Active Shooter Incidents: Another Reason to Carry a True Fighting Pistol

This past week we witnessed yet another spate of sickos murdering innocent people in two different active shooter events, one in Texas and one in Ohio.  Of course, the usual suspects are proposing passing laws that would have no effect in mitigating such incidents.  Of course, we have arguments over the classification of terrorism.  As usual, mental illness and violent video games are on everyone’s agenda.  I have written more times than I can count on all of these political issues, so let us abandon that for now.

Rather, I want to direct your attention to your own preparedness.  Are you carrying your gun every day?  I bet there were a number of people at both of these incidents that have carry permits, but like most permit holders, were not carrying their gun that day.  Do you carry your gun daily?  Are you staying alert to your surroundings?  Are you carrying medical gear?

Before going further, I think we still need to bear in mind that active shooter events still remain so infrequent that the argument for adjusting your lifestyle in any way to account for them may be laughable.  On any given day, your likelihood of dying due to a car accident, or falling down the stairs in your own home, are hundreds of times greater.  Your likelihood of dying due to your poor diet, or poor life choices such as being a smoker, are thousands of times greater.  Therefore, adjusting lifestyle, let along passing laws, based on incidents that are statistically infinitesimal, does not make sense.

Still, these incidents do happen, and they happen more now than in the past.  Everyone who was caught up in these two recent incidents probably also considered them to be statistically infinitesimal.  Yet, we have 30 more dead people.

Carrying your gun on a daily basis, at all times possible, should be the goal for anyone invested in their own personal security.  Obviously, carrying any gun puts you exponentially ahead of the crowd in your ability to protect yourself and your family.  However, and I know this will ruffle some feathers but I will say it anyway: if you are not constrained by non-permissive environment or company, then consider carrying a true fighting pistol.  Do you want to find yourself 50 yards away from an active shooter with a rifle in his hand while you are holding a 380 pocket auto or a 5 shot J Frame?  Such a gun would be far superior to being unarmed and give you a chance, obviously, but if you are not constrained on what you can carry, why should you not carry more?

For those who keep saying things like “the average civilian gunfight is 3 shots, 3 yards, 3 seconds” or “reloads never happen in real life,” etc…, there is merit to this, but I remind you that everyone who finds themselves at ground zero in these active killer incidents are not facing anything even remotely “average.”  Certainly, your chances of finding yourself in such a situation still remains exceedingly low, but even as overall violent crime has reduced, these active killer incidents have escalated in occurrence and considering such outliers in your plans makes sense at our current point in history.

Consider this latest attack in Ohio, in which a mad man dressed in body armor and using a rifle, attacked a crowd of people outside of a bar.  Do you want to face an armored threat with a long gun with your minimal carry gun?  Head shots, at distance, and enough capacity to keep you in the fight, is what may be needed.  Yes, again, such a reality is statistically so small that perhaps it is not worth consideration.  However, despite those small statistics, there are more bodies each year.  If we embrace the responsibility of going armed, why not carry the tool that is also better suited for the outlier events whenever possible?

I have promoted this for a long time: I think the double-stack 9mm pistol, full-size or even the compact models, are the fighting handguns of the 21^st Century.  The single-stack 9mm guns that are so very popular are not as well suited to such a task as an active killer as are the more capable, though larger, double-stack options, but in trained hands these guns also prove formidable and serve as a do-it-all concealed carry option for many people.  They certainly prove far more capable than the smaller deep concealment guns.  At least one reload should also be carried.  The small revolver or the pocket auto belong in everyone’s arsenal as they allow you to be armed in less-permissive situations, but when you are not restricted, carry a gun that you can fight with.  This day and age, why would you not?