I Blame New Hampshire

From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

MANCHESTER – Bullets flew outside the Uptown Tavern early yesterday when a peeved patron began shooting at a doorman after being thrown out of the club. The shooter himself was shot twice by an armed customer who rushed to the bouncer's defense, a club owner and police said.

The shooter had missed doorman Chad Ryan after firing about four shots at him in the 1301 Elm St. club's parking lot when the alleged gunman was himself hit twice by the unidentified patron who returned fire about 12:45 a.m., said club co-owner Dave Somers.

An armed citizen does more in the span of ten seconds to get a violent criminal off the streets than all of Boston Mayor Tom Menino's gun buybacks, task forces, and bigoted gun licensing policies, combined.

I'm shocked.

The wounded suspect, identified by police as Eliezer Encarnacion, 26, and his companion -- both of whom were thrown out of the club moments earlier -- ran from the parking lot up Myrtle Street with an angry group of club patrons in pursuit.

Well, I'll be damned. Wearing running shoes might just be a good idea, after all.

Encarnacion was about six to eight feet from Ryan when he fired the first shot, hitting the door frame, Willard said. When the second shot rang out, a male customer inside the bar realized what was happening and intervened, he continued.

"He feels the bouncer's life is in danger and he produces his own firearm and proceeds to return fire," said [Det. Lt. Nick] Willard, who credited the patron with saving the doorman and possibly even Brown from being shot.

Or, he could have ducked behind a table and called 911, as called out in Chapter 1 of the "Self Defense for Liberals Handbook". Sure, innocent people would be killed before he hit the "9", but at least the coroner's office could get a headstart on sending a clean-up crew to the scene.

Police withheld the patron's name while they continue their investigation, which will include an inquiry into whether his use of deadly force was justified.

Club employees were not aware the customer -- described as a regular patron -- was carrying a concealed weapon, Somers said.

That's pretty much the whole point of it. Hence, the phrase "concealed weapon".

"I'm not okaying it. But if he didn't, probably my doorman would be dead," Somers said.

A small price to pay, in the eyes of the Ted Kennedy's of the world, to realize their dream of transforming the greatest nation on earth into a totalitarian police state, where only those in high positions of power will enjoy the right to have their lives defended by the use of firearms.

Now...compare and contrast:

NEW BEDFORD [Massachusetts]-- Police continued their hunt late today for an armed suspect who shot two people and slashed another inside a popular gay nightclub.

The incident occurred about midnight inside the Puzzles Lounge on North Front Street. A bartender, who asked that his name not be used because he feared for his life, said a man armed with a hatchet, a machete, and a handgun attacked patrons before he fled the bar.

GASSVILLE, Ark. --A teenager suspected of a hatchet-and-gun attack in a Massachusetts gay bar shot and killed a small-town police officer and the teen's passenger before he was critically wounded in a gun battle with police Saturday, authorities said.

Any questions?

UPDATE: From the Concord Monitor:

There was a shootout in a Manchester bar early yesterday, leaving one man wounded - and under arrest.

It started when Eliezer Encarnacion, 26, of Manchester, and another man were thrown out of the Uptown Tavern just before 1 a.m., following a confrontation with employees, the police said.

Encarnacion pulled a gun and fired several shots at tavern employees, the police said. A customer who saw the shooting then pulled his own gun and wounded the gunman.

Encarnacion ran off, wounded in the arm and leg, but the police found him a short while later. After surgery, he was recovering and awaiting a court date on attempted assault and firearms charges. His companion was arrested on a probation violation.

No one else in the bar was hurt.

Hillary "I *heart* Federally Funded Confiscation of Lawfully Possessed Firearms" Clinton wishes otherwise.

UPDATE II: WMUR has the accompanying news video up.

This being the United States of America (as opposed to Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York City, Chicago, or Washington, D.C.), the armed citizen who saved the lives of the bar employees and patrons will not face charges.