I keep saying, if citizens with ccw's start shooting back these mass shootings will drop. Another reason they occur is because the shooters think themselves free and safe to do so.
SH.A big AMEN to that. POWDERMAN. 
I very much doubt anything would have definitely stopped him. The descriptions that I see in the media are a man in his early 20s,rapidly deteriorating,talking to campus police in an incoherent mumbling rant. Anyone one whose ever seen a really bad schizophrenic will recognize it right away and that age is just about when it usually hits. Fear of being shot by armed citizens,or police and fear of being caught don't even enter these kind of peoples mind. They just don't think rationally so any way you can think of to deter them that relies on them being rational will fail.
I still stand by my statement that there is an "angry" fringe on the right that is using the language of violence as a metaphor for political change. It goes to far. When you see signs at rallys that say things like "If Brown cant do it,Browning can" with a picture of Mr Browns opponent with a reticle superimposed over his head there is no other conclusion to draw. It means if Brown cant win at the ballot box,shoot his opponent. While I have no reason to believe that this particular nut had any connection to those other lunatics,I find it disturbing that it does not make people reconsider some of the inflammatory rhetoric they have been using. I don't believe Palin for instance is calling for assassination of Democrats,but you would think that someone who clearly wants to be President would have a little more common sense.
A double tap would have stopped him and saved lives! As for those in the planning stages, If they thought they might get shot before accomplishing their goals, and not become infamous with their names and faces all over the media, they just might change their minds. Of course they might decide on a bomb instead of a gun....yeah, I can see the media now, "We need stricter bomb control laws!" 
Some wish to die, the suicide by cop route, but not all and there's more chance of a person with a CCW stopping them from accomplishing their goal than a cop. Yeah, the shooters may be deranged but if they are sane enough to plan then they are sane enough to take note if their kind becomes targets themselves!
Your assigning rational goals to irrational people. No amount of fear of getting caught or killed is going to stop some loony from doing what the voices tell him to do. Its not about fame or infamy. Its not really even about their agenda. Its about some bizarre incomprehensible broken pseudo logic that drives their behavior. Think about it. If you heard voices that claimed to be Satan,Prince of Darkness and embodiment of all evil telling you to kill someone,you would most likely think you are crazy,or at least think your hallucinating. You might hide it,or you might seek help. You might even believe it WAS Satan,but even if you did,would you actually DO what he told you to? There are people out there who in fact do exactly that. They have defective brains. Its a structural thing that will even show up on an MRI. Its like a broken computer. If you try to get a broken computer to add two plus three,there is no sense in wondering why it gave you 12 as an answer. Its just broken. Certain mental diseases (schizophrenia is one of those) are simply the result of a defective and broken brain. You cant use logic to figure out what they will do and you cant expect measures that are based on them acting logically or rationally to have the desired effect to modify their behavior. The best you can do is try to spot the dangerous ones. In reality though,even that can be difficult. There will be people like that out there and its just a risk we have to live with.
Also,the idea that "if they are sane enough to plan" they are sane enough to be deterred is absurd. They don't just plan,they can become obsessed,driven to perform whatever task they have in mind. While I admit,a man there,when they are doing it,with a gun can stop them,and I certainly would hope that there wouldhttp://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,219659.0/topicseen.html be such a person because nothing short of that physical force at the critical time is going to do it.
What I do find absurd is the idea of making it illegal to have guns in the presence of a member of congress. I don't see how that could prevent any assassination attempt that has ever occurred. I doubt the prospect of adding and additional charge of a firearms violation to te premedidated murder charge is going to make someone rethink their crazy plans. However,if a politician wants to make sure no one around him at an event has a gun,he can ALREADY do that if he so chooses. He can simply hold his meeting on private property. He can set up a check point and have his security search people for weapons. For instance,if someone comes to your home,you can search them for weapons. If they don't want to submit,the can always leave your home. That is their sole remedy.
