EMERGENCY DEFENSE PREP #3: GUN DEFENSE

Disclaimer: This post contains graphic content focusing on defending oneself in an emergency, aspects of which may be triggering for some people, and considered adult in nature.  Defense situations (such as a gun defense) can vary and no one technique will work for every situation.  Technique and weapons use are subject to local laws governing self-defense and personal protection.  Please consult local and national laws as part of your defense prep.  These laws may also vary depending on whether you’re at home, in our car, at work, or out in public.

In 2012 in a town in Colorado, a 27 year old man came into a movie theater.  It was opening night for The Dark Night Rises (Batman).  The man sat down in the front row of the filled theater, over 400 people present.  Shortly after the movie began, the man left through an emergency door at the front of the theater, propping the door open as he left.  The man returned about 30 minutes later and was dressed in tactical gear, wearing a gas mask, and armed with several guns.  He threw a tear gas canister to the side of the theater and then he began shooting.

Many of us are familiar with several high-profile active shooter situations.  These horrific situations seem to be occurring in increasing frequency and although sound like a clip from a war story.  Sometimes these events happen in relatively small peaceful towns where we live.

EMERGENCY DEFENSE PREP: GUN DEFENSE

In our last post we discussed goals for weapons defense.  Specifically, we talked about stopping the immediate threat first and finishing the fight second.  We will use these two goals to know best how to react to a gun.

Responding to a gun threat or active shooter situation is very risky with real-life consequences if it does not go as trained (and often even if it does).  On one side the risk is death or severe injury (us or others we care about) and on the other side (if things go exactly as we trained for) there is still likely legal aftermath (in civil or even criminal court).  For example, even if you were justified in self-defense, you may still be sued in civil court.  In the end, if we or our family are still alive then that is what matters.

To start us off, let’s consider the difference between a gun threat and an active shooter?  A gun threat means the person wants something and is using the gun as leverage to get it.  An active shooter is a shooter actively in the process of shooting, even if moving between locations.  Either way, a gun is a gun.  It is a lethal weapon!

GUN DEFENSE #1: GUN THREATS

To defend against a gun threat, we will use the attacker’s desire to obtain something against them.  Attackers who threaten with a gun often make two mistakes: 1) they pull out a gun and then want to talk (a gun is a tool of action, not a conversation starter), and 2) they take a ranged weapon (designed to be used from a distance) and bring it in close to us.  Let’s explore why these are mistakes.

As a note, there are a couple of factors that can make reacting to a gun threat more challenging (but not impossible): if the attacker is behind us, or if they are beyond our reach (note mistake number two above).  If the attacker is beyond our reach, we can close a short physical distance quickly and we discuss this in the active shooter section next.

Gun Threat Defense: Take Advantage of the First Mistake

We use the first mistake to slow down how quickly they can pull the trigger.  How do we do this?

1. We appear to comply by raising our hands,
2. Position our hands in a favorable way,
3. Ask the attacker “What do you want?” (in a gentle, non-aggressive way), and
4. Then react when their focus is on what they are saying to us

When they are conversing, the attacker focuses on their words, tone, meaning, our words, our tone, our meaning, etc.  Guess what they are momentarily not thinking about?  Pulling the trigger.  While this is only very momentary (about 3 seconds on average), we will use that additional time to our advantage.  As soon as they start speaking, we react because we don’t care about what they will tell us.  The question is a tactic, not an ice breaker.  After taking advantage of the first mistake, we can take advantage of the second.

Gun Threat Defense: Take Advantage of the Second Mistake

We use the second mistake to ensure we are close enough to physically redirect the attacker’s line-of-fire (the potential path of the bullet exiting the gun – roughly a straight line), and then to finish the fight (disarming only if needed).

To stop the immediate threat, we want to:

• Shove the gun (or arm holding the gun) away from us while also moving our body the opposite direction (easier said than done, this is where training and practice are important), and
• Before the attacker can point the gun back at us, we want to quickly do whatever we can to keep it physically pointed away (this might mean forcibly keeping – using our body and arms – their arms facing away from us or pinning the gun arm to something).
• Disarm or finish another way

To finish the fight, we want to survive by escaping, disarming, or finishing another way.  To disarm:

• While keeping the line-of-fire pointed away from us, move our hands to the gun (to allow us to disarm and retain the gun) and then sandwich the gun with one hand gripping each side of the gun,
• Redirect the line-of-fire towards the attacker using a small tight circle motion. We do not want to circle the gun towards us.
• Break the attacker’s grip by holding the gun near to us but have the line-of-fire facing the attacker, and step quickly away from them. We will typically add a strike or two in before we do this, such as a knee to the groin (so we do not have to take our hands off the gun).

Once we disarm, we need to get out of the situation safely and call the police.  Do not assume that taking the gun away means the fight is over.

GUN DEFENSE #2: ACTIVE SHOOTER

For an active shooter, the situation is more dire.  The attacker is not making mistake number one (using the gun for leverage).  They may also be less concerned with getting close to us, not making mistake number two either.

We can escape or hide.  This may be important if we do not feel we can overcome the attacker, are protecting others (children, family, our students, etc.), or for some other reason.  If we want to hide or try to escape, here are some helpful ideas.

• Find cover: get behind objects that are dense and can help stop bullets. Ideal objects are heavy wooden doors; bookshelves filled with books; file cabinets filled with papers; steel beams; fridges filled with milk, water, or other drinks; or the engine block of a car.  Objects that don’t provide cover are sheetrock walls; car doors; empty fridges or bookshelves; or furniture such as couches or chairs.
• Conceal ourselves: We can conceal ourselves in dark or shaded areas or behind those objects we discussed in the cover section that, even if they don’t protect us, may help hide us.
  • We can also conceal ourselves (and others) in rooms. Go for rooms with heavy, solid doors and do not have windows.  If there are windows, cover them up or make sure we can’t be seen through them.  Lock and barricade the door (push a large object behind the door or get the door jam and shove it under the door if the door opens into the room).  Turn off the lights (make it look like no one is in the room).
• Put your phone on silent so the attacker doesn’t hear it ring or vibrate as this may give away your position while trying to hide or escape.

Active Shooter Defense: The Reality

One thing I do want to point out is that active shooter situations are unique.  We may think about hiding until the police arrive.  However, frequently an active shooter situation finishes before police have time to get onsite.  That means the attacker keeps shooting victims until they are done.  The FBI reported that of 160 active shooter incidents, the majority resolved with the shooter committing suicide after the damage was already done.  In only about a quarter of those events did police stop the shooter.

This means that hiding and waiting for police may mean the active shooter continues to seek out and kill victims.  So, we may improve our (and others) chance of survival by taking action to stop the shooter.

If we decide to act, our primary focus is still on stopping the immediate threat first, and then finish the fight (disarming only if needed) second.  Assuming the attacker is a distance from us, we can use our own ranged weapon (i.e., our defense gun – see blog post).  If we do not have a defense gun, our next option is to close our physical distance to stop the attacker.

Active Shooter Defense: Closing Distance

We made the decision to fight (rather than escape or wait it out) and we do not have a defense gun.  Our next question is how close do we need to be (or get to) to succeed in our defense?  Important question!

The first point, because there are numerous factors that affect getting close, there’s no magical distance where we will for sure succeed.  Consider:

• For the shooter
  • Their accuracy.
  • Are they out of ammo or is their magazine full?
  • Is their gun pointed at us, away from us, or down?
  • Do they even see or notice us?
• For us
  • How fast can we run?
  • Are we committed and won’t hesitate?
  • Do we have training in our defense?
  • Are we standing or sitting, lying, kneeling (slowing us down)?
  • Do we have any injuries that limit us?

Hopefully, we recognize the threat immediately (before we’re shot), are already standing, have nothing between us and the attacker, are dedicated to our defense, can sprint, and the shooter is distracted.  Just to be clear though, even if not we may succeed.

The second point, we may be able to close a short distance and stop the threat.  If we are too far (with no defense gun), we should escape, wait it out, or use cover and concealment to get close enough.  So, how far to best succeed?  Police are often taught that an attacker can be a threat and close 21 feet (or more) before the officer can draw and shoot.  We can be a threat to the shooter and close a short distance quickly.  We can also improve our chances by sidestepping (moving out of the line-of-fire) before sprinting in and shoving the gun or arm away.

Active Shooter Defense: Stop the Threat

Now that we have closed distance, the actions we want to take are pretty much the same as what we described above in the “Gun Threat Defense: Take Advantage of the Second Mistake” section.

The main difference with an active shooter response is that we are sprinting in toward the attacker.  This means we have momentum when we reach the attacker, especially if we are committed to our defense.  Once we reach the attacker, we will aggressively shove the gun or gun arm away from us.  How can sprinting change the outcome?  When momentum from sprinting is added the result may look like a football tackle where we end up on the ground after having shoved the gun or arm away.

Active shooter situations are dire, so we seek to survive whether we end up on the ground or are standing.  Whether we seek to survive by disarming the shooter or finishing another way, we want to forcibly keep the gun’s line-of-fire pointed away from us throughout our defense.

WRAPPING UP: GUN DEFENSE

Going back to the event in Colorado, police found and arrested James Holmes, without resistance, about 6 minutes after the first phone calls to 911.  After he already killed 12 people and injured 70 others that night.

However, rather than living in fear, let’s prepare ourselves in case we end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

To help build our confidence and skill to survive an attacker armed with a gun, I highly recommend Krav Maga (Israeli Martial Arts) training.  Krav Maga is the most real-world training system that is also widely available and includes defense against weapon attacks.  In fact, I would make sure the instructor teaches weapons defense at the beginning of the program.

Check out the other posts in this blog series:

• Fundamental defense prep ideas (post 1),
• Defense against weapons (post 2),
  • Gun threat or active shooter (post 3)
  • Knife (post 4)
  • Rope or cord used to choke (post 5)
• Using a defense weapon to survive (coming soon).

If you’re looking for more on emergency prep, check out the emergency prep strategy blog series (with a closer look at day-to-day prep, and coming soon: cyber prep, shelter-in-place prep, and evacuation prep).