# In America, has an armed civilian ever taken down a rampaging psycho? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962 "2012-07-21T15:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Freakenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b782af/32.png) [@Freakenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freakenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962/81 "2012-08-04T23:08:31Z")
Just mentioning for all wanna-be rampage stoppers ( can’t cite though ). Alleged true story I read told about a guy who got in the middle of a rampage and he took cover until the situation was over. He had a gun but in panic he forgot it totally. Afterwards he felt that he was just as guilty of the deaths as the actual shooter. People in this kind of situations don’t usually go around telling how they hid and let the others die, so if the shooter isn’t stopped, You really can’t say that everybody else was unarmed. ---
**Author:** ![timber284](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@timber284](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timber284)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962/82 "2012-08-13T22:30:51Z")
I always read in blogs people saying that if someone in the movie theater had a gun, that the mass murder would have been stopped. This always seems to come up after a shooting rampage that makes the news. Is there any database or list of events where a shooting was stopped because someone in the crowd was carrying their own weapon (aside from a police officer) and used it on the attacker? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962/83 "2012-08-13T22:42:52Z")
I don’t know, but you might find something useful [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659327). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962/84 "2012-08-14T03:16:50Z")
Would it get in the news if they did? Data is hard to come by. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962/85 "2012-08-14T03:39:34Z")
> [@timber284](#): > > I always read in blogs people saying that if someone in the movie theater had a gun, that the mass murder would have been stopped. This always seems to come up after a shooting rampage that makes the news. Is there any database or list of events where a shooting was stopped because someone in the crowd was carrying their own weapon (aside from a police officer) and used it on the attacker? > [@Bozuit](#): > > I don’t know, but you might find something useful [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659327). [Moderator Note] Since the previous thread was active only a week ago, I have merged it with a new thread started in post #82. Colibri [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-has-an-armed-civilian-ever-taken-down-a-rampaging-psycho/628962.md?page=4)