Good Guy with a Gun Ends Mass Stabbing in Michigan

Folks on this side of the gun debate routinely argue that guns aren’t the problem, that bad people will do bad things with whatever tools are available to them. We also argue that good guys with guns can end threats far faster than the police can, if for no other reason than they’re on site when things happen.

We’ve seen many examples of both, but some people can’t seem to grok that.

Then again, over the weekend in Michigan, we saw both happen in the same incident.

Police have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing 11 people at a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan.

The 42-year-old suspect is accused of using a folding knife to stab multiple people inside the store near the checkout area. Two citizens, one holding a pistol, stopped the attack and held the suspect until law enforcement arrived at the scene.

🚨BREAKING: At least 11 people were stabbed in a horrifying attack inside a Walmart in Traverse City, Michigan.

The knife-wielding attacker was ultimately subdued by two brave shoppers before authorities arrived and took him into custody.

The identity of the suspect has not yet… pic.twitter.com/KxGlRmpzMS

— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) July 27, 2025

Seven  of the victims are in fair condition and four are in serious condition, according to NBC News. The Grand Traverse Sheriff’s Office explained that the suspect was “acting alone.”

During a press conference, County Sheriff Michael D. Shea said “it appears these were random acts” and that “the victims were not predetermined.

It’s been reported that the armed citizen is a gentleman named Derrick Perry.

Now, some will argue that this doesn’t invalidate gun control because there weren’t any fatalities, and that guns are more deadly than knives. To that, I’ll point out that many so-called mass shootings, as reported by sites like the Gun Violence Archive, also have no fatalities. If you’re going to count those as justification for gun control, I can count these as evidence that removing guns from the equation doesn’t suddenly make maniacs less likely to try to kill masses of people.

More importantly, though, there’s absolutely no argument about an armed citizen stopping the attack that could have been a whole lot worse, were it not for him and one other brave soul who stepped up.

I’m not going to lie, that’s one of the things I truly love about humanity. When things go bad and seem to be at their worst, someone will try and do something courageous and noble. Successful or not, it’s one time I’m willing to judge someone by their intentions.

Luckily, these two were able to achieve a positive result, and the alleged maniac was stopped without outright killing anyone. While being in serious condition isn’t great, it’s not critical, so it seems likely that everyone will recover.

But I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Perry and his friend weren’t there. When would the rampage have ended? How many might have been killed before it was?

Yes, there is something very wrong in the minds of people who want to hurt a lot of people who did them no harm at all. We can’t escape that, and we need to find out what that “something very wrong” actually is.

Until then, we need armed citizens who can stop these very broken people as soon as possible.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.