We know the negative details of her past life a little too quickly. To me, that is shades of the politics of personal destruction. Because she is an anti-gun control hero (a Christian one at that), seems like she is now fair game for attack.

I mean I now know less about the gunmen that day than I do her.

This act of protection may ruin the rest of her life and there will be those who want/cause that to happen.

That does indeed make the story a lot more interesting. But it doesn't detract from her bravery in the least. She's redeemed herself a hundredfold. I'm not saying I could ever show that kind of heroism as I've never been in a circumstance like that. But I'm the kind of person that would want to slip back into obscurity.

JT, as a christian, I am encouraged by your little step. ww

I agree with wildwillie. one step at a time JT :)

Jay,

I suspect that being well-read, you probably have heard that Jesus is the Potter, and we are the Clay. You bein' molded, my friend ;)

Merry, Merry Christmas to all!

I read your blog everyday.This is my first comment ever.Please know there is a God .He sends his son to help.I have no idea why certain people are chosen to be touched by God,but they are.I assume you can get my e-mail .I would be happy to tell you my sons story.Thanks for taking time to read this

JT, the Holy Spirit may be workin' on ya right now. Don't get nervous or apprehensive. It's a good thing. Your writing skills are not the only thing that is blessed.

Rov

"I mean I now know less about the gunmen that day than I do her."

Isn't that great, though? As J was sayin', at VT and Columbine and all the others, the fame mostly rested with the perps. In this case, his name will be lost to obscurity, whited out by the heroine's 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Score one for the good guys (and gals).

Whatever caused her to do this is past my analysis, but asking for Devine guidance and walking into gunfire to save lives reminds me of John 15:13. Past issues notwithstanding, I have no problem with what she did.

Obviously, she would no longer fit in with the Minneapolis Police Department.

Baby steps Jay, baby steps... Heh.

I first read the details of this story here. I hadn't heard any of this stuff (been busy). Thanks for keeping me up to date. What a fascinating story.

This wonderful story only reinforces that it's impossible for me not to believe in God. Everyone in their own time, Jay. No hurries, no worries.

What a great essay on this story. I'd honestly never thought about the beauty of the killer dying at his own hand and leaving Jeanne, hero, standing without blood on her hands. Simply wonderful. Thanks, JT.

If this story converts you will the next story of seemingly random evil cause a retraction?

Changed human lives; science and history have plenty of evidence for belief in God.

Miracles are gifts from God. But to look to them for proof is childish.

Faith in God when life sucks is what counts in the end.

Thats my sermon.

Keep your agosticism Jay it makes your blogging more interesting. (Sarcasm)

Very interesting and intriguing essay. I'm not so sure you don't believe, though. Consider me an agnostic skeptic.

If the path were smooth, getting there would hardly be worth it.

Not to mention - she's also a hottie.

whether or not you believe in God, this story illustrates that there is good and evil in this world - something that seems beyond the comprehension of many of our liberal friends.

"It removes any hint that she had some special authority or official sanction for her actions. She was an ordinary citizen, no more and no less, who chose to exercise her 2nd Amendment rights under the Constitution, and was in the right place at the right time with the right tools to save countless lives -- and did so."

Jay, she had special authority and was officially sanctioned by the church. She was a volunteer security guard licensed (by the state) to carry a firearm. She was not an ordinary citizen out for a stroll with her trusted 44:

Boyd said there are 15 to 20 security people at the church. All are volunteers but the only ones armed are those who are licensed to carry weapons.

The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not "mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security," Boyd said.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/14817480/detail.html

The 2nd amendment states: "well regulated". That means the government can limit what weapons can be owned by whom and under what situations.

Lastly, I guess gods' hands were a little shaky when the two daughters got blow away?

Gotta say, the dismissal from the PD seems like it was BS. I wonder if they had a problem with the existence of women cops and this was just a way to lose one.

Just to be clear, the news reports on the gunman all state that she put him down, and then he killed himself. Regardless of his actions, she stopped his killing spree.

Even though the efforts of Jeanne Assam were indeed to be admired, as she had steely nerves in a time of real crisis and certainly saved many lives, the press desperately wanted to report a hero story and ran ahead of all the facts once again.

Yeah, they ran ahead with the hero story and then picked up steam by running even faster with the disgraced hero story.

As someone or other said... it's hard to complain much when it means that most of us don't even know the killer's name.

As it should be.

As a former Marine, all I can say is that this woman is my hero. She advanced into the attack laying down an effective and accurate fire. How many others could do the same.

The only caution I could add is that it's not safe to attend a gunfight with a caliber that does not begin with a .4. The MSM didn't say what she was using but I suspect something smaller. Still, you do the best with what you have and she certainly did. I am in awe of her courage whatever its source.

What facts did they run with. She stopped the killer whether she killed him or not. In police lingo you shoot until the threat is gone you do not shoot to kill. What I see going on is a civilian, using a gun, stopped a killer and this is a threat to people saying armed citizens can't be trusted to have guns.

I can't imagine a police department in the country that would not want her on their force now.

I have a great deal of admiration and gratitude for what Ms. Assam did. Nonetheless, I'm not sure I'd jump to this conclusion.

While it certainly is possible that she was the victim of a vindictive male-chauvinist police bureaucracy, she went thru a police union grievance procedure and didn't get just a reprimand, but was thrown off the force. It's hard for me to believe that a cop would be booted just for cussing. While you can't believe everything you read on the internet, there are a couple of websites (naturally, they are pretty short on details) which indicate that she had a history of brutality towards the public as a police officer, which might explain why she was punished so severely for what appears to be a minor transgression.

I don't know what the full story is on Ms. Assam's police career, and she deserves nothing but contgratulations and gratitude for her actions Sunday. That said, I can easily imagine why a police department would not want her on their force.

As much as I hate to disarm an unarmed opponenet -

"Boyd said there are 15 to 20 security people at the church. All are volunteers but the only ones armed are those who are licensed to carry weapons."

Yes, well, only those with permits to carry weapons can legally carry in the church, and I'm sure the church and the volunteers wanted to stay within the law. That is what responsible citizens do - they stay within the law. And a responsible citizen with a concealed weapon ended a killing spree.

You can contend that "the government can limit what weapons can be owned by whom and under what situations", but that is not the meaning of the 2nd Amendment and not the intent of conceal-and-carry laws, which are a means of ensuring that responsible citizens can (rightfully) bear their arms without inducing panic.

Quit being such a phallus, Barney.

The story is what it is and will continue to develop. And people on both sides of the 2nd Amendment argument - as well as the religious "implications" angle - will try to use it to their rhetorical advantage.

Luckily they were prepared and someone was capable of and willing to make the attempt to bring the situation to an end before it became much worse.

I don't find it any more compelling as a "Come to Jesus" moment than the athlete who claims God guided them to victory. Like Jules and Vincent, some people see Divine Intervention where others see coincidence.

Barney, as is usual your ignorance is astonishing. Armed security guards in Colorado have licensing requirements no more strict than that of citizens with concealed weapon permits.

It is astonishing the reliability of your comments - each time you make one, you are wrong.

El K and SP, how were my statements wrong? The "hero" was there in an official capacity ordered by the church. As an ex police officer she had, and so did the other security guards, training to deal with the situation, as was implied by the statement "who are screened".

Jay was incorrect when he wrote that she had no authority or official standing at the church.

Barney, you're such a putz. First you argue that she did have special authority. Well, this is indeed true. She had the authority of the church to act as security. But only a putz would nit-pick that point ignoring the larger issue; she was a PRIVATE citizen who VOLUNTEERED to act as security.

Then you push it even further, smugly saying:

Jay was incorrect when he wrote that she had no authority or official standing at the church.

How many times did you read his post looking for that pitiful angle?

Someone get a mop. Barney has peed on the floor again.

SP, Colorado has NO licensing requirement for either armed or unarmed security guards. Therefore the requirements for a handgun carry permit are actually MORE stringent than required to be a security guard.

BarneyG is caught in a lie of misrepresentation when he says that she and the other "security guards"(I was a manager in private security for some years and so know better than to call volunteers actual security guards)had any kind of special training. The only training that there can be any certainty of in this case is that required to receive a handgun carry permit in the state of Colorado... Which anyone in the state can apply for and receive since Colorado is a shall issue state.

Hey, Maggie, you gonna bust El K for calling BG a dick? How about SPQR for calling him stupid? No? Didn't think so. That's the bias I'm talking about. Oh look, there's Oyster piling on. I'll bet you don't have a problem with that.
Believe it or not, I respect the idea of civil discourse. I just think the rules should be applied evenly and if Maggie can't do it then find someone who can.

BarneyG is caught in a lie of misrepresentation...

No, I was not. I only provided the quote attributed to Pastor Boyd: "The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not "mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security," Boyd said."

Some are licensed to carry arms and others are not but all were screened and at least one that we know about was an ex cop.

Jay, and others, have implied that if all persons in good standing with the law should be able to carry loaded firearms, and then any citizen could have prevented this or other shootings.

Her training had more to do with the outcome then did god.

Barney, I'm getting very tired of your willful ignorance. But I'm gonna give it one more shot (pardon the expression):

Ms. Assam is NOT a professional security guard. She works full-time for Messenger International, a Christian ministry.

The Church does NOT have the authority to license or otherwise give any sort of official, GOVERNMENT sanction to security guards.

Members of the church, as private individuals, CHOSE to form a "church militia" after seeking and receiving permission from the church to operate on their property. The church did nothing more than give its consent; each of the members provided their own weapons (those that had them), all (I presume) duly licensed by the state to each individual for their own use, their own purposes.

To sum up, Barney, this w