I think victims' and survivors have an important message to deliver if they so choose.
I do not think they are experts on law-making or policy-crafting though.
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I think victims' and survivors have an important message to deliver if they so choose.
I do not think they are experts on law-making or policy-crafting though.
So is offering up thoughts and prayers not enough anymore? That’s worked so well in the past, why are people giving up on it? Especially now that we’re teaching little kids how to deal with active shooter situations. Surely that’s enough to justify the second amendment suicide pact isn’t it???
Another factor is the nature of reality.
I wonder what density of people with firearms handy would be required to guaranteed that an incident is stopped "immediately"? What does "immediately" even mean in this context? We've had incidents that lasted only a minute or so, that's pretty "immediate", and yet lots of folks were killed or injured.
I carry a firearm pretty much everywhere I go. I also train with local law enforcement to enter active shooting environments as part of our response team. Our current protocol is to move rapidly towards the shooter, and not take much time triageing the wounded along the way, to reduce overall casualties by ending the shooting as soon as possible. But, it's a team sport, we have armor, communications/coordination, and better weapons than I might normally carry when out by myself alone.
If I'm on my own in a mall, and I hear shooting, I'm not going to charge solo towards the sounds, thinking I'll magically save the day. I'll help people in my immediate area move to safety as best I can, or secure the area we are in. It's not a "'one good guy with a gun will save the day, every day" sort of reality, except in a reactive sense.
I think only those wishing to disarm us think in terms of civilian responders attempting to "magically" save the day.
I'm a practitioner of the OODA Loop concept and in that same scenario I'd advance towards the sounds in hopes of being able to possibly disrupt the shooter enough that potential victims might escape. Throwing .40 S&W rounds in his direction is a pretty effective means of accomplishing that goal and frankly, if I had the means and ability to do so yet did not, I'm not sure I could live with myself. A lifetime of training and preparation has that affect on some.
Given the opportunity, yes.
That's why I specified mall. Malls are big spaces. Odd acoustics. I have trouble enough finding my way out to my own car.
In the large mainland malls here, I've decided that my most productive action is to deal with the space I am in, or can easily perceive. In our local theater, performing arts center, or school, a different course of action is called for, but I know those spaces well enough that I can move through them in completely-blacked-out environments while wearing heavy protective gear and breathing apparatus :-)