Normal
With credit to trekrock for posting this in the Indianapolis FedEx facility shooting news thread, I felt it was once again an important time to discuss our individual and collective thoughts on engaging an active shooter while carrying concealed.With all due respect and prayers for the victims and their families, this brings to mind a very apropos quote from Inspector Harry Callahan: "A man's gotta know his limitations"I say this without an ounce of sarcasm or flippancy, this is deadly serious and it's something everyone should consider when going forth into the world strapped for trouble. What you CAN'T do is far more important to know than what you can do.If this eyewitness report bears out, this is a double tragedy because a good guy with a gun lost his life without any appreciable impact on the threat. That’s beyond awful and I have nothing but respect for that person who gave their life in an attempt to end a deadly rampage. I wonder what went through his mind when he decided to engage?Did he feel prepared to stop an active threat with a rifle, when he was armed only with a concealed handgun? Had he ever trained on shooting from cover? Did he know the difference between cover and concealment? Did he have any training on tactics and movement? Did he have any training on shooting at a moving target? Did he have any training on shooting on the move? Did he have any training on engaging a hardened target and taking critical shots of opportunity?We may never know in this case, and that’s OK. We may never know if he’d have survived the rampage, had he not engaged or moved away/taken cover either. What’s important going forward is the conversation. This is going to be used against the pro-carry crowd as “proof” that a good guy with a gun makes things more dangerous, not less”. That’s completely false and we should be prepared to refute it.Simply put, you don’t have to be SFOD-D or FBI HRT to carry for defense. If a little old lady with a .25acp in her pocket can deter a yute from strongarm robbing her, that’s a win. If an old fat guy with his trusty snubbie or Ruger can prevail over an armed robber at close range, that’s a win. IF, you’re armed with a .357 SIG and can confidently engage a shotgun wielding killer with a headshot in a church, that’s a win.Going up against an active shooter armed with an AR and possibly armor in a busy parking lot, using your G-19? That might be another matter. You’re going to need some serious skills and a very tactical mindset to gain the upper hand, because you’re already at a significant disadvantage. Unless you can take a kill shot from his blindside while he’s static and within your effective range, you’d be better off gaining hard cover and waiting. Better yet, take hard cover first and THEN take a shot. If it looks like he’s wearing armor, try to break down his mobility with a shot to the pelvic girdle. Once he’s immobile use fire and maneuver to further degrade his capability, until you can make a confident head shot.Or simply wait for him to bleed out, which is probably a much better option. Better to be a live and intact partial hero than getting yourself shot or killed trying to finish him off. Do what you can and then stay behind hard cover or exfiltrate the threat area. And quite frankly, if you can’t reliably make that shot or shots under the circumstances you’re faced with, don’t engage. Be a good witness and vector in the cavalry, who will have rifles of their own.Tl;DR: Think about what you’re capable of on your worst day and game out the scenarios you might be faced with in public places. Once you’re used to doing it, it literally takes no more than a few seconds of your time. As you do this you’ll condition yourself to select the optimal places to be and where to orient your attention, so as to be best prepared to fight, flee or take cover before anything ever happens.Most crucially, use your range time and precious ammo stash to stretch your capabilities and further establish your limitations. Even competition shooters tend to focus on drills they do very well, because everyone likes to feel good about their results. But doing the hard things you fail to do successfully most of the time? That’s where you expand your skillset.As an old friend from my competitive shooting days and early OSA contributor was fond of saying, is your gun a weapon or a talisman? Think about it…
With credit to trekrock for posting this in the Indianapolis FedEx facility shooting news thread, I felt it was once again an important time to discuss our individual and collective thoughts on engaging an active shooter while carrying concealed.
With all due respect and prayers for the victims and their families, this brings to mind a very apropos quote from Inspector Harry Callahan: "A man's gotta know his limitations"
I say this without an ounce of sarcasm or flippancy, this is deadly serious and it's something everyone should consider when going forth into the world strapped for trouble. What you CAN'T do is far more important to know than what you can do.
If this eyewitness report bears out, this is a double tragedy because a good guy with a gun lost his life without any appreciable impact on the threat. That’s beyond awful and I have nothing but respect for that person who gave their life in an attempt to end a deadly rampage. I wonder what went through his mind when he decided to engage?
Did he feel prepared to stop an active threat with a rifle, when he was armed only with a concealed handgun? Had he ever trained on shooting from cover? Did he know the difference between cover and concealment? Did he have any training on tactics and movement? Did he have any training on shooting at a moving target? Did he have any training on shooting on the move? Did he have any training on engaging a hardened target and taking critical shots of opportunity?
We may never know in this case, and that’s OK. We may never know if he’d have survived the rampage, had he not engaged or moved away/taken cover either. What’s important going forward is the conversation. This is going to be used against the pro-carry crowd as “proof” that a good guy with a gun makes things more dangerous, not less”. That’s completely false and we should be prepared to refute it.
Simply put, you don’t have to be SFOD-D or FBI HRT to carry for defense. If a little old lady with a .25acp in her pocket can deter a yute from strongarm robbing her, that’s a win. If an old fat guy with his trusty snubbie or Ruger can prevail over an armed robber at close range, that’s a win. IF, you’re armed with a .357 SIG and can confidently engage a shotgun wielding killer with a headshot in a church, that’s a win.
Going up against an active shooter armed with an AR and possibly armor in a busy parking lot, using your G-19? That might be another matter. You’re going to need some serious skills and a very tactical mindset to gain the upper hand, because you’re already at a significant disadvantage. Unless you can take a kill shot from his blindside while he’s static and within your effective range, you’d be better off gaining hard cover and waiting. Better yet, take hard cover first and THEN take a shot. If it looks like he’s wearing armor, try to break down his mobility with a shot to the pelvic girdle. Once he’s immobile use fire and maneuver to further degrade his capability, until you can make a confident head shot.
Or simply wait for him to bleed out, which is probably a much better option. Better to be a live and intact partial hero than getting yourself shot or killed trying to finish him off. Do what you can and then stay behind hard cover or exfiltrate the threat area. And quite frankly, if you can’t reliably make that shot or shots under the circumstances you’re faced with, don’t engage. Be a good witness and vector in the cavalry, who will have rifles of their own.
Tl;DR: Think about what you’re capable of on your worst day and game out the scenarios you might be faced with in public places. Once you’re used to doing it, it literally takes no more than a few seconds of your time. As you do this you’ll condition yourself to select the optimal places to be and where to orient your attention, so as to be best prepared to fight, flee or take cover before anything ever happens.
Most crucially, use your range time and precious ammo stash to stretch your capabilities and further establish your limitations. Even competition shooters tend to focus on drills they do very well, because everyone likes to feel good about their results. But doing the hard things you fail to do successfully most of the time? That’s where you expand your skillset.
As an old friend from my competitive shooting days and early OSA contributor was fond of saying, is your gun a weapon or a talisman? Think about it…
