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> Mass shootings are terrifying because there’s no sense of control. For anyone here concerned about this, it doesn’t take very much money in HN-terms to becom
by mwint 4y ago
> Mass shootings are terrifying because there’s no sense of control.
For anyone here concerned about this, it doesn’t take very much money in HN-terms to become reasonably well trained. You can:
1) Carry your own weapon, following your state’s laws in all but a few.
2) Learn to use that weapon very well, but more importantly:
3) Learn to use cover and move defensively or offensively
4) Learn to administer basic medical attention to yourself and others
5) Learn to read people and know when something might be about to happen.
After enough training, you will at least probably not freeze in an active shooter scenario. Even if you’re not into carrying your own weapon, doing some training will teach you how insanely hard it is to hit any moving target (or anything at all when the adrenaline is going).
Re. 5), many people in my state carry and I never used to notice them. Now I can pick out who is and isn’t, and usually how long they’ve been doing it (newbies will subtly check their weapon is secure every time they move).
The Secret Service is trained the same way; someone not used to carrying who is about to do something bad will send off all kinds of weird body language signals.
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No, you don’t need to learn this because shootings are exceedingly rare. But if you’re nervous, learning these things will give you a sense of understanding about the threat, and the basic tools to do something to keep your loved ones safe in that one-in-a-hundred-thousand-lifetimes event.
- clairity 4y agono, if you want to survive a mass shooting, you don’t need to do anything, especially not buy a gun, and your likelihood of not dying by mass shooting stays the same, basically zero. your chances of dying by gun increase much more simply by having one than you could ever hope to reduce the risk of dying by mass shooting by having one. if you were in the exceedingly unlikely scenario of a mass shooting, brandishing a gun increases your likelihood of dying in that situation several-fold, rather than materially increasing your chances of stopping the mass shooter or even saving your own life.
- mwint 4y agoNever brandish a gun. Proper training means going from deep concealment to shots on target in a few seconds, maximum. Your cited statistic is one reason open carry is a Bad Idea; it puts you first in line to be eliminated. Concealment, all the way.
- clairity 4y agoi'd take that further a say never have a gun, concealed or not. the chances, even with great training, practice, and discipline, to use it in a way that harms only the perpetrator and no one else, especially not yourself, is fantastically small (much less than lightning strike chances). my veteran friend who trains others on firearms and has a license to carry would say the same thing.
- powerhour 4y agoAnd if the rhetoric is true and stolen guns are disproportionately represented in violent crimes 6) learn to secure your gun when it is not in use so it doesn't get (easily) stolen, FFS.
- thehappypm 4y agoRight, because having a gun definitely will stop the next Mandalay Bay gunman from sniping me out during a rave.
- mwint 4y agoShootings in general are a very, very rare event. Mandalay Bay was an exceedingly rare event inside that category. If you're worried about Mandalay Bay, you're right, you will not be returning fire from the ground into an nth floor hotel window with your sidearm. The other things on the list still apply. Learn to move, learn to use cover, learn to provide basic medical attention. It's not a bad idea to carry a TQ if you're going somewhere with crazy-large groups of people (for reasons other than shootings, which statistically you will not be involved in).