After the revulsion passed, I came up with a challenge...

Within a day of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, John Derbyshire was impugning the victims as cowards for not fighting back (we don't know they didn't, and we know one professor did die saving the lives of his students, by telling them to flee as he tried to block the door).

The bodies had not all been identified, and this joker wrote this:

Spirit of Self-Defense [John Derbyshire]

As NRO's designated chickenhawk, let me be the one to ask: Where was the spirit of self-defense here? Setting aside the ludicrous campus ban on licensed conceals, why didn't anyone rush the guy? It's not like this was Rambo, hosing the place down with automatic weapons. He had two handguns for goodness' sake—one of them reportedly a .22.

At the very least, count the shots and jump him reloading or changing hands. Better yet, just jump him. Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am. And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad.

Yes, yes, I know it's easy to say these things: but didn't the heroes of Flight 93 teach us anything? As the cliche goes—and like most cliches. It's true—none of us knows what he'd do in a dire situation like that. I hope, however, that if I thought I was going to die anyway, I'd at least take a run at the guy.

Here is my challenge for Mr. Derbyshire, and I am not impugning his bravery, just offering him a scenario where he can test his mettle:

He should contact a local police department and arrange to don body armor and protective gear and then he can run toward a trained police officer who is shooting at the ground in front of him, not even at him.

And he should v-log it.