Heroes

I started this post as a snarky commentary on gun laws, something to the effects of "who needs a gun at church?"

Then I jumped tracks, recalling Albert Mohler's and John Piper's words regarding women in combat - not to say that I completely disagree with them, mind you; I think they hit some valid points, just not a 100%. They at least make for compelling reads, thus the reason I've provided the links.

I then just decided to let the story speak for itself, for I fear it's one that the media doesn't want to tell. Everybody has heard about the tragic circumstances of the Colorado church shootings, but mostly all that has been heard in the media is that an armed security guard stopped the violent events of that day. While true, it's only a blanket statement; in the words of Paul Harvey, here's the "rest of the story":

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he's ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church, watched as a security guard, a woman later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

"She just started walking toward the gunman firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender,' walking and shooting the whole time."

Bourbonnais, 59, had just finished up a hamburger in the cafeteria on the sprawling church campus when he heard gunfire, he recalled.

He headed in the direction of the shots as frightened people ran past him looking to escape to safety.

"Where's the shooter? Where's the shooter?" Bourbonnais kept yelling, he recalled.

Near an entryway in the church, Bourbonnais came upon the gunman and an armed male church security guard who was there with his gun drawn but not firing, he said.

Bourbonnais said he pleaded with the armed guard to give him his weapon.

"Give me your handgun. I've been in combat, and I'm going to take this guy out," Bourbonnais recalled telling the guard. "He kept yelling, 'Get behind me! Get behind me!' He wouldn't hand me his weapon, but he wouldn't do anything."

There was an additional armed security guard there, another man, who also didn't fire, Bourbonnais said.

Bourbonnais yelled at the gunman to draw his attention, he said.

"First, I called him 'Coward' then I called him 'S---head' " Bourbonnais said. "I probably shouldn't have been saying that in church."

That's when the shooter pointed one of his guns at Bourbonnais and fired, he said.

Bourbonnais ducked behind a hollow, decorative pillar and was hit in the arm by a bullet and fragments of the pillar.

At about that moment, Assam turned a corner with a drawn handgun, walked toward the gunman and yelled "Surrender!" Bourbonnais said.

The gunman pointed a handgun at Assam and fired three shots, Bourbonnais said. She returned fire and just kept walking toward the gunman pressing off round after round.

After the gunman went down, Bourbonnais asked Assam, a volunteer security guard with the church, how she remained so calm and focused.

Bourbonnais said she replied:

"I was asking the Holy Spirit to guide me the entire time."

A volunteer guard is just a civilian with a permit. An armed female volunteer and an unarmed veteran took this man down. There were three guards on the scene with guns, and the only ones that had the courage to do something about it, that weren't paralyzed with fear, was the armed woman and the man who wouldn't sit by and "let" something happen.