Jordan Salinas: Another 'good guy with a gun' ruins the gun control lobby's narrative



Jordan Salinas had already seen one mass shooting.

In October 2021, he was at the Boise Towne Square mall when a gunman opened fire, killing two people and wounding several others. Salinas remembers thinking about his brother, who uses a wheelchair, and what would happen if the two of them ever found themselves trapped in such a situation.

Fire extinguishers can be used incorrectly too. That's not an argument for limiting their use to professional firefighters.

So he did something about it. He began training.

Last Saturday afternoon, almost five years later, Salinas and his girlfriend pulled into the parking lot of the newly opened In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho. People were streaming out of the restaurant. At first, Salinas figured there had been some kind of kitchen fire.

Then he heard gunshots.

What happened next is worth lingering over, if only because we've been told so many times that it doesn't really happen.

Salinas drew the semiautomatic pistol he was carrying and moved toward the shooting.

The gunman, identified by police as 24-year-old Chad Williams, had already killed three people and wounded seven. Salinas fired at him. So did an off-duty Idaho state trooper who happened to be nearby.

Neither man delivered the movie-ending kill shot. Williams eventually died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

But Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks says their intervention mattered. "We believe their actions drove the suspect from the scene, preventing further casualties," he said.

In other words, not one, but two good guys with a gun showed up. And things could have been a lot worse if they hadn't.

Myth busters

If the phrase "good guy with a gun" sounds corny, blame former NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, who turned it into a slogan after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre famously said.

Ever since, journalists and gun-control advocates have devoted considerable energy to informing us that this seemingly self-evident proposition is, in fact, a "fantasy."

Salon was still at it in 2024, publishing a story headlined "'Manipulation of fear': New analysis blows hole in 'good guy with a gun' myth."

The article, originally published by Common Dreams, described armed self-defense as an "enduring myth" propagated by "right-wing politicians and the powerful gun lobby." The Center for American Progress report on which it was based went further, calling the good-guy-with-a-gun idea one of the gun lobby's "most personal and insidious" myths.

"The Bulwark" wasn't troubled by ambiguity either. In a 2024 podcast episode titled "Debunking the 'Good Guy with a Gun' Myth," it brought on gun-control activist Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was murdered in the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

There's a grim irony here. Guttenberg is now among the Parkland family members suing the Broward Sheriff's Office over what they say was its negligent response to the massacre. Eight years later, the case is finally headed toward trial.

In other words, one of the men enlisted to debunk the usefulness of an armed "good guy" lost his daughter in a massacre in part because the armed good guys who were supposed to protect her failed to act.

Exception or rule?

On the rare occasion that the "myth" debunkers provide a real-world example, it doesn't always make the case they think it does.

Consider the Trace. The nonprofit newsroom devoted to gun violence returned to the familiar theme last December with a story headlined "There Was No 'Good Guy With a Gun' in Salt Lake City."

This time, at least, there was a good reason for the skepticism. An armed member of a volunteer safety team at a Salt Lake City No Kings protest opened fire on a man carrying a rifle and accidentally shot and killed an innocent demonstrator.

A tragic mistake? Absolutely. Evidence that an armed bystander can make a chaotic situation even worse? Certainly. That's one reason carrying a firearm entails considerably more responsibility than carrying a reusable shopping bag.

Evidence that the "good guy with a gun" is a myth? That's harder to see.

Especially considering how gun control advocates treat cases in which a bystander with a gun acted safely and responsibly.

Faint praise

I've written about this curious phenomenon before.

In July 2022, 20-year-old Jonathan Sapirman entered the Greenwood Park Mall outside Indianapolis carrying a rifle, a pistol, and more than 100 rounds of ammunition. He killed three people in just 15 seconds.

Then 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken shot him.

Dicken was shopping with his girlfriend. He had no military or law-enforcement background. He was legally carrying a Glock pistol and, from roughly 40 yards away, hit Sapirman repeatedly, then moved closer while directing fleeing shoppers toward an exit.

Greenwood Police Chief James Ison called Dicken's actions "nothing short of heroic."

CNN agreed — sort of.

"Making Dicken's heroism perhaps even more remarkable," the network explained, "is the fact cases of an armed bystander attacking an active shooter are rare."

Thanks, CNN.

And so the usual cycle plays out: Armed civilian stops a shooter; media reports it, when the story is too conspicuous to ignore; then somebody rushes in to remind readers that what they just watched happen never happens.

RELATED: Aim true: Anna Thomasson sets her sights on empowering women through firearms training

Matt Himes

How often is 'never'?

But are people like Elisjsha Dicken really that rare?

Last August, two gunmen opened fire on a house party in Harvey, Illinois, hitting five people, including a 4-year-old child. A concealed-carry license holder returned fire, killing one alleged shooter and wounding the other, who was taken into custody.

Last year in Rapid City, South Dakota, police say a man attempting to steal merchandise from a convenience store pulled a knife when confronted by an employee. A customer drew a pistol and held him there until police arrived.

In the latter case, nobody got shot or stabbed. Funny how these stories sometimes end before there's much of a story to report.

In Chicago in October 2024, a 23-year-old man driving by saw another man fighting with a woman and stopped to help. Police say the other man pulled a gun. The bystander — a licensed concealed carrier — pulled his own and shot him.

That same month, also in Chicago, a group of men allegedly attempted to carjack a 47-year-old driver, spraying him with some kind of chemical agent. The driver, another concealed-carry license holder, opened fire, hitting one of the alleged attackers. He survived.

You can argue about any one of these cases. You can argue about gun laws, concealed carry, training requirements, crime rates, suicide, accidents, domestic shootings, or any of the other considerations that make gun policy more complicated than an NRA bumper sticker.

What you can't plausibly argue is that armed citizens never use guns successfully to defend themselves or other people.

Yet somehow we've moved from "How often does this happen?" to "It never happens."

Disarming statistics

According to the FBI's active shooter reports, armed citizens stopped just 14 of 350 active shooters between 2014 and 2023 — a measly 4%.

If that number sounds familiar, it should. It's the kind of statistic regularly trotted out to debunk the "good guy with a gun."

Economist John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center says there's a big problem with that calculation: The FBI is missing a lot of active shooter incidents.

Applying what it says is the FBI's own definition of an active shooter, CPRC found 515 incidents over the same period — 165 additional shootings that never made it into the FBI dataset in the first place.

That's important because many of the missing incidents ended with an armed citizen stopping the shooter. If those shootings aren't classified as active shooter incidents, the good guys who stopped them don't get counted either.

CPRC also identified five cases the FBI did count but, it argues, mischaracterized the armed civilian's role. In two, armed civilians caused shooters to flee but weren't credited with stopping them because police later made the arrests. In two others, armed civilians were classified as security personnel.

Put it all together, and the difference is enormous: The FBI's reports credit armed citizens with stopping 14 of 350 active shooters, or 4%. CPRC says the actual number is 180 of 515, or 35%.

Gun rights, right time

Sometimes the guy with the gun isn't a good guy. Sometimes he's frightened, reckless, drunk, or stupid. Sometimes he mistakes the victim for the attacker. Sometimes the presence of another gun makes a chaotic situation even worse.

Fire extinguishers can be used incorrectly too. That's not an argument for limiting their use to professional firefighters.

And here's the strange thing about this whole debate: The "good guy with a gun" isn't even the principal argument for the right to own a gun.

The Second Amendment doesn't guarantee Americans the right to keep and bear arms on the condition that a sufficient number of them eventually stop mass shootings. Nor does anyone need to prove that armed civilians routinely save the day in order to justify owning a firearm for self-defense.

The occasional good guy who happens to be in the right place when a bad guy starts shooting is simply one of the benefits of living in a country where ordinary citizens can be armed.

Jordan Salinas acted heroically. If there's a general "lesson" to be derived from his actions, it's one that is modest and hard to dispute: When a murderous man starts shooting innocent people, having another responsible, trained, and courageous person nearby who can shoot back can make a difference.

That appears to be precisely what happened in Twin Falls. How often does it have to happen before we can stop pretending it doesn't?

Judge rejects the Onion's bid for Infowars, calling it 'doomed' after cancellation of live auction



The Onion, a Chicago-based liberal satire publication that was recently purchased by longtime Democratic donor Jeff Lawson, attempted to acquire the assets of Alex Jones' Infowars empire last month in a court-ordered bankruptcy auction. Gun-grab activists and other leftists celebrated the news that the Onion had supposedly won the auction with an apparently suboptimal bid. Ben Collins, the CEO of the Onion's parent company Global Tetrahedron, promised he would turn the platform into a "cosmic joke."

Collins' punitive plans were tripped up by the Houston bankruptcy judge involved the case, district Judge Christopher Lopez, who paused the acquisition and reportedly said, "No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction."

After weeks of uncertainty about the fate of the sale, Lopez rejected the Onion's bid Tuesday evening, ruling the auction process unfair and noting that money was left on the table.

Lopez said that Christopher Murray, the court-appointed trustee who is liquidating Jones' estate, failed both to run a transparent auction process and to provide a rival bidder associated with Jones, First United American Companies, an opportunity to improve its bid, reported NBC News.

'It clearly was and must have been the subject of conspiratorial negotiation and agreement.'

"I think you've got to go out and try to get every dollar," said the judge. "I think that the process fell down."

According to the Washington Post, FUAC's $3.5 million bid was nearly double the Onion's supposedly winning cash bid. FUAC, an organization affiliated with Jones' supplements business, argued in court that its higher bid should have prevailed and that Murray improperly picked the Onion's bid.

Lawyers for FUAC and Jones raised concerns about fraud and collusion, questioning how auctioneer Jeff Tanenbaum valued the Onion's $1.75 million cash and incentives bid at $7 million and why a live action had been spiked.

They also complained about a gross lack of transparency, claiming, for instance, that "no announcement was ever made that joint bids, bifurcated bids, floating amounts or other form of non-final 'best and highest' bid structures was even in the contemplation of the Trustee and the Defendants, which it clearly was and must have been the subject of conspiratorial negotiation and agreement."

Jones raised some of these concerns with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck last month, alleging that the initial sale of Infowars was "100% cut-and-dry illegal."

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Lopez reportedly said when delivering his decision, "I don't think anyone acted in bad faith here. I think everyone was trying to buy an asset and put their best foot forward and play by the rules."

'It's like being held under water and finally getting air.'

"It seemed doomed almost from the moment they decided to go to a sealed bid," said Lopez, reported the New York Times. "Nobody knows what anybody else is bidding."

According to Bloomberg, the decision means Jones could remain in control of the platform.

In a statement shared by Collins on X, the Onion, which previously mocked the death of Corey Comperatore, noted, "We are deeply disappointed in today's decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured. We will also continue to seek a path towards purchasing InfoWars in the coming weeks."

Chris Mattei, an attorney for the families who backed the Onion's bid, said in a statement obtained by the Post, "This decision doesn't change the fact that, soon, Alex Jones will begin to pay his debt to these families and he will continue doing so for as long as it takes."

Jones rushed to broadcast the news on a platform still out of Collins' reach, stating, "Finally, a judge followed the law in the lawfare fiascos and ruled in Infowars' favor."

"It's like being held under water and finally getting air," added Jones.

'They're trying to destroy us and destroy free speech.'

Jones also suggested that the coalition involved with the Onion's bid colluded to rig their bid and that there was cause for legal action and possibly a Department Justice investigation.

"Now, the judge told them 27 days ago Bloomberg's Everytown that turned out is the group behind it — the Onion's, their front group — he told them they didn't own it and he said, 'Stop saying that.' They did not stop. Major cause of action." said Jones. "And I'm not a litigious person, but they're trying to destroy us and destroy free speech, so you know what's going to happen to them and Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Baby Feet."

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Satire site the Onion wins auction for Infowars, vows to make Alex Jones' empire a 'cosmic joke' for Sandy Hook families



The Onion, the satirical publication, won an auction to acquire the assets of Alex Jones' Infowars empire. The CEO of the Onion has vowed to transform Infowars into a "cosmic joke" for the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.

Jones announced the transaction on Thursday morning in a video posted to the X social media platform.

'The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.'

Jones stated that his website had been "shut down" this morning "even without a court order."

The Infowars site is a black page that only reads: "Site unavailable till further notice."

Jones said he was told that the winning bid was "competitive" but not necessarily the highest bid. Financial details of the winning bid to acquire Free Speech Systems — the parent company of Infowars — were not disclosed.

Jones noted, "The Connecticut Democrats with the Onion newspaper bought us."

The Onion acquired Infowars' website, social media accounts, trademarks, video archive, and studio in Austin, Texas.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to be here until they turn the lights off," Jones declared.

Jones added, "They want to silence the American people, but we're not going to be silenced."

Infowars was put up for auction after the court-appointed trustee in charge of Jones' bankruptcy proceedings advocated to shut down the site and liquidate his assets.

Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 after juries ordered him to pay nearly $1.5 billion to families of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting — in which 20 first-grade students and six adults were killed.

Jones previously said the mass shooting massacre was a hoax.

Lawsuits filed by the families in Connecticut and Texas claimed that Jones defamed them on his show and inflicted emotional distress by repeatedly suggesting the shooting was a hoax.

Several of the Sandy Hook families supported the sale of Infowars.

“Our clients knew that true accountability meant an end to Infowars and an end to Jones’ ability to spread lies, pain, and fear at scale,” said Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families. "By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at the Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm."

Everytown for Gun Safety — an organization that advocates for gun control — said it will be the exclusive advertiser in the Onion’s new venture as part of a multiyear agreement.

“It’s fitting that a platform once used to profit off of tragedy will be a tool of education, hence our multiyear advertising commitment to this new venture,” stated John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "We’re proud to be a part of what comes next, not only in terms of staunching the flow of hurtful misinformation, but also for the potential this new venture has to help Everytown reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic."

Robbie Parker, whose daughter was killed in the school shooting, said in a statement, "The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for."

The Onion CEO Ben Collins said, "The Onion has a long history of helping the American public navigate some of the most difficult moments in American life, from our historic issue after 9/11 to our groundbreaking reportage after every American mass shooting. In that tradition, we hope the Sandy Hook families will be able to marvel at the cosmic joke we will soon make of Infowars.com."

In a satirical article, the Onion noted that Infowars was founded in 1999 "on the heels of the Satanic 'panic' and growing steadily ever since."

"Infowars has distinguished itself as an invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses," the Onion added. "With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal."

The publication said it plans to launch the new platform in January 2025.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he had 'become friends with school shooters' in Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate.

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The Untold Story of Alex Jones | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 227
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The Untold Story of Alex Jones | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 227

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US surgeon general declares new BOGUS public health crisis



The left loves to slap the term “public health crisis” on things like climate change because it paves the way for government overreach and the erosion of our freedoms.

Yesterday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy formally declared gun violence as a public health crisis and called for a ban on assault weapons and civilian use of large capacity magazines.

EVERYTHING Is A Public Health Crisis Now! This Time It's Guns!youtu.be

Murthy also attests that “gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and adolescents ages one to nineteen,” which is simply “not true,” says Sara Gonzales.

“That in itself should disqualify anything that he's going to say on the subject because that is a lie,” adds Rippaverse Comics’ Eric July. “The fact that people keep pedaling that stuff and it goes unchecked blows my freaking mind.”

According to July, this gun violence public health crisis nonsense means one thing: “What they’re gonna do is punish free people ... people who have used no aggression on anybody and have not committed any actual crimes.”

Sara agrees and makes a fantastic point: “If they were actually serious about gun violence, they would do something to clean up the streets of Chicago," "they wouldn’t be releasing violent criminals into the streets,” and they “would probably do something about the cartels coming in and out of our country.”

But the point, of course, isn’t protecting Americans from gun violence. The point is control.

Jaco Booyens points to New York City as a prime example — Currently in NYC, if someone commits a “sexual offense ... to a disabled person,” they will “walk the same day.”

“Don’t come to me with your want to fight violence,” Booyens says. “This is about taking power away from good American citizens to silence them into submission so Big Daddy Government can rule and rob your life from you.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Guns: The New Public Health Crisis
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Guns: The New Public Health Crisis

Another Democratic official's transvestic progeny arrested, this time over alleged anti-Israel hate crime



The 28-year-old daughter of a Democratic attorney in the Connecticut Attorney General's Office was arrested last week for allegedly making a show out of vandalizing an Israeli flag on private property in Sandy Hook.

Sarah Stofko, the transvestite daughter of Deputy Associate Attorney General Carolyn Signorelli, was charged with third-degree criminal mischief and third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias.

The Newtown Police Department indicated that officers responded to a home near the intersection of Church Hill Road and Walnut Tree Hill Road on Dec. 7, the first night of Hanukkah, following a report of vandalism of an Israeli flag. Officers quickly located the flag that had been torn down, then acquired a description and registration for the suspect's vehicle.

Police ultimately identified and contacted Stofko — a self-described web developer who refers to herself as Isaac — prompting her to surrender.

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Following Stofko's arrest, Newton Police Lt. Scott Smith said, "Our police department has no tolerance for any crimes that have the potential to create fear and anxiety amongst members of our community."

Chief David Kullgren reiterated, "We unequivocally reject any criminal activities that may instill fear or distress among our residents."

The town's first selectman, Republican A. Jeffrey Capeci, denounced the vandalism, stating, "By flying a flag or having a sign on one's private property we exercise free speech protected by the first amendment. Be it an American, Ukrainian or an Israeli flag, a lawn sign that is political or the school of choice for a child’s higher education – the list is long."

"As Americans, we have the right to express our views and preferences, but we do not have the right to silence or intimidate others," added Capeci.

The Republican administrator highlighted the contributions of Jewish members of Newtown and noted, "It is how we respond to these instances that define us as a community, not the actions of any one individual."

The News-Times noted that Stofko's alleged destruction of property comes amidst a reported rise in anti-Semitic incidents across Connecticut. Stacey Sobel, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, indicated there had been over 1,400 anti-Semitic incidents reported since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

Within hours of Stofko's alleged hate crime, a masked radical climbed the Hanukkah menorah in New Haven Green to hang a Palestinian flag, prompting condemnation from Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and other officials, reported WTNH-TV.

Stofko, whose antipathy appears to be widely shared by many of her mother's fellow party members, is due in Danbury Superior Court on Dec. 21.

Stofko is not the only transvestite child of a prominent Democrat to act upon the views prevalent among the party's progressive members in recent months.

Blaze News previously reported that Jared Dowell, the adult son of House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), was arrested and charged in January with assault and battery on a Boston police officer inflicting serious bodily injury, vandalizing a historic monument, damaging property by tagging, and resisting arrest.

Dowell, who claims to be non-binary, defaced a historic monument in the Boston Common with anti-police slogans commonly used by leftists. He got off easy, thanks to a deal with prosecutors, requiring that he essentially affirm his guilt with an apology letter to the officer he assaulted, then complete 30 hours of community service.

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