Not making jokes, but that guy is the most Central Texas looking man I've ever seen.
Sharpshooting plumber fired shot that took down Texas church gunman
By Yaron Steinbuch
November 6, 2017 | 8:28am | Updated
Modal Trigger
Stephen WillefordFacebook
The man hailed as a hero for confronting the Texas mass shooter during his rampage is a sharpshooting plumber with no military background — who hit the gunman through a gap in his body armor, according to a report.
Stephen Willeford managed to shoot Devin Kelley — who reportedly grabbed a hostage — before jumping in another man’s truck and chasing him down, the Daily Mail reported.
Texas Department of Public Safety chief Freeman Martin said Willeford “grabbed his rifle and engaged the suspect” after Kelley left the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where he opened fire with an assault rifle and killed 26 people.
An area resident told the paper that Willeford, an avid biker who attends another church, learned about the shooting when his daughter called to say a man clad in body armor was shooting worshipers.
The local said that although Willeford has no military background, he didn’t hesitate when he came face to face with the suspect — and managed to squeeze off a round that struck the gunman, who had dropped his Ruger AR-15 variant.
By Yaron Steinbuch
November 6, 2017 | 8:28am | Updated
Modal Trigger
Stephen WillefordFacebook
The man hailed as a hero for confronting the Texas mass shooter during his rampage is a sharpshooting plumber with no military background — who hit the gunman through a gap in his body armor, according to a report.
Stephen Willeford managed to shoot Devin Kelley — who reportedly grabbed a hostage — before jumping in another man’s truck and chasing him down, the Daily Mail reported.
Texas Department of Public Safety chief Freeman Martin said Willeford “grabbed his rifle and engaged the suspect” after Kelley left the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, where he opened fire with an assault rifle and killed 26 people.
An area resident told the paper that Willeford, an avid biker who attends another church, learned about the shooting when his daughter called to say a man clad in body armor was shooting worshipers.
The local said that although Willeford has no military background, he didn’t hesitate when he came face to face with the suspect — and managed to squeeze off a round that struck the gunman, who had dropped his Ruger AR-15 variant.
That's simply untrue. There are multiple mechanisms we just aren't trusted with them.
No. If you have to rely on a tool to stave off tyranny you are ultimately just acting out another form of tyranny. The mechanisms of deliberation, participation and production are how we have nominal liberty today. These are all technologies, just like weapons, and they have a much higher success rate than weaponry except as a deterrent for the use of other weaponry.
Another shooting involving someone that had been in the military.
Ban armed forces!
Ban armed forces!
Bloody hell, a little 5 year old was shot 4 times and survived but his mother and 2 sisters didn't make it. I just hope he's young enough that he'll barely remember it. What a horrible start in life 
I'm not referring to a tool. I'm referring to regulations (specifically governmental) that impede natural progressions of human evolution.
If you're referring to regulations diverting natural progressions, that's their intended purpose. Regulations are also technologies and depending on the political winds and popular opinion, they shift societies in one direction or another. We haven't evolved for millennia in biological terms. All of our changes have been technological. You can say you disagree with particular aspects of the regulatory framework, but you can also migrate to places where the framework is more favorable to you.
I guess the better question is what regulations and evolution have to do with the topic at hand.
and that's where tyranny comes from.
do you find it odd that some of the most tyrannical governments of recent history decided to ban guns before they became their most tyrannical?
1
1031
Guest
Well if we're going to classify "regulations" as "technology" then all bets are off on defining anything.
A social mechanism is not technology. That doesn't diminish it's value but don't ask the rest of us to pretend social science is the same technological engineering. Any suggestion to the contrary is insecure horseshit.
People are corrupt and people in power are, historically speaking, the most corrupt. Any system which ignores this and gives complete trust to those in power is doomed. Guns allow the common person to keep the common officer from getting too out of hand. Why officers get out of hand is because they are in positions of power, and the people they report to are in greater positions of power and so on... At some point, the assholes on top will ask or even order the assholes just above you or I to act against us. This is what literally all of our recorded history indicates...and yet some people still think that by making the lower tier weaker, it will help.
education, understanding and a feeling of belonging, having upward mobility- these things prevent societal violence and so much more
A social mechanism is not technology. That doesn't diminish it's value but don't ask the rest of us to pretend social science is the same technological engineering. Any suggestion to the contrary is insecure horseshit.
People are corrupt and people in power are, historically speaking, the most corrupt. Any system which ignores this and gives complete trust to those in power is doomed. Guns allow the common person to keep the common officer from getting too out of hand. Why officers get out of hand is because they are in positions of power, and the people they report to are in greater positions of power and so on... At some point, the assholes on top will ask or even order the assholes just above you or I to act against us. This is what literally all of our recorded history indicates...and yet some people still think that by making the lower tier weaker, it will help.
education, understanding and a feeling of belonging, having upward mobility- these things prevent societal violence and so much more
Do you find it odd that most efforts to arm "rebels" as a means of overthrowing governments have ended in abysmal failure? Syria, Iraq, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Cuba, the list goes on.
no, do you think the term "rebels'' is synonymous with the common citizens who make up a country?
Yes. Who else do you think they are? If Trumpito declared martial law tomorrow, 40% of the country would cheer him on, 40% would do nothing and 20% would be the "rebels," desperately trying to either get the Mexican cartels to supply them weapons or get free passage to join the Weapon X program in Canada. The gun battle would go poorly and half the rebels would be wearing Hayabusa apparel while whistling Drake songs on their way through the Dakotas.
and you're basing these numbers on?
so you think that not only would the military follow Trump's hypothetical tyrannical orders, but 40% of citizens would cheer him on?
Voting patterns and Poutine sales.
so if Trump decided to follow your advice & confiscate private citizens' guns, what % of the military would comply with those orders?
Well, historically the government has a group of particularly devout socialists who believe the state is virtuous and will do the heavy lifting.
The Air Force is admitting an error that they didn't report this guy's crimes to the public. He was court-martialed in 2012 for domestic violence and eventually dishonorably discharged from the Air Force. However, his name was never entered into the National Criminal Information Center database which should have kept him from being able to purchase weapons.
But if we are being honest with ourselves, if a guy wants to get his hands on a gun it's pretty easy to do so. The bigger problem here is a branch of our military decided to wipe their hands of this dude.
He beat his wife repeatedly
Pointed a loaded gun at his wife
He cracked his stepson's skull - a toddler. Admitted to doing it on purpose.
The Air Force stripped him of rank and sentenced him to "confinement" for 12 months. After those 12 months, they kicked his ass out - basically releasing him to society.
Shortly after that he was charged with rape. Charges dismissed.
Then he was charged with animal cruelty - he was beating his puppy in the head.
The media is focusing on the firearm database failure, but it certainly looks to me like the writing was on the wall that this dude wasn't right in the head.
But if we are being honest with ourselves, if a guy wants to get his hands on a gun it's pretty easy to do so. The bigger problem here is a branch of our military decided to wipe their hands of this dude.
He beat his wife repeatedly
Pointed a loaded gun at his wife
He cracked his stepson's skull - a toddler. Admitted to doing it on purpose.
The Air Force stripped him of rank and sentenced him to "confinement" for 12 months. After those 12 months, they kicked his ass out - basically releasing him to society.
Shortly after that he was charged with rape. Charges dismissed.
Then he was charged with animal cruelty - he was beating his puppy in the head.
The media is focusing on the firearm database failure, but it certainly looks to me like the writing was on the wall that this dude wasn't right in the head.
Firearm database is a big failure though.
And then the justice system is another bigger failure.