In light of recent events, myself and some friends and family are very much interested in learning along these lines, church/private school. Info, links, recommendations appreciated, thanks.
In light of recent events, myself and some friends and family are very much interested in learning along these lines, church/private school. Info, links, recommendations appreciated, thanks.
I'm confused. What exactly are you asking? How to make yourself a hard target in a public place?
Thats a pretty broad question you have asked and could be given a lot of different answers.
You can start by being armed whenever posable.
If you have kids talk to them about what to do in different situations not just shootings but fires storms and so on.
Take your kid shooting teach them about guns and how to use them safely.
Be armed and carry a cell phone.
But mostly be armed.
Could you possibly give an example?
Well here's my $0.02...
First & foremost always be armed when you can be. This includes all accessories- extra mag, knife, light, phone, etc.
Next, avoidance is always better than confrontation. If you can escape a situation before it escalates that is preferable. You also need to decide how far you are willing to go & if you plan on defending only yourself & family or third parties as well. If you find yourself in an inescapable situation, seek cover & concealment & plan your engagement. Remember, you are liable for every round that leaves your gun so know your target & what's beyond it. Tying all of this together is keen situational awareness & planning. Plan where you sit, where you stand, where you park. Are you near an exit? Can someone approach you from the rear? Do you have a clear escape route? There are a million what ifs, but keen awareness, preparedness, & keeping a level head will put you lightyears ahead of everyone else out in public.
Sorry, bit unclear, posting too late at night, but I wanted to get it out there. We're looking at coming up with some plans for the hardening or protection of our church/school. I'm familiar with arming myself and public places, etc., but this is different. It's our kids and our family, and we want to avoid being unarmed fish in a barrel. I've found some training organizations that advertise programs and training for this kind of thing, but no info unless you cough up the $.
One good thing is the building is basically one big long straight hallway, and the rooms off of it all have exits to the outside. Several of us are recreational/competition shooters, and some are LE...but we mostly need a plan.
Assuming it's a place you have some sort of control over, IE a church:
- Control access points: Keep one main entrance open through which foot traffic must be funneled. All other doors should be set up so as to allow exit only if possible. Exit only is typically OK with most fire codes. Accessibility for elderly/handicapped folks needs to be taken into consideration. If this is a school, then all visitors/parents/whatever need to be funneled through an entrance that's controlled by staff. The first thing they need to encounter is a challenge from people who are there when the kids are. Visitors need to be accompanied by staff at all times and a person who isn't on staff in the halls should prompt a reaction from the teachers.
- Proactive church/school security: You need ushers/security folks who are actively engaging people who come into the church looking for signs of trouble. This can be done without giving every stranger who shows up the 1,000 yard stare. You can appear perfectly friendly while containing an individual and controlling his access to the rest of the people, especially if you've done the above and controlled the access points. These people should be manning the access point at all times greeting/looking over the people who are coming into the church for possible signs of trouble.
- Personality: You need to select people for the security positions who are capable of doing what is needed of them in a moment of stress. "Security" guys who don't do their job and keep rubberneckers away from the scene of an accident or injury to let the people with the first aid training/materials actually get in to render assistance aren't helping.
- Communication: You need some means of communicating the possible presence of a problem...something that's not obvious to the potential problem or, necessarily, to the other parishioners.
- Plan: You need some form of action plan for dealing with a problem. This plan needs to include multiple scenarios from the disruptive individual to medical emergencies all the way up to the active shooter. This plan needs to be structured in accordance with all applicable laws governing arrest, detention, use of force, etc, and also needs to factor in the need to bring police/EMS resources on scene. All the folks in the security program need to know the plan well and know their role in the plan. They also need to be intelligent and trustworthy enough not to talk about the plan with anyone. Ever.
- Equipment: There are some pretty decent methods out there for wedging doors or for making soft-close doors non-opening doors that can be deployed relatively quickly to prohibit access to a classroom. If that classroom's entrance is glass...well...not so effective.
- Sharp, pointy end: It would be helpful if at least somebody had a reasonable gun and the ability to use it in a real world environment. Ditto with first aid skills.
If you can put all of that together on a volunteer basis, more power to you.
Highly unlikely you'll be able to do that in a church or private school. Pretty much guaranteed you won't be able to put that together in a public school.
Last edited by TCinVA; 12-17-2012 at 11:41 AM.
Good stuff, thanks.
Coordinate/plan with LE/EMS before hand, no?
If you wish, I can direct you towards reputable trainers in your area. Where are you located?
SoCal - thanks. Our focus is one planning/prep, I think we can take care of "which end is the sharp end".
Also, need to make a plan to avoid good guy civvy/LE conflict.
http://tridentconcepts.com/schedule/Originally Posted by DWB
http://www.redbackone.com/#!__training-calendar
If you're willing/able to travel for training, Tiger Swan is well worth your consideration.
http://www.tigerswan.com/site/training/schedule.php
Reply With Quote