Some Thoughts on What to Do in a

Posted on June 13, 2016

The shooting that occurred in Orlando Florida has been on my mind ever since I heard about it yesterday. It clarified some thoughts that have been going through my mind for some time now. First let me express my condolences to the families of the victims, I feel for them. Second, let me express my contempt for the radical Muslims and the fellow travelers in our current administration who aid and abet them.

Now the next section may make some people upset with me. But these are the thoughts that have been going through my mind. First the government programs teach that if you are caught in an active shooter situation to run, hide or fight in that order. I personally have some questions about this. I think that this is the correct tactic for women and children and men who are too far away. But for men who are within a reasonable distance of the shooter it should be fight.

In yesterday’s shooting, we saw people who texted messages as the shooter approached them. They would have stood a lot better chance if they would have thrown the phone at him and charged. With the number of rounds he fired, he had to have done several reloads. Now I am 72 years old and I feel that I could travel approximated 20 feet during the time it takes to reload an AR15. Another factor is that regardless of how well trained an individual is, an AR15 is not a magic weapon. It only fires in one direction at a time and only one round for each pull of the trigger.

Now my feelings for some time is that if I am involved in an active shooting situation and am within a reasonable distance of the shooter I will attack. Now being a bit of a realist even though this is my plan, I don’t know if I would have the courage to actually do it until I am faced with the situation. But I know that if I get the thought in my mind ahead of time I am much more likely to do it.

Now let’s discuss what happens if you charge, first there is a good chance others may join you. People react to a leader. If the shooter has to deal with you, it buys time for others to flee. If you are shot, but if the suspect goes down as a result of several people charging, you will get medical help much sooner. You won’t lie there for three hours, slowly bleeding to death. I believe that fighting back will reduce the death toll in most situations.

I hope that if I am ever in such a situation I have the courage to die on my feet fighting, rather than hiding in a bathroom.

Howard

Some Thoughts on What to Do in an Active Shooting situation