You have this idea that a handgun wouldn't have been able to stop that truck. I'd like to know which handguns you've fired and are familiar with.
With the greatest respect Russ. Really!!!
The effectiveness of handguns is not in question however, the chances of a `citizen', even a well practiced one, being able to incapacitate a rapidly moving fanatic, obscured by the body of a truck, at night, on a street crowed with panicked, stampeding people, without warning are, I believe, vanishingly small.
As I understand it, there were armed police in the vicinity. A far more likely outcome may be the `good guy' getting shot by police in the confusion of an `active' incident.
I understand that nobody likes to feel powerless. The simple reality however, is that sometimes we all are. No weapon can offer complete or reliable protection against people who are determined to do us harm.
Perhaps it's time to ask questions (of ourselves as well as others) first. And, by better understanding `what' and `why', reduce the need to shoot altogether.