The recent shooting at In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, teaches and reaffirms many things I believe. It has lessons from which preppers benefit. Below are a few. (Note:, I am intentionally leaving out names.)
Violence can happen anywhere at any time. Many people go through life oblivious to this, so they get caught by surprise when something happens. In this case, the killer drove up to the drive-in window and shot a 23-year-old girl working inside. Imagine: there you are, planning to take the customer’s credit card and hand over their meal like you have done a hundred times already that day, and BANG! You end up bloody and dying. Later, he shot three people in their cars at car-charging station. No warning. No threats. Just unexpected violence.
Armed civilians can prevent a greater tragedy. Two armed civilians and one off-duty state trooper confronted and exchanged gunfire with the mass shooter, reportedly causing him to flee the scene. (He left on foot and was found by police on a nearby walking path where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot as they closed in.) We do not know if any of the defenders hit him because autopsy results have not been released, but the rumor is they did not. Apparently, at least one of the defenders was critically injured by the gunman.
Tourniquets save lives. We’ve known this for years, of course. We don’t know if this gentleman or anyone else on the scene was treated with a tourniquet or if one could have saved lives. Carry one.
It pays to live where good guys are armed. Think about it. In Idaho, people fired back. Will they do so where you are located?
You should carry a gun to defend yourself. The restaurant was a target-rich environment. That state police officer just happened to be there, but his presence kept it from being worse. While it is unlikely being armed could have saved the girl working the window, if the folks charging their cars had been carrying, and aware of their surroundings, they might have been able to return fire. There were three armed defenders, yet the shooter was not stopped and went on to shoot more people. This is an example of how no one is in a better position to save you than yourself.
Carry a round in the chamber. One of the defenders was unable to return fire after he was shot in the arm because he did not have a round in the chamber. When I was a young, inexperienced shooter, I was afraid to carry a round in the chamber when carrying in a fanny pack or in a briefcase. When you have the gun in a good holster, there is no excuse not to. Admittedly, that is one reason I like a gun with an external safety; it just feels safer for me to carry a gun with a round chambered when the safety is on.
If you are not fighting back, leave the area. Six people in their cars were shot, some randomly while waiting at a red light. The gunman targeted two EVs at a nearby charging station, injuring two and killing one. In the video, you can see cars waiting in the drive-in line at the burger place while the killer is running around shooting. One looked like it might leave, but none of them did. I don’t know why they did not drive off, but if you find yourself near a mass shooting and are not drawing your gun and fighting back, you should be running (or driving) away from the scene. Altogether, three of the shooter’s victims died and seven were wounded.
Combat parking is a good idea. Combat parking means backing into a parking space so you can get out in a hurry. In traffic, it means leaving space in front of you to pull out. Like many cops and former military personnel, I do this. This is also where having a vehicle with larger tires and good ground clearance can help. If you are trapped in a parking lot during a mass shooting, you want to be able to drive over curbs, the flowers, and small shrubs if necessary to escape.
If you have to ram something to escape, learn a lesson from the demolition derbies that used to be on TV and do it with the rear end of your vehicle. You are much more likely to drive away if you hit something with your rear bumper than the front. There’s too much stuff in front—steering components, the radiator, hoses—that can be damaged and lead to the car stalling or being undrivable.
Your car is thin-skinned and unlikely to stop a bullet. This is why police try to keep the B-pillar between them and the threat during car stops. The engine block and the wheels offer better cover, but these are not 100 percent barriers; you can still be hit.
Planning and training can help. Until the balloon goes up, preppers are probably as or more likely to face an armed shooter in public, at a mall, or in a crowded area than to have a squad of bad guys storm their house. Make sure you are prepping for the right thing. I’m not saying don’t prep to defend your home if the SHTF, but prep for everyday confrontations as well.
Never be embarrassed to train or to carry. I don’t know who it was that said, “It’s all LARPing until it isn’t,” but that was the day it suddenly wasn’t for three guys. Put on your camo and traipse around the woods. Practice carrying your rifle or making quick draws with your pistol. Make sure taking off the safety is programmed into your muscle memory. Practice drawing and making quick headshots. Who knows, it may save your life one day. And until then, it’s fun.
You can conceal a large-frame gun. I don’t own a 5.7×28, but I have a similar-sized .22LR 1911 which sometimes wears a suppressor. I searched high and low before I found a shoulder rig with an open end that would accommodate the suppressor. It doesn’t allow for a fast draw, but it is a secure way to carry a large-frame gun with a suppressor. Plus, throwing a shirt over it offers excellent concealment. If you want to carry a large gun, you can; you just have to plan for it and dress accordingly.
Every day in the summer, I wake up and put on a T-shirt, unless I am going out that day. In that case, I put on a button-up shirt and leave it untucked. It covers my IWB holster just fine. In winter, with heavy clothing, it’s even easier to conceal a large-frame handgun like a Glock 22.
Going out to Dinner
My wife and I went out Friday to meet friends at a brewery in a city more than an hour away. Because of the distance, we took her car, so I tossed my EDC bags inside. The one behind my seat where I could grab it was my normal EDC bag, which contains lots of first aid gear, food, and two additional loaded magazines for my pistol. The other bag was my Vertx Gamut 26, which I wrote about in March. This is the EDC bag I bring when I want more firepower. It held a small 9mm pistol and my 9mm AR15 pistol.
Between the two bags and what I carried on my person, we had three guns, at least three CAT tourniquets, and more than 165 rounds of 9mm. That doesn’t even count the spare boxes, fixed-blade knife, and other goods stashed in her car.
“By the way,” I said to my wife as we drove off, “I have a bag in the way back with two guns in it.”
“Of course you do,” she said. She didn’t know the small 9mm was for her, but she might have assumed so.
At dinner, I sat in the chair closest to the wall, so my gun was next to it. This makes it impossible for anyone walking by to brush up against it. I also faced the door. We were closer to the back door than the front door. Common sense, just like backing into the parking space.
I would have done all this regardless of the In-N-Out shooting, but it’s a reminder we should all take note of. There is more to being prepared than storing food and water for TEOTWAWKI. You need to be prepared for sudden violence, too.
