Tag Archives: AR

What If The Future of Weapons Changed?

For as far back as I can remember, as a police officer and as a member of the media, some government official or another has been calling for a ban on “assault weapons.” Sometimes those “assault weapons” are AR-style rifles, and sometimes they are “high capacity” polymer framed handguns. Not long ago, a man even more veteran than myself in law enforcement postulated a question: if AR-style rifles were banned tomorrow, what would you be carrying instead? If polymer framed handguns were banned tomorrow, what would you be carrying instead? The questions caused quite a stir of curiosity and I had to pass those questions on. Thankfully, in my line of work I can get responses from some true experts in the field. Continue reading →

Fish In A Barrel

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“It’ll be just like shooting fish in a barrel.” We here that phrase used all the time. It’s just a figure of speech. What does it mean? Something will be easy to do. Why is shooting fish in a barrel easy? Because you have a “target rich environment.” For you folks who have never been in a combat-oriented position, that means you have an area so full of targets that you can shoot randomly into it and you’re still likely to hit a target. Now, I’d like to discuss two ways that this applies to active shooter events and our preparation/response protocols for them. Continue reading →

Time Equal Lives

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The one thing we can all count on is change. It’s the only constant in life. Every day… something is going to change. We have no choice, if we’re going to live successful lives, but to adapt to the change and keep on. This is perhaps not as evident anywhere else as it is in how active shooters attack. As an Active Shooter Response Instructor with approaching 18 years of experience teaching such, I’ve done my share of studying historical active shooter attacks, doing my best to analyze tactics so that the most efficient response protocols possible can be developed and trained. Continue reading →

Pro-Safety: Screw Politics

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Nine days ago – as I type this – a single gunman went into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and shot 31 people. He killed 17 and wounded 14 others. Unlike so many other active shooters, he didn’t commit suicide but was arrested. He was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. What makes this active shooter event different from others? There are a few characteristics of it in its totality and I’m going to review them, but the one thing I want to focus on throughout this piece is: VERY LITTLE focus has been given to the 17 dead and 14 wounded. MOST of the focus has been on the weapon used, gun control efforts and then, almost as an afterthought, some of the heroic actions taken during the event by faculty and students as they protected others. Continue reading →