Active Shooter Readiness

What is an active shooter?

An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area. The main objective of an active shooter killer is to have mass casualties.  

A deranged individual that has already made up their mind about killing innocent people will attempt to take out as many people as possible before they are confronted by an armed civilian or a police officer.

Shocking active shooter statistics

The numbers gathered below are from the Advanced Law Enforcement Response Training (ALEERT).

• Twenty-two active shootings occur in the United States yearly.
• Fifty percent of all incidents end before police even arrive on the scene to confront the killer(s).
• Active shooters either die at the hands of an armed citizen, upon police arrival or suicide.
• Workplace active shooters are the highest percentage at 50 %.

School active shooters are the second highest at 28% These killers do not care about the age or gender of their victims. These killers are focused on mass casualties and carry out their deranged mission to get their names and sad stories all over the media. These killers typically plan their attacks at schools, churches, places of work, malls, parking lots, movie theaters, restaurants, and so on. The questions we must ask ourselves is. ARE WE READY?  

What should I do to prepare myself for a potential active shooter?

Carry a gun daily

To end a violent threat against yourself or your loved ones, you must be prepared with the equipment and training for survival. I have carried a firearm every day for the last seventeen years. I carry spare ammunition with me daily. I do this because my safety and the safety of my family are paramount.

Continuous training

I train weekly/monthly to hone my skills for survival. You must be confident in your abilities and firearm to confront and end a threat to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Going to the shooting range once a year isn't enough. Sign up for active shooter training courses around you. Enroll in tactical pistol courses that involve movement and shooting drills. Challenge yourself to be outside of your comfort zone.

The importance of proper training and mindset during my real-life active shooter encounter

I get it... Training is expensive. However, the irrational belief that "I watch YouTube channels daily and I'm ready" will not do you any good during a real-life crisis. If you have never been to an active shooter incident, you do not know what it is like. (Trigger warning - Graphic description ahead.)

I've been there and seen it. I have responded to an active shooter call on November 1, 2017, in Thornton, Colorado Walmart.

Upon my arrival to the scene, I saw nothing but people running out of the store shoeless grabbing their children and loved ones, and running for their dear lives. Shopping carts tripped over, blood in the isles and bodies laying on the ground lifeless. All I thought to myself was, “If there was an armed civilian in this crowd carrying their concealed handgun would it have stopped this deranged individual from killing innocent people shopping at Walmart?” All I was thinking inside my head was, “If I was in there, I could have saved some lives that day.” 

How high-stress situations affect the brain

Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, especially in conditions of stress, increasing rates of blood circulation, breathing, and carbohydrate metabolism and preparing muscles for exertion. The amount of adrenaline a human gets when a shooting takes place is intense.

Humans function with a response of fight or flight. If we do not have repetitive training to train our brain to know what to do in high-stress situations, our normal response can be the instinct of survival and we will take flight rather than fighting. 

In the military, enlisted soldiers train and train some more. They train to prepare for war. Police officers, train and train some more too. They train so they are proficient and ready to save lives. Why do soldiers and police officers feel comfortable in extremely stressful situations? From repetitive training for hundreds even thousands of hours. Realistic stressful training allows you to place yourself in the realism of evil if done correctly. So, when the real evil arrives, we confront it and neutralize it. 

Final thoughts on how to prepare for an active shooter situation

Here is the bottom-line advice to prepare yourself. Get your Conceal Handgun Permits and carry a firearm with you daily. Go out there and train monthly. Spend the money to receive personal professional firearm training from top-notch instructors in your state. This training can one day save your own life or the life of your loved ones. SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM (If you wish for peace, prepare for war).