I have written often about carrying a handgun for self-defense, but a few incidents over the past week reinforce why it is important we all do so. Sadly, it also shows why so-called “gun-free” zones do not prevent gun crime but create target-rich environments.
The December 13 shooting at Brown University during final exams is a perfect example. Students were taking their test in a classroom that required key-card access, on a campus that has more than 800 security cameras, in a facility that is considered a gun-free zone. That didn’t stop a gunman from entering the room and killing two people and shooting nine more. This happened in a state with strict gun laws, where you need a permit to buy a gun and magazines greater than 10 rounds are banned. Instead of keeping the students safe, those laws assured that no one in the class could draw a personal weapon and return fire, stopping the attack.
And despite the campus safety measures, the killer not only was able to access the classroom and shoot 11 people, he escaped and at the time of this writing is still at large.
The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 makes it unlawful to knowingly possess a gun within 1,000 feet of a school. Nonetheless—or perhaps because of this—schools have drawn mass shooters like moths to a flame. Here’s some proof:
- On October 10, a shooting at the Heidelberg High School homecoming football game left three dead with more injured.
- On August 27, a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis killed two children and injured 30 others.
- I think we can all remember other recent school shootings, some involving gender-confused or mentally ill youngsters, complete with manifestos.
Compare Schools to Churches
My friend Karl, a retired police officer, attends all three services at his church every Sunday as part of the church’s security team. They train together, practice threat scenarios, and carry concealed pistols. Knowing Karl, he has heavier weapons in his truck. Karl’s church is not alone. Many have teams of church leaders and members of the congregation who are armed with the intent of stopping an attack.
Because criminals know churches have an armed response, they are targeted less often than schools. Here are a few times a good guy with a gun (or a truck) stopped a bad guy with a gun:
- In June, a deacon at the CrossPoint Community Church in Wayne, MI, rammed his truck into a man with an AR15 who was firing into the church from the church parking lot. The collision knocked the shooter down. He then fired at the truck instead of the church, and this delay allowed members of the church’s volunteer security team to shoot the attacker before he could enter the church and cause more harm.
- In 2019, a well-trained defender at the West Freeway Church in Texas stopped a shotgun-wielding church-shooter with a single headshot, saving countless lives.
- In 2017 in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a neighbor grabbed his AR15 and engaged a shooter at a church across the street. This stopped the attack and caused the gunman to run away. The neighbor pursued and helped police catch the criminal.
These examples show what the proper use of defensive weapons, a good mindset, and proper training can do. It also raises the question of why more schools do not let teachers carry weapons. We let commercial pilots carry. Why not schoolteachers? A single school resource officer can’t be everywhere, but an armed coach, administrator or teacher might be.
Be Your Own Security Team
I don’t need results like those above to convince me that a skilled operator with a gun can interrupt or stop a criminal, madman, or a terrorist, thereby reducing the number of victims. I carry because I can’t count on the places I visit to have a security team, so I have to be my own security team. (My barbershop is an exception. I believe two of the barbers and at least half the customers at any given time are armed.)
Have you heard the saying, “When seconds count, the police are minutes away?” In our rural areas, it’s more accurate to say “15 or 20 minutes away.” If someone is attacking a church, your business, or carjacking you, you best be able to handle the situation by yourself.
When I get dressed in the morning, the Glock goes into my IWB holster at the same time my keys, wallet and flashlight go into my pocket. I carry one spare magazine, but when I am heading into a big city, I carry a second magazine and often a backup pistol. I also have a rifle in the truck. If I am traveling with another adult capable of wielding a gun, I throw in a backpack that contains pistol-caliber carbine so we can both be armed.
I don’t go out looking to shoot someone, but I want to be capable of doing so if they give me no other option.
Are You Ready and Able?
You’ll notice I didn’t mention what happened in Australia on the first day of Hanukkah, or the extremist group arrested in Southern California last week that was building IEDs and planning a bombing. The lesson here is that we may face a threat beyond a few mentally unstable individuals who want revenge or to gain notoriety, or even the individual assassins who killed Charlie Kirk and targeted Trump when he was a candidate. There are groups out there waiting to kill certain other groups, and when they do, expect them to hit soft targets. Did you note I used the plural? Multiple targets.
Not all are homegrown terrorists. Estimates vary, but I’ve heard as many as 4,000 terrorist cells may be in the United States. We’re talking cells of four to ten enemy combatants who are biding their time waiting for the signal to strike. And when they strike, it won’t just be schools and churches. It will be sporting events, concert venues, and other crowded soft targets where a small group can kill hundreds of people. Meanwhile, other teams will target infrastructure, bombing tunnels and bridges, blowing up buses and trains like they do in Israel and Europe, knocking out electrical substations and destroying internet hubs and exchange points. They may also target gas lines, water systems, hydropower dams, train switchyards, equipment at ports, commercial aircraft, etc. We don’t know.
It’s not my job to stop such an attack, but that is situational. I’m not planning to save the day, but I’m also not planning to look away as bad guys kill hundreds. At the very least, it is my job to survive it, and that may mean breaking out the rifle and ballistic vest from the back of my truck.
Have a Plan
I have a plan for what to do if I am at home and an attack of this nature breaks out. I also have a plan for what to do if I am out when the SHTF. That plan can be summarized in two words: get home.
I do not expect a terrorist sleeper cell to be operating in this county, but even if only 500 cells are activated, that’s 10 cells per state, enough to cause plenty of chaos. Either way, you can never be too careful.
If you don’t have a plan, I recommend you develop one for a variety of scenarios, from something simple like a mugging or a jugging to a full-on attack like I outlined above. Your plan doesn’t have to include a rifle in your trunk, but it should include a pistol on your body or within arm’s reach. Because when you need your gun, it will be too late to run and get it.
If you have not yet incorporated firearms into your prepping plans, give it some serious consideration. If you decide to acquire firearms, get some high-quality training. After your training, keep your skills sharp by practicing.
With any luck, you won’t need the gun on your hip or the long-term storage food in your pantry. But we prep because we know better than to count on luck.
