It’s a dangerous world.
Civilian concealed handgun carriers may now find themselves in an Active Shooter Interdiction. The San Bernardino California Office Party and the Brussels Airport Bombing were yet another wake-up call for Sheepdogs around the world. The level of lethality now being used against innocent civilians requires the most advanced mindset, combat training and tactics ever devised. If you think your basic Concealed Carry class is going to cut it, allowing you to rise to the occasion, then you are delusional.
How many of you would have noticed and alerted to, two men wearing a single glove on the same hand pushing luggage carts together? How many of us would have understood why? How many of us would have addressed the situation by alerting authorities as they bailed on their travel plans and took their family out of the airport and harms way?
Movie Theaters, Shopping Malls, Houses of Worship and others, are all places we go to relax, shop, or worship; with an expectation of being safe. Unfortunately in today’s world, this is a memory of the past. If you are not prepared to react violently, quickly, and effectively, then you and/or your loved ones are statistics.
In addition to the violence of action, gunfire, screaming and horror; let’s not forget that Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s) are very common in these events. It’s possible that the shooting is over and the police are still on their way, and you are trying to get out of the building with your family and you see a propane tank, or innocuous pipe, or a pressure cooker! This is not the time to think to yourself, “What is that propane tank doing there”? This is not the time to starting wondering about it or thinking of “what to do now?” Immediacy of action – leave the area! You better have a plan – as they say “Hope is a poor strategy!”
Can your family, or your close friends/coworkers, move and fight as a team? Do they practice together and communicate? Do you have a plan? Today’s world is dangerous. Preparing now, may save a life later. As John says “Make sense when you think about it”? Our problem is that we don’t want to think about it. Its scary. Much easier to keep the blinders on and hope for the best. Time and money can be spent on other things.
My question – after a loved one dies or is crippled – what cost is that time, training and ammunition worth now?
Here are some of those statistics regarding active shooters:
49 percent of attackers committed suicide either at the conclusion of the event or when challenged
34 percent were arrested
17 percent were killed by responders.
51 percent of the attacks studied occurred in the workplace
17 percent occurred in a school
17 percent occurred in a public place
6 percent occurred in a religious establishment.
Gabe Suarez says:
• Think short duration, high intensity event.
• Think where you are strong and where the shooter is weak.
• Think of the places you frequent, which are likely venues for such an event.
• Are you prepared to respond in those places?
Peter Blair, PhD, and Hunter Martindale, PhD, conducted a study of 84 active shooter incidents from 2001 to 2010. Here’s a summary of their findings:
Two percent of the shooters bring improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as an additional weapon.
In 10 percent of the cases, the shooter stops and walks away. In 20 percent of the cases, the shooter goes mobile, moving to another location.
43 percent of the time, the crime is over before police arrive. In 57 percent of the shootings, an officer arrives while shooting is still underway.
The attacks ended before the police arrived 49 percent of the time. In 56 percent of the attacks ongoing when police arrived, officers had to use force to stop the killing.