HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION

Dennis Kennedy, TWAW [The Well Armed Woman] fan and Director of Training for Counter Terrorism Institute of America wrote an article on preparing for an active shooter situation. This article has been widely distributed and published you all are free to share with his blessing.
http://combat-terror.com/library/Active_Shooter_Training.pdf

Active Shooter Training for Citizens

By Dennis Kennedy

 

The recent shootings at Trolley Square, Virginia Tech and the Omaha Mall remind us that violence can strike at any time and in any place. These types of events are not unusual. They occur everywhere. They happen in churches, malls, schools and workplaces. They will happen again. Have a plan.

Whether you carry a gun or not, these are some precautions that everyone can take to be better prepared if it happens to you.

Family Emergency Plan - BEFORE any emergency occurs, develop a Family Emergency Plan. This plan may be used for any emergency. Keep it simple, such as developing a rendezvous point in the event you are separated. Have an alternative plan. No matter where you are, a simple plan is better than no plan.

Situational Awareness - Be AWARE of your surroundings and situation. NOT paranoid, just aware. Keeping the cell phone jammed in your ear 24/7 is not being AWARE. Even if you see something that does not seem right, leave and call police.

Find an EXIT - When out in public, look for and know how to get to the nearest TWO exits. Don’t concern yourself that they may be marked EMERGENCY, EMPLOYEE ONLY or ALARMED. You are going to use them anyway in an emergency.

Breakage - If you are trapped in an active shooter situation and there are no door exits but windows are available, BREAK THEM! Use whatever is available up to and including your firearm to break glass doors or windows to escape the threat!

Move - If you hear gunfire or see the shooter, immediately go to the nearest exit and AWAY from the shooter. The farther away you get, the safer you will be.

Lock It - If you are trapped in a location that has no exit, lock yourself and others inside. Use belts, electrical cords, rope or whatever is quickly available to secure the door. Barricade the door with furniture, desks or store displays. Be quiet and stay away from the doors. Do NOT open the doors for others once you are secured. Shooters have been known to pound on the doors pretending to be victims, begging for entry.

Stay put until the police break in to rescue you.

Fight Back! If you are trapped, cannot escape and the shooter makes entry into your location, FIGHT BACK! Immediately ATTACK with chairs, tables, fire extinguishers, books or whatever you have on hand. Everyone in the room must ATTACK, tackle him, bite, claw, stab or choke. If you do not fight back, savagely and with overwhelming force he will methodically kill everyone.

Armed Citizens - If you are armed with a firearm at the scene of an active shooter, your FIRST responsibility is to get your family to safety. Help others along the way if you can but immediately MOVE your own family out of the area first.

Call 911 - ASAP, get on the phone and give 911 the shooters description, location and type of weapon, if known. Give the dispatcher YOUR location and description. Make certain to tell the dispatcher that YOU ARE ARMED. The dispatcher may try and get you to put your weapon away. REFUSE and tell dispatch you will remain armed as long as the threat is active.

Take Cover - Place yourself between the shooter and others that may be with you. Have someone else talk on the phone. Your focus needs to be on the shooter.

Police Confrontations-If you are confronted by the police, keep your weapon muzzle pointed down. Raise your non-shooting hand up near your face in the SURRENDER position. Yell loudly at the officer “I am NOT the shooter”! Do EXACTLY and IMMEDIATELY whatever the officer orders you to do. Expect to be taken down at gunpoint and treated like the bad guy. Be thankful they didn’t shoot you. Don’t take it personal. What actions you took can be sorted out afterwards. If an officer asks you to help, comply and do as you’re told.

Additional thoughts:

1. Carry a good small flashlight whether you carry your gun or not.

     

2. Carry enough ammo.

3. Carry a working cell phone

4. Know trauma care. That is to say, know how to treat gun shot wounds and other injuries with whatever is on the scene. The police are trained to go straight to the shooter. They will NOT stop to help until after the shooter is stopped. You will be left to help yourself and others.

5. Be a good witness. Be prepared to give a coherent statement to the police about the incident.

6. Keep your mouth shut if you were forced to use deadly force. Only give a generic statement such as “he tried to kill me/us and I was forced to defend myself/us”. Stick to the 5th Amendment until you have a lawyer by your side. Remember, there will most certainly be a civil lawsuit coming. Keep your mouth shut. Protect your own civil rights. If you need to discuss it with someone, tell your lawyer or your clergy. Those are protected communications.

7. When you write your statement look up Utah law [substitute your own location] regarding use of force and include the exact same words that match what action you were forced to take. “I reasonably believed the force was necessary because...”

6. You have the RIGHT to keep and bear arms. You have a RESPONSIBILITY to train and become proficient with your firearm.

USE OF FORCE [research the law in your location]

76-2-402 Utah Code Annotated

Force in defense of person

Reasonably believes force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury:

1. Actions must be reasonable.

2. Force must be necessary.

3. Must show a significant threat of death or serious bodily injury.

A person is not justified:

     (a) If he initially provokes the use of force.

     (b) Is attempting or committing a crime.

     (c) Was the aggressor.

These events happen. They happen in churches, malls, schools and work places. They will happen again. If you are going to carry a firearm, be responsible and BE PREPARED.

About the author-Dennis Kennedy is Director of Training for the Counterterrorism Institute of America, LLC. Dennis is a 25 year veteran law enforcement Instructor and military special operations weapons NCO. He is a Utah POST certified Firearms Instructor as well as NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor and Utah BCI Concealed Firearms Permit Instructor. He can be contacted via his company web site at:

www.combat-terror.com

Fight back: The things I am talking about here have been taught to Israeli school kids since the 70s

Dennis Kennedy is Director of Training for the Counter-terrorism Institute of America: Weapons To Use Against An Armed Assailant

Guns of the Rich and Famous

...let them eat bullets...

Great story in the L.A. Times: "The Reluctant Gun Owner"

Ladies (and liberals) take note: I had never wanted a gun. Now I own a Smith & Wesson revolver. Why?

Why prosecute car thieves and criminals... when you can prosecute a SENIOR CITIZEN for defending himself against two potential Obama voters... once "Immigration Reform" passes...

It's not a hypothetical scenario.

Say you're 82 years old. Say that you see two people a third of your age with criminal records stealing your trailer. Say that you run out to stop them and they almost run you over. You fire two shots. The thieves are let go, and you find yourself facing life in prison.

KABA: What it really means

"KEEP AND BEAR ARMS"

I received this today from Robert A. Gismondi--a very well-informed, experienced, ex-Army guy:

McDonald vs. Chicago has been decided in favor of McDonald. Now honest citizens can be armed in Chicago, instead of just criminals. (McDonald is an elderly black man living in Chicago, who has been menaced by criminals.)

I checked CNN when Fox went to commercial and who should appear but Jeffrey Toobin. He said that this decision reverses the opinions of legal scholars, apparently for the last 40 years. What Jeffrey, like Zerobama, does not seem to know, is that before then, when the socialist/collectivist/statist/fascists began to take control of public education, universities, law schools, and the media, it had been understood since the founding of our nation (actually it pre-dates the founding) that there is an individual right to KABA. In England, the right was recognized, as long as you were not Roman Catholic. Later, the right was extended to them as well. Of course, that was then.

The extent of "liberal" lies never fails to impress me!

The usual suspects reporting indicate that the Supremes have "extended" the right to KABA. That is male bovine exrementum. They extended nothing; they merely explicitly recognized what was common understanding for hundreds of years.

Even the WSJ has its biases (on the news side.) I expect that the NRA, fast mover that it is, will have a report, oh, perhaps Friday or Saturday.

For Cah-lee-FWAR-nya, there will be many lawsuits, as a result of the decision. The fascists are like Islamist terrorists; they are fanatics, and never give up.

However, I think this ruling invalidates, generally, the requirement in Cah-lee-FWAR-nya to lock up firearms. If you cannot have access to your piece, it does no good.

As everyone knows, the Fourteenth Amendment extended all individual rights to freed slaves, including the right to KABA. And, it explicitly applied to the states. Associate Justice Alito's majority opinion made a point of that concept.

. . . The right to keep and bear arms is enforceable against the States because it is a privilege of American citizenship recognized by §1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides, inter alia: “’No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.’”

Majority Decision, Justice Alito

The complete decision:

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/08-1521-1.pdf

A brief article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703964104575334701513109426.html

Real "Gun Control" means: A good stance, proper grip, the right sight picture, and smooth trigger technique.

After reading it, I happened upon this cool site:
www.keepandbeararms.com

Why a revolver (rather than a semi-automatic pistol) is better for home defense

From my firearms instructor (and personal friend):

• It always goes bang
• There are no feeding or extraction problems (no "jams")
• Wide latitude of ammo is usable
• Simpler operation—no safeties, press checks, etc.
• No need to tear down ("field strip") to clean
• No need to shoot 200 rounds of self-defense ammo to ensure reliability
• Many accidental shootings occur when someone erroneously thinks he has unloaded a semi-auto pistol
• Revolver ammo can often be had in wadcutter, semi-wadcutter, or flat-nose bullets which make cleaner, easier-to-see holes in the target

Shotguns have well-known advantages; but, as others have noted, they are often inaccessible quickly, and may be unhandy in cramped quarters.

1. The chambers are always loaded--you loaded them. And, you cock the hammer, with thumb or trigger finger. Bang!

2. The semi-auto must feed the ammo in an awkward path, which may not function when needed. Some ammo, such as hollow point defense ammo, does not feed as reliably as hardball (aka FMJ).

A revolver operates well even when not handled ideally. But, a semi-auto may fail to function if the hand is weak (called "limp wristing".) That is, the semi operates by recoil. If the hand recoils, then the receiver of the gun also recoils, and the slide may not recoil sufficiently in relation to the receiver. Result: jam.

3. If ammo is too powerful, in a semi-auto, it damages the gun or at least the recoil spring, leading to possible serious damage. If ammo is not powerful enough, the slide may not cycle fully, resulting in a failure to feed or other jams. Revolvers (especially .357 Magnum) have a wide latitude of useable ammunition loadings; as, the functioning of the mechanism does not depend on specific recoil requirements.

4. Revolvers need no safety. So, you cannot have the safety engaged by mistake, when attempting to fire in self-defense. Semi-autos come in many designs and configurations: some have a safety that is up for Safe, down for Safe, Decock only, frame mounted, slide mounted, etc. A few have no thumb safety.

5. Field stripping makes cleaning easier than on a revolver. But, field stripping usually requires hand strength, dexterity, and a bit of mechanical ability. Re-assembly is a little bit more difficult.

6. After tentatively settling on self-defense ammo, one needs (as a rule of thumb) to run 200 rounds of that ammo through a semi-automatic, to prove reliability in feeding, extracting and ejecting. Self-defense ammo does not necessarily feed as well as FMJ range ammo, as the shape of the bullet is designed for maximum effectiveness in defense, and that requirement conflicts with the best shape for reliable feeding.

7. Many people, including kids, think that a semi-auto is unloaded by dropping the magazine. But, if there were a round in the chamber, the pistol would still be loaded, and many will fire. The exceptions are those pistols that have 'magazine disconnect' safeties. Assuming they work, these safeties prevent firing when the magazine is removed. Often, police prefer this design; the military prefers the opposite. Sometimes the same pistol can be ordered either way. In either case, after dropping the mag, one must rack the slide, to eject the live round in the chamber, and check to see that the chamber is empty. A revolver's ammo can be seen from the outside; further, opening the cylinder makes it easy to see if it is loaded, and prevent firing.

8. Flat nosed or target bullets make nice clean easy-to-see holes in the target, giving instant feedback on each shot.

There is no semi-auto that will provide both the effectiveness of .357 Magnum performance, and the low-cost pleasant practice of .38 Specials. You can approach one or the other, but, not both.

So, why do people buy semi-autos? Well, for many it is an error. If they do not get the instruction and practice to use it proficiently, they may regret it when under threat.

But, if a person carries a pistol concealed, semi-autos are flatter, and hold more ammo. That may be important. The semi can be fired faster, generally; but, if the shooter is not highly proficient, faster shooting will simply mean more misses. And that is where the extra ammo goes.

On average, cops shoot 2.5 shots in a gunfight, if equipped with a revolver. Semi-auto cops on average shoot 40% more rounds in a fight: 3.5.

So, why do I have a semi-auto? Because at the time I bought it, 1994, it seemed like the last chance to ever legally buy a pistol with a large capacity (over 10 rounds) magazine. It is pleasurable to shoot, as are all well designed handguns. But, it is not my home defense gun. The revolver is, equipped with very high quality defense ammo. No feed worries. Always goes "bang." Easy to shoot under stress. And, for extra ammo, if needed, I just pick up my other weapon.

~~Robert

[UPDATED 5/18/2010]

The Gun is Civilization

by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

By Maj. L. C audill USM C (Ret)

So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.

21st Century Neighborhood Watch

Why Switzerland Has The Lowest Crime Rate In The World

Why Liberals Support Islamic Terrorism, And Oppose Self-Defense Against It

The right of self-defense is the basis of all individual and national freedoms, because if you can't protect yourself, all other rights and freedoms become meaningless. Yet the right of self-defense has been increasingly diminished by liberalism, in favor of "grievance based violence".

Read more