On Sunday morning, gunman Robert Stewart barged into Pinelake Health and Rehab in Carthage, North Carolina, and killed seven patients and a nurse, wounding three others. As in previous massacres, the killer picked a so-called “gun free” zone where firearms are officially prohibited. According to an employee of Peak Resources Incorporated, which operates Pinelake and five other health care facilities, all of their facilities are posted against concealed weapons.

As in numerous other rampages, Stewart was stopped after he was shot by an armed individual, in this case 25-year-old Carthage police officer Justin Garner, who was himself among the wounded.

And as in other cases, authorities were promptly alerted when Pinelake resident Ellery Chishole first called her 14-year-old granddaughter but despite arriving in less than ten minutes, were unable to stop the shooter from killing seven people in moments.

Unclear is whether Stewart had any connection to the 90-bed nursing home, leading some to suggest he may have picked it because concealed handgun permit-holders are prohibited from carrying firearms for self-protection. Associated Press Accounts say his estranged wife may work there, but ex-wife Sue Griffin said she had no idea whether her ex-husband was somehow connected to the nursing home or why he would shoot people there, further noting: "He did have some violent tendencies from time to time. I wouldn't put it past him. I hate to say it, but it is true."

Due largely to the efforts of nascent gun rights organization Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC), the state passed a concealed handgun law in 1995 to allow citizens who have undergone background checks and training to protect themselves and their families against exactly such predations. However, NC Senator “Fountain” Odom chaired a subcommittee which weakened the legislation by amending it to include numerous places where concealed handguns are prohibited, including restaurants with on-premises alcohol consumption permits and some public parks.

Although health care facilities are not officially prohibited from allowing concealed handguns, among the weakening amendments that became law is G.S. 14-415.11 (c), under which guns are prohibited “where notice that carrying a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a conspicuous notice or statement by the person in legal possession or control of the premises.” Because owners of private property, including merchants, could already legally prohibit concealed handguns, the measure was intended to encourage posting.

When then-Governor Jim Hunt arranged for the "Governor’s Crime Commission" to distribute thousands of signs posting against concealed carry, GRNC responded by creating a “Don’t Buy List” of posted merchants, with instructions for supporters of the law to contact them.

Faced with an organized boycott, hundreds of posted merchants, including Lowes Home Improvement Centers, Wilco convenience stores, and West Marine outlets removed “no concealed carry” signs.

Businesses which were less vulnerable to the boycott, however, refused to remove signs. Among the facilities commonly posted in the state today are shopping malls and health care facilities like Pinelake.

In a controlled study covering 19 years, researcher John R. Lott found that the number of multiple-victim public shootings in states which adopted concealed handgun laws declined by 84%. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90%, injuries by 82%. Higher arrest rates and increased use of the death penalty slightly reduced the incidence of these events, but the effects were never statistically significant.

Until Sunday, North Carolina had not experienced a single multiple victim public homicide such as recently occurred in Alabama and Germany, suggesting that the state’s concealed handgun law may have deterred such homicides. Significantly, the lone massacre has now occurred in one of the relatively few places where concealed handguns are commonly prohibited.

While sound arguments could be made for prohibiting firearms in nursing homes and hospitals by patients who may not be able to retain control of them, staff and visitors who have cleared the hurdles to obtain concealed handgun permits could not only deter future tragedies, but could respond in minutes or even seconds, potentially saving scores of lives.