Fighting Back
Seen on social media - tips on surviving a mass shooting:
Here are a handful of considerations on what to do if you find yourself in a mass shooting. My opinion comes from decades as a cop, a couple years at war, and my experiences teaching active shooter response to cops for a few years.
1) Look for the easiest accessible *safer* place. In a place like Walmart there are multiple doors leading to back areas, stockrooms, freezers, etc. Every store or restaurant in a mall has an employees-only back area. Don't stampede with the crowd toward the main exits unless you're absolutely sure it's clear; mass shooters are looking for clumps of people to kill, so getting into a group makes you a more attractive target.
2) Remember that you're going to experience survival stress reactions like tunnel vision, auditory exclusion (you literally stop hearing), and critical incident amnesia (you forget major things that you just saw). Don't think that just because you gave your wife, children, or boyfriend clear instructions like "Run this way!" they heard or understood you. In a critical, lethal, dynamic, high-stress incident, your perception can become seriously flawed. This goes double if you're untrained or inexperienced.
3) In a critical incident about 75% of the population will experience "normalcy bias"; they'll see something insane happening right in front of them (like a guy walking into Walmart with an AK), and convince themselves that it has to be something normal. "Oh, he must be coming in to buy BBs for that airsoft gun," or something like that. Normalcy bias increases reaction time and can get you killed.
4) If you don't know exactly where the shooter is, don't blindly run for your life to get away. A better option might be to run to a covered or concealed spot, take a look around, choose the next spot, sprint to that, assess, choose the next spot, and so on, until you reach safety.
5) Do not assume that every mass shooter is an absolutely unstoppable Delta Force SEAL ninja. Most mass shooters are unskilled, untrained cowards who can operate a weapon and kill defenseless people, but can't and don't want to fight. Mass shooters tend to fold as soon as they face resistance. Many mass shooters have stopped their attacks because their weapons malfunctioned and they had no idea how to clear them. One of the Columbine shooters even managed to break his own nose when he fired a pistol grip shotgun at a victim. These people are murderous cowards, not brave warriors.
6) Mass shooters tend to show terrible situational awareness because they think they own the place until police show up. Their heads aren't on a swivel looking for threats, all their focus is on the victims they're hunting. The kind of guy who believes he's in complete control and enjoys murdering defenseless victims tends to get very upset if he's unexpectedly shot in the back of the head. So upset him.
7) If you carry a firearm, remember that if the shooter attacks and you're in his sights, you *have to* immediately fight back. If you're far enough away that you hear shots and screams but aren't under immediate threat, you *can* advance on the shooter and fight back. You decide what's best, but keep in mind that the best defense is a good offense.
8) If you choose to engage the shooter/shooters, take a moment to assess what you're up against. Do you hear multiple weapons, suggesting multiple attackers? Does the gunfire sound like it's from a large-caliber rifle, or .22 pistol? Is the shooter firing so fast that even with a drum magazine he'll have to change mags soon? Do you hear the attackers yelling anything? You might respond differently to a shooter slowly firing a .22 pistol and yelling "Where is she?" than to a shooter blasting rounds from an AK while shrieking "You will all die, traitors!" At least, I'd respond a little differently.
9) If you choose to engage, try not to go head to head. Maneuver. Flank. Circle around. Surprise him.
10) Stay low. There's a reason soldiers instinctively crouch when moving under fire: most people, especially untrained people, and especially untrained people firing fast, tend to shoot high.
11) Remember that all of us tend to search at head/eye level. The shooter probably won't notice the guy on the ground leaning out from behind a cooler pointing a pistol at him.
12) If you're going to engage, you have to close distance. Concealed carriers and off-duty cops generally carry a small or medium-sized pistol, often with no spare ammo. You're probably not going to put a mass shooter down with six rounds from your .380 from 90 yards away.
13) On that note, and I don't care what you hear from others, CARRY SPARE AMMO. No, you don't need it for typical defensive firearm use, but a mass shooting isn't typical. If you expect to fight, carry ammo to sustain a fight.
14) If you put down the shooter, do a fast threat scan for secondary shooters and then put your weapon away. If at all possible, DO NOT have a weapon in your hands when officers arrive.
15) Remember that any form of resistance can save lives. If you shoot at him and miss but stop him from advancing on potential victims, you've saved lives. If you miss and he runs away, you've saved lives. If you miss but force him into a restricted area and he stays there because you're covering the exit, you've saved lives.
That's all for now, maybe I'll post more later. We armed citizens, and good decent Americans are all in this together; let's flip the script on mass shooters, make them scared, and put them down the moment they try to live out their murderous, cowardly fantasies.
Stay safe, and stay ready to defend yourselves, your families and your fellow citizens.
Here are a handful of considerations on what to do if you find yourself in a mass shooting. My opinion comes from decades as a cop, a couple years at war, and my experiences teaching active shooter response to cops for a few years.
1) Look for the easiest accessible *safer* place. In a place like Walmart there are multiple doors leading to back areas, stockrooms, freezers, etc. Every store or restaurant in a mall has an employees-only back area. Don't stampede with the crowd toward the main exits unless you're absolutely sure it's clear; mass shooters are looking for clumps of people to kill, so getting into a group makes you a more attractive target.
2) Remember that you're going to experience survival stress reactions like tunnel vision, auditory exclusion (you literally stop hearing), and critical incident amnesia (you forget major things that you just saw). Don't think that just because you gave your wife, children, or boyfriend clear instructions like "Run this way!" they heard or understood you. In a critical, lethal, dynamic, high-stress incident, your perception can become seriously flawed. This goes double if you're untrained or inexperienced.
3) In a critical incident about 75% of the population will experience "normalcy bias"; they'll see something insane happening right in front of them (like a guy walking into Walmart with an AK), and convince themselves that it has to be something normal. "Oh, he must be coming in to buy BBs for that airsoft gun," or something like that. Normalcy bias increases reaction time and can get you killed.
4) If you don't know exactly where the shooter is, don't blindly run for your life to get away. A better option might be to run to a covered or concealed spot, take a look around, choose the next spot, sprint to that, assess, choose the next spot, and so on, until you reach safety.
5) Do not assume that every mass shooter is an absolutely unstoppable Delta Force SEAL ninja. Most mass shooters are unskilled, untrained cowards who can operate a weapon and kill defenseless people, but can't and don't want to fight. Mass shooters tend to fold as soon as they face resistance. Many mass shooters have stopped their attacks because their weapons malfunctioned and they had no idea how to clear them. One of the Columbine shooters even managed to break his own nose when he fired a pistol grip shotgun at a victim. These people are murderous cowards, not brave warriors.
6) Mass shooters tend to show terrible situational awareness because they think they own the place until police show up. Their heads aren't on a swivel looking for threats, all their focus is on the victims they're hunting. The kind of guy who believes he's in complete control and enjoys murdering defenseless victims tends to get very upset if he's unexpectedly shot in the back of the head. So upset him.
7) If you carry a firearm, remember that if the shooter attacks and you're in his sights, you *have to* immediately fight back. If you're far enough away that you hear shots and screams but aren't under immediate threat, you *can* advance on the shooter and fight back. You decide what's best, but keep in mind that the best defense is a good offense.
8) If you choose to engage the shooter/shooters, take a moment to assess what you're up against. Do you hear multiple weapons, suggesting multiple attackers? Does the gunfire sound like it's from a large-caliber rifle, or .22 pistol? Is the shooter firing so fast that even with a drum magazine he'll have to change mags soon? Do you hear the attackers yelling anything? You might respond differently to a shooter slowly firing a .22 pistol and yelling "Where is she?" than to a shooter blasting rounds from an AK while shrieking "You will all die, traitors!" At least, I'd respond a little differently.
9) If you choose to engage, try not to go head to head. Maneuver. Flank. Circle around. Surprise him.
10) Stay low. There's a reason soldiers instinctively crouch when moving under fire: most people, especially untrained people, and especially untrained people firing fast, tend to shoot high.
11) Remember that all of us tend to search at head/eye level. The shooter probably won't notice the guy on the ground leaning out from behind a cooler pointing a pistol at him.
12) If you're going to engage, you have to close distance. Concealed carriers and off-duty cops generally carry a small or medium-sized pistol, often with no spare ammo. You're probably not going to put a mass shooter down with six rounds from your .380 from 90 yards away.
13) On that note, and I don't care what you hear from others, CARRY SPARE AMMO. No, you don't need it for typical defensive firearm use, but a mass shooting isn't typical. If you expect to fight, carry ammo to sustain a fight.
14) If you put down the shooter, do a fast threat scan for secondary shooters and then put your weapon away. If at all possible, DO NOT have a weapon in your hands when officers arrive.
15) Remember that any form of resistance can save lives. If you shoot at him and miss but stop him from advancing on potential victims, you've saved lives. If you miss and he runs away, you've saved lives. If you miss but force him into a restricted area and he stays there because you're covering the exit, you've saved lives.
That's all for now, maybe I'll post more later. We armed citizens, and good decent Americans are all in this together; let's flip the script on mass shooters, make them scared, and put them down the moment they try to live out their murderous, cowardly fantasies.
Stay safe, and stay ready to defend yourselves, your families and your fellow citizens.
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