Mass shootings have become a political football with predictable cries for more gun control after each such event, and little thought to what is actually occurring. A casual following of the mass shootings over the past several years, which I will define simply as those shootings that became national news stories, would cause one to conclude that they typically fall into two categories: Terrorism and Mental Health problems.
Terrorist events are mostly a feature of the “War on Terror”, and Mental Health problems are a byproduct of the decision to empty the asylums a couple generations back. The same phenomenon that gave us the homeless problem contributes to the mass shooting problem, i.e. lack of live in care for mental health patients, and an unwillingness to involuntarily commit a mental patient until after they have committed a serious crime. Fortunately, the numbers of either group in the US is small enough that mass shootings remain unusual, despite press to the contrary.
As individuals, there is relatively little we can do to prevent such tragedies as a social phenomenon, but there is a great deal we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones. From the perspective of someone who runs into a mass shooter, it really doesn’t matter whether the shooter is a terrorist or a mental health problem. Either way there are a few simple steps to keeping safe.
Gun Free Zones
Virtually all mass shootings occur in “gun free zones”. Mass shooters are looking for a place where they can do their deeds without anyone effectively fighting back. The first rule of protecting yourself from a mass shooter is don’t go into a gun free zone if you can avoid it. Now this may seem like odd advice coming from someone who lives in the People’s Republic of New Jersey. The whole state is one big gun free zone (except Camden which is New Jersey’s answer to Detroit). ☹ There is an advantage to this arrangement. No place is any more or less safe than anyplace else. 😊 However, in a state with normal gun laws, a “No Guns” sign is an invitation to a mass shooter.
It may not always be possible to avoid gun free zones, but try to do so. Mass shootings are rare, and mass shootings in places where guns are allowed are almost unicorns.
You should also consider limiting your exposure to large public events like concerts or sporting events. If you have to go through a metal detector, the risk is heightened (otherwise, why the metal detector?) and you might want to consider whether you really want to see that event.
Schools are a special case. Inquire about security at your children’s schools and consider a bullet proof backpack for your child.
Concealed Carry
In most states, you can get a concealed carry permit. In a few states, it is legal to carry concealed without a permit. The trend for the past several years has been for increasing numbers of people to be legally carrying concealed. This is the flip side of the gun free zone problem. As a concealed carrier, one can protect himself, and those nearby, by defending against a mass shooter should one appear.
There are over 12 million people with concealed carry permits in the country today, and the number is growing. These folks provide a free source of security to the rest of us. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to perform this service within gun free zones, which brings us back to avoiding gun free zones.
Concealed carry is not for everyone. If you feel comfortable with the responsibility that comes with concealed carry, by all means get a permit.
Armor
While police and military routinely wear armor, as well as high profile figures like the President, few ordinary citizens do. Armor is generally too expensive and too bulky to appeal to the average person going about their daily business at the present time. However, companies trying to produce products that will be used on a routine basis keep trying to introduce products that provide at least some ballistic protection, such as inserts for backpacks. I don’t think any of these will catch on unless they become much cheaper and/or our crime problems become much worse. What is available today just doesn’t make sense for the average person. Nonetheless, you might want to watch for such products in case something new and appealing comes along.
What to Do in the Presence of a Mass Shooter
If despite your best efforts, you find yourself in a place where a mass shooting erupts, what do you do? The first order of business is to seek cover for yourself and those with you. Seeking cover means to get behind something that will stop a bullet. Concealment should be used only if cover is not available. If using a car, try to put the engine block between yourself and the shooter.
In this era of cell phones, dial 911. Even if you are unable to speak to the dispatcher, in most jurisdictions police will roll for a 911 call that is merely a dial and hang up. If you can speak, so much the better.
If you are armed and behind cover, it is your choice whether to engage the shooter. You are under no obligation to engage the shooter as a concealed carrier. This isn’t a post on how to gun fight. However, if you think the mass shooter is neutralized, make sure he is disarmed, even if he appears to be dead.
Once the shooter has been neutralized, whether by a concealed carrier, or law enforcement, try to render first aid to any victims. Simply applying pressure to wounds will slow the flow of blood and buy time until paramedics arrive. If you have first aid training, or a first aid kit available, even better.
The goal in such a situation should be to save lives, your own, and those around you.
Conclusion
Press to the contrary, Mass Shootings are rare. You can improve your odds of avoiding them further by avoiding gun free zones. If despite your best efforts you find yourself in the presence of a mass shooter, use your head, find cover, and try to render aid to the extent you are able.
SALTY’S NOTE: We don’t do “political discussions” here, and while we certainly encourage comments we will not approve any comments that are politically based. 3BY is Pro Second-Amendment (our one political stand…) and we don’t debate it, it’s just what we believe.
Any comment attacking any political group, idea or “wing” will not be approved, but instead be deleted. Non-political comments about ideas to deal with mass shootings without violating the second amendment are encouraged.
Gun Free Zones probably made sense to somebody at the time they were passed… but they do nothing but create dangerous places.
Here’s what I don’t understand. Is it not possible to develop some form of training interested people or teachers could take that would “certify” them to be trained how to engage and stop an active shooter situation? That would have to be a lot less expensive than the other options being discussed and wouldn’t require amending our constitution. The solution seems pretty obvious to me.
I think by getting into societal solutions we are likely to stumble into politics, and that is not a 3BY way to go. The point of the post was to suggest what you can do as an individual to protect yourself, given the reality we live in. In addition, whatever is done in schools does not cover churches, concerts in Las Vegas, etc. Keeping yourself and your family safe is what the post is about.
I was thinking about that … my comment was not meant to make a political statement, but rather answering a question about the practicalities of a particular solution. But I trashed it, because I’d rather leave it unsaid than wander into politics. It’s just not what we’re about.
I think most of the political comments we have received are inadvertent. It is sometimes tough to say “this is political” and “that is not political”. I tried with this post to keep it as a personal “what to do to prepare” post and was worried whether I crossed a line. I tend to use Salty as the final arbiter on such matters. He is pretty good at that and said the post was okay. On the other hand, drifting into politics would be pretty easy with this topic.
One of my pet peeves is the ‘Professionalization’ of our society. (i.e. only “professionals” should ever do X or Y: not the layperson) Personal protection tends to fall into that category. The thinking seems to be that the average citizen should be a defenseless sheep, leaving protection-from-evil to the few professionals. But, as the saying goes: when seconds count, those professionals are still minutes away.
A (2006) video by David Barton was describing how an underpinning to the Constitution’s second amendment was that the individual has an inalienable right (duty) to self-defense. The Professionalizers (regardless of party) say no. Only the appointed professionals have a job to defend anyone. In such a system, there’s not much left for a victim to beyond trust to luck.
I guess I am not one of those “Professionalizers”. 🙂