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This is a SHTF and you're screwed either way scenario. Caught smack dab in the middle of a mall shooting. Not being targeted YET, but escape and evasion could get tricky quick. I don't want to bog down the info with too many options here, just take it for what it is. Primarily I'm curious to see what your thought processes are in answering this multiple choice poll.
The way I see it is: I am an armed citizen, I do have a moral duty to my fellow citizens. I cannot sit (or run away) when somebody is committing mayhem if I have the tools, opportunity and the law (Florida Stand Your Ground)behind me to stop the attack. Without doing anything foolish to make me a target, I'd smartly engage the SOB, if nothing more thatn to give everybody else a chance to hide or run away. And no, I am not having a Rambo/Dirty Harry complex but I think it is morally right to do something for your fellow human beings in dire straits. If my family was in a mall without me and some nutjob decided to go in a rampage, I would think some other armed citizen would step to the plate and help save them.Quote:
Engage at first / best tactical opportunity - ambush
Depends. If my wife is with me I protect her first. If that means taking him on I'll shoot. If alone and I can safely do so, I'll shoot.
If with family...tactical bug out....engage if opportunity allows
If by myself...engage at best opportunity
I feel pretty much the same - if my family is with me my main objective is to get them out safe. If I'm alone, I would take on a more offensive posture.
I have no legal requirement to protect anyone other than my own family, and might do just that and nothing else if the actual situation indicated that that was the best course of action. That said, given the information available to me, I think that I would have a moral requirement to help end this.
In any case, family comes first! Then if there is absolutely no doubt that the BG is indeed a BG, not an undercover cop, if I do have a weapon (a lot of malls have no CCW policy):
If I have only a P3AT type/size gun, then "Engage at first / best tactical opportunity - ambush", due to limited effective range and fewer rounds available.
If I have a 'normal' gun, with spare magazine, then use nearest available cover (there's plenty of such in a mall), if practical drop down on the floor (upward angel of fire is safest with numerous by-standers), and stop this nut-case from hurting anyone else. From behind a rack of clothes or pillar or corner, I should have enough time for at least 2 or 3 shots before the BG even knows all is not rosey in his world. If he is not down and done at that point, and has identified my location, then I either continue firing from that location or move and pop up firing from a new location with cover, as the situation dictates.
While nut-case randomly shooting people in a mall is an absolute nightmare, you do have some advantages. There is much cover available to you; even a rack of clothes is fairly bullet/buckshot-proof. If the BG grabs his own piece of cover, then the threat is greatly reduced: he can't hunt for new victims from there, his chances of hitting you are very low, and help is coming. If he does'nt seek cover, then he is commiting suicide by CCW.
I voted other rather than multiple choice .
Family to safety before anything else , most likely thro a rear exit of a store to outside or a service corridor . Once the family is safely OUTSIDE and under cover I dont belive i could walk away since the majority of folks i see at malls are women or children . If the car was parked close enough to where we exit a quick trip there for the rifle in the trunk will be in order. If its on the far side of the mall , then its me and the ccw. Active shooter protocalls apply here and if possible i would shoot the little VCA from cover with no warning .
Here's the order.
1 - get the family out of the line of fire.
2 - return and engage the nutjob until help arrives then withdraw (provided the nut job is still a waste of valuable oxygen.)
Do whatever it takes to stop the threat as soon as possible.
In my state I'd be committing a crime to engage the perp unless my life was in immediate danger. In fact if I was to get my family out and then return to the scene, I can practically GUARANTEE the idjits who run this state would prosecute me more aggressively than the perp. I could even see them offering immunity to the perp if he testified against me.
YMMV, but I don't feel obligated to spend the next 20 years in jail protecting the :sheep: that will more than likely testify against me.
voted 'can't sit by'. i would seek cover until i saw opportunity to stop the threat. i'm single and never have any other family with me when i'm out so that's not an issue. morally, i can't imagine having the power to end as bad situation and beating feet out of there.
Family first. However, if I have an opportunity to stop him or pin him down until help arrives, I will do so IF I can without jeapardizing my family's safety.
Once again, I'm going to shake things up a little.
First I voted for the tactical bug out... preserve and protect family first, blah blah blah; as an LEO I might return to engage. It depends on a lot of variables.
One thing that is swimming around my brain reading some of the responses is the pucker factor. Most of us never have been shot at, or have seen any sort of combat. The war kind or the street kind.
I wonder how many those are Rambo in their own mind would change their position on the poll once the shooting began... I know that once lead starts flying, things, particularly minds change rapidly. Very few people who have not trained and mentally prepped for such a situation would actually seek out an active shooter to engage him.
Now before anybody get their panties all twisted up over my comments, I am not suggesting that anyone is a Rambo wanna be, a mall ninja (although that fits in this case!) or a coward, it’s just a comment on human nature.
Another thing to think about, in a mall chances are there are LEO in the building... it would stink to get shot for being a good do'er, but that would be a very real possibility once you decide to become a player in the incident.
Good post six . Personaly i happen to know that i can turn a badge over and crawl under it if caught in the middle of a yard when rounds start flying my way . BTDT lol . Its not a choice to take lightly which is why i clearly stated shoot from cover with no warning . With a rifle if possible .
My first job is to get my family to safety. If during my movement I am engaged by the BG, then I move opposite my family drawing his/her fire, seeking cover all the way.
If I am close enough, and the shooter must reload, that is to my advantage and the threat is neutralized be it by high speed lead poisoning or by a hard tackle with injurious intent. If I have to go hands on, it is my intent to inflict as much injury to the person as possible in the short amount of time provided. Human beings have a hard time operating effectively if a limb is broken or if they are unconscious.
If the shooter has one of those Hollywood guns that never seem to run out of ammo, then I must take whatever shot is given me