Lessons from the Annapolis Shooting

Another mass shooting, another blog.  The cops got there in 60 seconds.  By then, five people were mortally wounded, two others shot.  This by a guy who was deliberately targeting people rather than just randomly killing anybody.  This bears out other research that says mass shooters hit somebody about every 8 seconds.  Meaning, unless you are a plain-clothed cop standing next to the first victim, relying on the police to stop a mass shooter does not work for the second--et sequentia--victims.

Predator vs. Armed Prey

Honestly, carrying a gun does not guarantee your safety in a mass shooting.  Nor does not carrying a gun guarantee you will be a victim.  But let's say carrying a gun increases your survival chances by one percent.  Is your life worth that one percent better chance?

Unfortunately, what the politicians on both the left and right in modern America argue about are false guarantees of safety.  There are no guarantees in combat, and as I have said many times, real self-defense engagements are combat on an interpersonal level.  It's the scene in Saving Private Ryan where Private Mellish is killed with a knife by the German.  There are no guarantees, because the enemy gets a vote in the outcome of the struggle.  Guarantees and promises are what Americans want from their politicians, and giving such guarantees is how politicians get elected.  But, that's a lie.  There are no guarantees when it comes to violence.  There are only probabilities, and you can increase your odds of winning by doing certain things, but there is still no 100% solution in combat.

The most important thing you can do to increase your chances of survival is equipping yourself to be able to confront violence.  In other words, you have to have the physical capabilities to be violent if you are confronted with violence.  That means arming yourself.  I advocate carrying a firearm, but if that's not possible, then remember the first WIDTH-6 principle: anything can be used as a weapon, because you are the weapon.  There are fire extinguishers in most indoor work settings; ambush the bastard upside the head with one.  Get a kitchen knife from the break room, and turn his neck into a red sprinkler.  Or, be like me, and shoot back.

The other thing you need to do to prepare yourself is train.  Train as much as you can.  For me that means shooting as often as I can.  If you're in a place where you can't carry a gun, then train for unarmed combat; that is not the same as training for a fight.  Unarmed combat is not a boxing match or MMA competition; it is trying to neutralize the other person's ability to kill you before they have a chance to do so.  That means taking the Initiative away from them and causing Damage (not pain) to a structure of their body in order to kill or completely incapacitate them.  In other words, cheat your ass off and be brutal; if you're not cheating, you're not in a real self-defense situation.

The most important aspect of training and equipping yourself to confront violence is not physical, it is mental preparation to do violence onto another person.  This should inform your decisions for equipping yourself in that you want a weapon that you can handle to actually inflict lethal damage upon another person, not just threaten it (never rely on intimidation against crazy people).  It should also inform your training methodology.  Training to win a grappling contest in a ring will not solve an active shooter problem.  Neither will training to put holes in bullseyes in a sterile indoor shooting range.  Mental training has to be training the mind to kill.  The mind is I, and I am the Weapon.

Train to flee also.  Understand where the exits are.  Understand how to get out of an active shooter situation.  Rehearse escape routes.  Rehearse getting to safety, not just outside the building.  Rick Rescorla, who was the hero security manager for Morgan Stanley in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, forced his entire company to do evacuation drills.  On September 11, 2001, he saved all of his employees but one idiot Vice President, who refused to leave, and Mr. Rescorla died going back in for the idiot when the tower collapsed.  It was his preparation, learned in Vietnam, that saved hundreds of lives.  He taught them how to get out, and to not stop once they got out.  These simple rehearsals that he ran made the difference between his company's survival and the fates of so many others in the World Trade Center.  Know how to get out of your work space, always know where you are in any space, and know the most expedient means of escape.  When you are traveling and check into a hotel, find the nearest emergency exits and just take a walk down to them.  These little rehearsals save lives, and they are all part of training to survive an active shooter.

There are no guarantees in combat because the enemy gets a vote.  Don't trust any politician, on the left or right, that promises to "make you safer."  They can't.  You have to make yourself safer.  Be the Weapon.  Retake the Initiative to save your own life.  If confronted with evil, cause mortal Damage.  Trust your Sixth Sense and maintain situational awareness.  Be mentally prepared to save your own life, because even when the cops are only 60 seconds away, that's too long.

Like and Share,
Soule
Easy6
www.easy6training.com