Remember the name Kaylub Giamanco. A carpenter. A father. An armed citizen who heard gunfire and went toward the danger

According to reporting, the 36-year-old father of two was driving home for lunch when he heard shots near Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, where his children attend


Carrying a concealed firearm with a permit, he followed the gunman inside and fatally shot him, ending the attack. In those terrible moments, an ordinary working man accepted an extraordinary risk to protect children.

That deserves recognition without hesitation or embarrassment. Responsible gun ownership has a human face. Here, it is the face of a father who had both the means to intervene and the courage to act. The right to keep and bear arms includes the ability to defend innocent life when danger arrives and every second matters.

Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed. A seven-year-old child who uses a wheelchair was shot in the face and hospitalized. Those losses and injuries must remain at the center of this story. No tribute can erase the suffering of these families.

According to his brother, Giamanco is struggling with guilt because he could not save more people. That is a heartbreaking burden for a man who risked his own life to stop the killing.

Kaylub, the responsibility for this atrocity belongs to the person who committed it. You deserve gratitude, support and the time and care needed to live with what you witnessed.

We cannot know how many additional lives your intervention protected. We can recognize the courage it took to enter that school and confront an armed attacker.

America should honor that courage. Defending the Second Amendment and protecting children belong in the same conversation. So do secure schools, responsible firearm storage, effective law enforcement and the determination to confront threats before families are left grieving.

A carpenter went out for lunch and found himself facing a nightmare. He stepped forward when innocent people needed help.

You are a hero, Kaylub. May your community stand beside you with the same resolve you showed when you stood up for its children.

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