your blog articles on Virginia Tech shooting

Hi Nick,

great posts on the VT shooting!

I have a question though: what's the best course of action to take if you (and possibly wife and kids) are unlucky enough to be caught in gunfire and you're not armed yourself? Either as a target or as a bystander?

Hit the floor? Run away like madmen and hope he's a crappy shooter? Hide and hope you're not discovered?

Thanks in advance and take care

Mate,

There's an awful lot of variables to be considered here mate...which means my response would be different each time.

How far away is he?
Am I the target or a bystander?
Does he have a rifle or a pistol?
Are we out in the open or in a built up area?
Am I in a room, a plane or a building?
Is he randomly spraying shots? (driveby)
Or is he accurate? (Texas tower shooting back in the sixties)
etc

Putting distance between you and him if it's a handgun is considered viable as his accuracy diminshes rapidly the further away you are.

Taking cover is also a good idea (remember, cover will actually stop rounds, concealment just keeps you out of view) in any gun battle.

Getting on the ground also greatly reduces your risk of being hit.

Bottom line is there isn't really one right answer...as mentioned above a lot of it will depend specifically if you're the target or just a bystander and what environment you're in...and what will work one time, may not work the other.

My best advice would be do some scenario work with air soft weapons and then, when you're ready to take it to the next level get over to the states and do one of Southnarc's In Extremis simunition courses. Big eye opener for a lot of people and a great course to boot.

Nick