The number of deaths in the Virginia Beach shooting could have been reduced and lived might have been saved if a city employee who had been concerned about the behavior of the shooter had followed her instincts and carried a gun that day.

Kate Nixon, a city engineer who worked alongside the shooter, had talked to her husband about her fears.

The public utilities engineer was concerned about DeWayne Craddock “as well as one other person,” said Kevin Martingayle, an attorney working with Nixon’s family. So on the night of May 30, Nixon had discussed with her husband, Jason, “whether or not she should take a pistol and hide it in her handbag,” Martingayle said. She decided against it because of a city policy that prevents employees from bringing weapons to work.

Now another public employee in Virginia has been arrested for bringing a handgun into a courthouse. According to the Associated Press . . .