SABBATH SAFETY...

Active Shooter in Church

TRAIN, PLAN, PRACTICE!

Sabbath Safety

by Cope Reynolds

OK, the time has come to discuss a very serious and grossly misunderstood subject. Active shooters or maybe more correctly, active assailants. What if an attacker uses a knife or machete or a chainsaw or a baseball bat? The general response by the ”attackees" and the results of the attack will be much the same regardless of how it is perpetrated. However, for the purposes of today's discussion, we are going to specifically address an active shooter situation.

To earn the title, active shooter or active assailant, one typically has to conduct their evil deeds in a place where there are lots of people, generally unarmed people like a school, or a mall... or a church. Yes, sadly, society has degraded to a point where we are not even safe in our places of worship. Every major religion, and many of the lesser-knowns, has been attacked right here in America. Catholic, Protestant and Jew as the saying goes. Baptist, Church of Christ, Mormon. None are exempt. The only real difference is how the church and/or the congregation responds. Some have policies against guns, some have security staff on the payroll and others just pretend it will never happen to them. After all, if we live righteously, isn't God supposed to protect us? Cannot the same be said for the locks on our doors, fire extinguishers, motorcycle helmets and, to some degree, life insurance?

God will do what God will do. Bad guys have the ability to make their choices, good or bad, just like the rest of us. If God were to protect us each and every time they (or we) made a bad decision, our reason to be on this earth to begin with would be negated. Our free agency, and theirs, would no longer have meaning. So what do we do? Stay home? Pray a little harder? Post guards at the doors? What about carrying a gun? Yeah, many of us will be armed and take responsibility for our own safety and that of our loved ones, regardless of laws and church policies. The old adage is, it is better to be tried by 12 than carried by six!

As mentioned above, some Churches have armed security on staff. Not a bad idea. Maybe not ideal but multiple well-trained, highly visible individuals could certainly be a deterrent. Some Churches have adopted the "run, hide, fight" philosophy that the Department of Homeland Security introduced a few years ago. Let's talk about that one for a minute...

Speaking strictly for myself, I think "run, hide, fight" is grossly flawed. I see this doing nothing but instilling panic and creating a "fish-in-a-barrel" effect for the shooter. A large congregation cannot all fit through one or two doors before the shooter has time to inflict many, many casualties. Add that to the fact that all the chaos and people running every which direction would make it very difficult for anyone to address the shooter whether they physically, bodily attack him or respond with weapons of some type. Even if you made it out the door, down the hall and outside, are you sure that there are not more shooters outside prepared for just such a response?

Hide? Really? Where in the world are you going to hide from one or more determined attackers in a building with almost bare rooms save a few folding chairs and a table? Do the doors even lock in the rooms that are available? Yes, if you're lucky, you might delay them finding you until the police or others arrive. You may also just create another "fish-in-a-barrel" shooting gallery.

Fight? OK, now we're getting somewhere! Let's talk about that for a bit and look at some different scenarios. I've been to a few other churches other than my own as a guest and it seems like one thing is fairly consistent... and predictable. Most of them have some sort of an opening exercise in a larger, more open area and then split up into groups and retire to their respective classrooms. Let's take them in order. If you were a shooter bent on achieving a respectable body count, wouldn't that large room be a logical place to start? The congregation would generally do well to sit away from the outer edges of the seating arrangement, whether it be wooden pews or folding chairs. Select personnel, whether they be former or current law enforcement, veterans or just men or women determined not to allow a catastrophe to happen while they are present, should sit in strategic positions where they can best respond if necessary.

If the worst case scenario were to happen, GET DOWN! Right where you are, GET DOWN! This puts some visual interruption between you and the shooter and throws a monkey wrench in his plans. He or she was counting on you all jumping up and piling up against the door like they did in the theater in Aurora, Colorado a few years ago. Don't make it any easier for him than you have to! Will getting on the floor guarantee that you won't be shot? Not necessarily but it will most assuredly cut down on the number of casualties that are created. Men, shield the women and children as much as possible. STAY DOWN until you have some indication that it is safe to get up. Don't try to be a hero. If you are not trained and armed, stay out of the way of those who are and let them address the situation without having to worry about innocent people gumming up the works. If there is no one in the congregation that is either armed, trained or both, you must take it upon yourselves to either subdue the shooter or make life so miserable for him that he runs away.

What can you do? How effectively do you think he can shoot through a hail of hymn books, shoes, briefcases, scriptures, baby bottles and cell phones? As you throw, advance towards the threat. Keep throwing and keep advancing. Some of you may get shot but I promise many more will not. You have made your choice to stand and fight because he made his choice to attack God's people. I think it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that God may lend a hand at this point. Maybe the fact that you are brave enough to fight IS God's response.

OK, what happens if you're in the hallways or classrooms when the shooting starts? Get in the nearest room and lock or barricade the door as best you can. Take stock of your resources. Weapons? Chairs, music stands, pencils, briefcases, fingernails, water bottles, staplers, etc. Be prepared to relentlessly introduce the assailant to all of the above if he manages to breech your doorway. While it may be inadvisable to bring a stapler to a gunfight, it is many times better than doing nothing at all. History has proven this over and over!

SURRENDERING OR COMPLYING WILL NOT SAVE YOU!! It is most unlikely that he came there to take hostages. The statistics are abundantly ​clear. In 100% of situations where one of more individuals with weapons have tried to kill or control a group of people, people that fight have a much better chance of surviving than those that cower in the corner and await their fate. An excellent example is the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. Read up on it.

Church shootings are not new. They have been happening in America periodically since the late 1700's. There has been more than 246 shooting events at churches since the year 2000, 94% of which happened at Christian churches. These have resulted in 307 deaths and many more injuries. These statistics do not take into account the literally thousands of documented, non-shooting, violent events.

I have one last thought to share, and it will be unpopular. If you are gentle, thin-skinned and brimming with love for your fellow man, God bless you, but it might be best if you stop here...

I hate to say it, but profiling works. Law enforcement has used it for generations with a great deal of success. Somewhat quietly maybe, but they've done it. I won't go into specifics here, but there is a growing segment of people in this country who sometimes like to leave their mark in life by generously spreading their DNA over a rather large area that usually contains a number of innocent, unsuspecting people. There's not really a real gentle way to approach this so let me just ask this question... Have you considered the possibility of your intruder carrying a bomb? If so, what are your plans? While it is decidedly unlikely, I think it is becoming more and more likely as time wears on.

Most of us that have participated in self-defense training of some type have been taught to shoot at CoM, or center of mass of a humanoid target. CoM is the largest and easiest target to hit and contains many of the most important organs that keep us among the living. The problem is, that area is also where explosives are typically worn, so this presents a very serious problem for us. If we instinctively shoot for CoM and our unwelcome guest happens to be sporting a particular type of vest, it could be the last shot we ever make. Likewise, if we hesitate and are too slow to evaluate the situation and make that perfect cranio-ocular cavity (read 'head') shot, the results will be the same. In my classes, I am spending quite a bit more time instilling the importance of head shots. Think about this and practice accordingly!

With all of the above in mind, make sure there are 1st aid supplies (particularly tourniquets, compressed gauze, compression bandages, a hemostatic agent and gloves, AT A MINIMUM) and the training to use these items kept on-hand and readily accessible.

We are entering dark times. Pretending it's never going to happen to you or yours will not make it go away!

I have a few more thoughts on this that I will share in another segment of Southwest Freedom.

Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends...
Glocks are what you show your enemies!

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