked like he was in shock. He looked very, very surprised. He actually headed toward me and said, ‘How are you? Are you OK?’
“Sir, you shot me. How could I be OK?” Pannaman replied.
I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but the use of the word “sir” seems a tad suspicious.
Remind me again how this good guy with a gun thing works.
Thanks to Ralph for the heads up.
Downright stupefying! I saw this posted elsewhere and could not believe it. What does McAuliffe have against sea turtles? Was his psyche wounded forever when he read the children’s book Trouble with Turtles? Or is it a thing about old men doing volunteer work, especially if they are vets? And McAuliffe was amazed that when the gun went off in his hand that it hit somebody! Time to take the boy and put him where the walls don’t echo.
1I think the core problem here is that we did not have a good guy with a gun. We had a fool brandishing a gun stupidly. And we had another fool on the other side who apparently suffers from gun-envy.
I’m just glad no turtle was harmed in the making of this farce.
2More movie material….
3First of all … it’s in Flori-duh!!
The 38 year old doesn’t like turtle people/protectors … so he jumps on a 72-year-old veteran who happens to want to protect the turtles … one thing leads to another and the old dude gets popped in the butt!
Sorry, but this made me LOL: “Sir, you shot me. How could I be OK?” Pannaman replied.
Seems like just another day in Paradise.
While some jerk-off in CO Springs cut the cord to the American flag at City Hall and proceeded to set Old Glory on fire in front of the Police Station. Yup … just another day in the City of becoming more insane by the day!!
4It figures.
5At least the turtles could claim self-defense under stand your ground. (er sand)
6I’m sittin’ here stupefied with maggie. And befuddled. And etc. I thought the good guy with a gun was supposed to prevail.
7If McAuliff still had the gun in his hand calling him “sir” clearly would have been more diplomatic and safer than the name old Stan might have chosen if the gun was back in his possession.
8Maryelle wins the internet today. 🙂
9Why the hell would someone think that brandishing a gun defuses a situation? Unless you are ready to shoot, don’t flash your stupid penis extension at anyone.
10Once again, carrying a gun leads to someone getting shot when it was completely unnecessary. It’s just that this time the one with the gun is the one who got shot.
The only useful thing the gun did was to make the crazy man stop what he was doing… after he shot somebody. Kind of a toss-up, I guess.
11The young one was probably a video game player where no one really gets hurt, so he thought that’s how it works in real life.
12He’s in jail without bond.
13He’s not a nice person.
As others have said…how many gun rules can you break in one story?
Don’t carry a piece if you a) don’t know how to use it and b) are not willing to use it. Someone will see it and give you an excuse.
Don’t draw a piece unless you intend to use it *right then*. It’s not enough to not point it at someone, to “just let him see it”…once you’re drawn it, it’s either fish or cut bait, because you’re hanging your life and the other guy’s on the line. (Yeah, mixed metaphors. So are guns.) When a typical person sees a gun in someone’s hand, they fixate on it…it’s scary, it’s fascinating, what’s that guy doing with it, is he going to shoot me? So brandishing it and then turning around releases the “Get it out of his hand before he shoots somebody [me]”. And then, being high on adrenalin from, nine people out of ten will stick their finger inside the trigger guard and squeeze, and if they’re not practiced shooters will be surprised by what happens next…loud noise! Something or someone gets hit. Despite the utter illogic (because every adult in this country knows that guns do fire if you pull the trigger and they do make a noise, and big-T-Trouble comes out the little hole in the other end) a lot of people will say “I didn’t mean to!” or “I don’t know what happened!”
As with dogs threatening attack, you don’t turn your back on a threat, armed or not. You don’t show a dog a stick and turn your back. You don’t show a potential attacker a gun and turn your back. Turning your back means “I am prey, attack me.”
I’m sorry the good guy got shot. I’m sorry the bad guy didn’t manage to shoot himself in the leg or something instead of shooting the good guy. Let’s not blame age: I’m only a couple years younger than the good guy, and I’m also a vet, as is my husband, and both of us have more sense than to turn our backs on a threat.
14@Elizabeth Moon
15Thanks for the entre to once again share the gospel of Jeff Cooper and firearms safety!
“1. All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2.Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. (For those who insist that this particular gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.)
3.Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.
4.Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identified.”
What we have is a guy who is not wise. In the words of Tuco, “when you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvSZ_HQmZgQ
16@Clandestine Bookworm:
17Never thought I’d live to see TG,TB,TU quotes on TWMDBSI!
Stupid is as stupid does, and in Floriduh, stupid is stoopid.
18People beat me to “It’s FloriDUH”! But that is exactly what it is…and I want OUT of here..but not sure my my native Texan husband is even willing to return to Texas. I am NOT a Floridian, and DH had me ‘naturalized’ at Folk Fest in San Antonio when we lived and taught there. Hmmmm
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