If there were any lingering doubt left that gun control activists aren’t serious about finding meaningful solutions to criminal gun misuse — and instead simply want to punish law-abiding gun owners to no end — there should be no doubt anymore.
In a matter of hours after a tragedy unfolded in Bend, Oregon at Silver Rail Elementary School, and even before law enforcement officials had given an initial press briefing with the earliest known details, calls by elected officials and gun control groups came out loudly and strongly to publicly call for “more” gun control.
The incident is a tragedy. The victims include three young children, all special needs students at the school, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old special needs classroom teacher were murdered. Another student and teacher were injured.
The only thing that stopped it from being a much bigger tragedy was the fact that the father of one of the school’s students was driving by during lunch, heard the initial gunshots, ran to the attack and confronted the alleged murderer, using a lawfully obtained concealed carry handgun to stop the attack, killing the attacker.
Remember this is Oregon. It’s a state with strict gun control laws already in place, including designating the particular school as a gun-free zone. Everytown for Gun Safety, the national gun control group founded and funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, ranks Oregon near the top of all states for strict gun control. GIFFORDS gives the state an A- grade. If there’s any gun law that activists demand, there’s a high likelihood it’s been implemented in Oregon.
And yet, the rushes to judgement and call for more gun control laws still poured in, before facts were known.
Disgusting Political Attacks
One of the very first public statements to be released by an elected official came from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who’s been in the Senate in Washington, D.C., since 1996. Sen. Wyden wasted no time to post a statement on social media calling for more gun control laws and disgustingly laying the blame at Republican lawmakers’ feet.
“My heart is with the victims of today’s shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School and their loved ones now facing the consequences of another school shooting in America,” the senator posted, not two hours after the very first public acknowledgements of an incident taking place at the school. “Once again we must ask how many schools must be shot up before Republicans agree to act to curb gun violence.”
My heart is with the victims of today’s shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School and their loved ones now facing the consequences of another school shooting in America. Once again we must ask how many schools must be shot up before Republicans agree to act to curb gun violence.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) October 15, 2026
In a statement released later, after facts were beginning to become clearer, Sen. Wyden doubled down on his call for even more gun control laws. “The best way to honor these victims is to at long last pass common-sense gun laws that reduce the risks of more children, parents, teachers and staff forced to live in fear of similar nightmares for their schools.”
The senator’s shame has no limit. As more information came to light, it became clearer that more information didn’t matter to Sen. Wyden.
One the senator’s colleagues made an even more egregious statement to politically attack people who think differently about lawful firearm ownership and the laws that restrict constitutional rights.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) waited three full days, including after more details were release, to post a political attack, using the victims’ tragedy to do so.
“Read this article about the childrens’ lives that have been forever changed by 3 minutes of terror,” Sen. Murphy posted on X. “Then go down to your early voting site and vote out every politician who cares more about the gun industry than our kids.”
Read this article about the childrens’ lives that have been forever changed by 3 minutes of terror.
Then go down to your early voting site and vote out every politician who cares more about the gun industry than our kids.
https://t.co/P1dNSfOY43— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 18, 2026
Another senator, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who is married to former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), the namesake founder of the GIFFORDS national gun control group, posted a video of both of them calling it “disgraceful that extremists keep blocking critical, lifesaving laws while kids die in their classrooms.”
Three little kids and a teacher were shot and killed at their school today in Bend, Oregon. Two more were injured.
Our hearts are broken and we’re angry. It’s disgraceful that extremists keep blocking critical, lifesaving laws while kids die in their classrooms.
America can do better. It must.
— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) October 16, 2026
Outside of Oregon, federal lawmakers continued their calls for more gun control as well. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-Nev.) said, “Much more needs to be done.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said, “Congress must do much more to prevent gun violence.”
There were, of course, many other additional calls by elected politicians for more gun control laws following the tragedy. All seemed to rush and ignore the facts.
Law Enforcement Releases Facts
Once law enforcement officials began to piece together the tragedy and release information to the public, it became clearer that the immediate calls for more gun control were even more distasteful.
The alleged murder was a 16-year-old former student at Silver Rail Elementary — a gun-free zone by Oregon county law and federal law — who was previously enrolled in the school’s special needs education program. He knew the school and the classroom he chose to attack. Oregon law states it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to possess a firearm, with very limited exceptions, and he would’ve been unable to purchase a firearm on his own, per federal law. The alleged murderer used a shotgun to commit his violent act and law enforcement revealed that the firearm was legally purchased by the murderer’s mother around the time of his birthday last August.
So the very initial facts about the alleged murderer and the firearm used included that it was a common pump-action shotgun, legally purchased by a legal purchaser. This is a type of firearm not even the gun control groups seek to ban, at least not yet. The shotgun was illegally possessed by the murderer and illegally brought on to school grounds, a gun-free zone. The mother is cooperating with law enforcement investigators.
Hero Rushed to Save Lives
As it turns out, what saved more innocent lives from being cut short was a heroic lawful gun owner who heard the initial gunshots of the attack, grabbed his firearm and ran toward danger. Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father of two daughters who attend Silver Rail Elementary and law-abiding gun owner and licensed conceal carry permit holder, ignored the gun-free zone signs once he heard the danger, ran inside the school after he saw the murderer enter, and shot the alleged murder who died at the scene. Giamanco stopped the attacker within three minutes, before initial first responders and police could arrive.
Even usually antigun Democrat Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek recognized Giamanco’s actions very likely saved numerous children’s lives.
“To the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life: Your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well,” the governor stated.
After a senseless tragedy unfolds, we all grieve for the victims and their families. And yes, we pray as well for those who rush toward danger to save lives. What we don’t do is rush to judge and call for more restrictive laws before even the most initial and basic facts are known. Constitutional rights exist to protect, to safeguard against those who wish to penalize law-abiding Americans while ignoring facts. Without those Constitutional protections, Giamanco would have been helpless to stop further loss of life.
Giamanco’s quick thinking and brave actions are a reminder that laws that strip good men and women of their right to defend themselves and others with firearms are senseless. Oregon has strict gun control laws, but this is a matter of mental health and a depraved heart. Thankfully, a brave citizen used a lawful firearm to stop it from becoming worse.
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
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This monster, once in the school, could have had an ax, a knife, a flame-thrower, a ball bat, or explosives and still have injured or killed. This did not happen because the monster had a gun, it happened because this monster picked the school knowing no one there could stop him. The monster did this, not the gun.
Thankfully, there was a hero teacher and a hero guy with a gun to stop him. And the hero guy with the gun just by either chance or divine providence just happen to have been driving by the school and its a good thing too because the hero teacher had no other way other than physically fighting with the monster and she was loosing the fight then the hero guy with the gun shot the bad guy. She fought like a tiger to protect those kids, but there is only so much she could have done in a physical fight. No one else was coming to her aid when she needed it most, the fight was in the imminent measured in eye-blink milli-seconds moments of time. Thankfully the hero guy with the gun arrived. If he had not arrived there would be a lot more injured and killed, either cosmic chance or divine providence.
So lets get this straight. Chris Murphy, the Grifford’s, all these democrat politicians, the school board for Bend, Everytown, Moms Demand Action – all of you pushed this lie of ‘Trust us, we want your kids to be safe so are going to make the school a gun free zone’. You made a false promise of safety that did not exist, you lied and sold that idea. You left this school defenseless, intentionally, you created the condition that specifically attracts these killers – the obvious tells us and the facts tells us and even these monsters have told us they select gun free zones because its less likely someone with a firearm that can stop them will be there. You rang the dinner bell for this monster, you created an environment where ‘by law’ he was basically guaranteed defenseless prey. You lied, a hero good guy with a gun and a hero teacher shows you lied – and now you are upset that your lie was exposed yet again and you want to go after the law abiding who did nothing wrong with more laws and restrictions because school-shooters do not care about laws and would not be affected by them. Ya’ll all are monsters for lying to intentionally leave these children, these teachers, this school defenseless.
Arm school staff/teachers, get rid of these stupid laws that only affect the law abiding and quit spending money on enforcing them and use that money to beef up physical security for schools and actually put defense-strategies in school that can stop these monsters when they show up.