Gun Free Victim Zones

On July 23, 2012December 29, 2015 By Tom LindsayIn CCW, Concealed Carry, Safety

Once again, America comes face to face with the reality of what can happen inside a Gun Free Victim Zone. The widely publicized theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado needs no link from here.

A large focus of the discussion since has been to try to get anti-gun people to see that prohibiting firearms in any situation does not guarantee anyone’s safety.

The counter argument I have dealt with more than once is this: what could one lone armed individual do against someone with the kind of firepower that the Colorado shooter brought to bear?

My answer is and remains that the reaction of one lone gunner cannot be predicted, except perhaps in cases like this. But, the value of allowing lawfully armed civilians free roam is that potential criminals then do not know what kind of resistance they will encounter if they attack. They may encounter several people who are carrying, willing to resist.

This applies just about everywhere, from the movies to college campuses.

I took my family to see Dark Knight Rising on Saturday. The theater our family uses does not have a firearms prohibition policy. In fact, I’ve had a gun discussion with one of the off duty police they hire.

As always, I carried a pistol concealed, along with a spare magazine. I found myself watching others at the theater, looking for tells, signs that I wasn’t alone. I saw more than a few who were concerned that their shirt tales were down over their waist, and a lot of us were scanning the crowd. (I probably tipped my hand, too, but that’s not so bad.) I was very likely not alone.

There will always be evil people in the world. I might not be able to stop them, but, by knowing I might be there, maybe I can persuade them to go elsewhere. So, those of you who choose to go where guns are prohibited, you are on your own, relying on a sign on the door, and police who are ten minutes away, for protection. Good luck.

Dealing With The Front Door – The Family Discussion

On July 19, 2012July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Planning, Safety, Self Defense

At dinner last night my wife and son and I had a serious talk about the recent shooting incident in Lake County, Florida, and how we would handle anyone coming to the door after dark.

This was a good refresher for my son, who is 15. I remember being 15, and my attention span then was even worse than it is now. But he agreed that he wouldn’t open the door for anyone he didn’t know. He also agreed that he would call 911 if there were police at the door. He’s heard enough about home invasions, I guess.

We talked about the scenarios and how to deal with them. I guess I should not be surprised but we were all in agreement.

My favorite reply from my son was when we discussed what to do if the 911 dispatcher told him they had no record of police coming to our house.

“I’ll just tell them to go ahead and send some real police, and after they deal with these losers, I’ll be in the back bedroom. Behind the bed. With a friend from Austria.”

Glocking Tall

On July 18, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Blogs, Glock, GSSF

After shooting the GSSF match on Sunday, I was on Twitter, and I did a simple search for “GSSF.” one of the tweeters who showed up the most was @GlockingTall, who is Andy at the blog Glocking Tall.

One thing led to another, and Andy asked me to contribute a post about the modifications I’ve done to my Glock for GSSF. Check it out.

Thanks, Andy, for having me, and I look forward to contributing more about Glocks in the future.

Be Prepared, Part 10 – Dealing With The Front Door

On July 18, 2012July 26, 2012 By Tom LindsayIn Planning, Safety, Self Defense2 Comments

“It’s just a bizarre set of circumstances. The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you’re going to get shot.”
– Lt. John Herrell, Lake County FL Sheriff’s Department

At 1:30 AM on July 16, 26-year-old Andrew Lee Scott did what a lot of people might do. When there was a loud banging on the front door of his apartment in Lake County, Florida, he grabbed a pistol and answered the door.

At that point he was shot dead by a team of Lake County Sheriff’sDeputies.

Deputies were looking for an attempted murder suspect, and found his motorcycle parked in front of Scott’s apartment. So, they knocked on his door without announcing they were police.

Robb Allen at Sharp As A Marble probably said it best when he referred to “lethal levels of Fail.” There were so many mistakes made on both sides of this that the lessons should be self-evident. But I wanted to go through them, and talk about how I addressed this with my family last night, so that you might be prepared.

HAVE A PLAN

Everyone in your household needs to know the plan, and needs to follow it. You have fire drills at your house – you need to practice this, too.

Only the eldest person home answers the front door after dark. If my kids are home alone, they don’t answer the door. Period. If they are seen and called to by someone outside, they can deal with them at that point. But they don’t open the door to someone they don’t know.

FOLLOW THE PLAN

If someone knocks on my door late at night, we don’t open the door. It’s that simple.

I will go to the door with a pistol either holstered or concealed behind my back, and with a phone. We first find out who it is, by turning on the front porch light, and looking out the front window at the porch. (If your house isn’t set up that way, you need to have some way to see those people.)

If they are people we know, and they don’t sound under duress, and there are no others with them that we don’t know, only then would we open the door, and deal with the situation.

If they are people we know, but they sound under duress, we find out why and assess the situation from there. If they have trouble and need my help, I would decide which way to go.

If they are not someone I know, I will call 911 and tell them help is on the way, but I’m not opening the door. Not if it’s raining, or winter, or the baby is sick. It sounds cruel, but I would rather that, than for you to read about me the next day, killing by home invaders.

IF IT’S THE POLICE

If they claim to be the police, I would tell them I am calling 911, and do so. I would tell the dispatcher that the police are here, and ask why. If they have legitimate reason to be there, I would put my pistol away, and open the door, and follow their instructions.

It is vital that at no time would I show a gun or other weapon to someone at the door. First, if they are police, they will shoot me. If they aren’t police, they could call 911 themselves and report me for assault. Yes, I could present a positive defense under Georgia’s Castle Law, but that would still involve being arrested, hiring a lawyer, and lots of money.

WORST CASE

Of course, if someone forces their way through my door, I will have a split second decision to make. If they are police, I need to follow their instructions completely if I want to live through this. For me, this is vital. I have quite a smartass disposition, and a more than a little bit of a Don’t Tread On Me attitude. The key here, though, in every situation, is to de-escalate, so that, hopefully, no one has to get hurt. And certainly, things turn out better for us than they did in Lake County.