Right up front, I’m going to say that I hope I’m never in a situation like one of the several mass shootings we’ve just seen. I’m no hero, I’m too old for that kind of thing, and there are too many bad outcomes (for me) should I get involved with — i.e. by shooting back at — asshole gunmen on a spree.
That said, I also hope that if the situation is inescapable that I will have the gumption to perform my civic duty, i.e. by not running away and hoping that law enforcement will take care of everything, and doing my level best to end the threat.
I also hope I don’t get shot by the frigging cops, which is what seems to have happened in Sydney because to the untrained and panicked eye, the target becomes any guy holding a gun (or, in the case of the OzCops) and even standing next to the gun he just used, with his hands in the air.
What a shit show.
For those who think that I’m being silly to imagine such things happening, living as I do in north Texas: let me remind everyone that there was just such a mass shooting at an outdoor mall in Allen, just up the road from my house, only a couple years ago. (What makes it all the more chilling was that both New Wife and Mrs. Doc Russia had gone out shopping in Allen, and might well have ended up at the mall in so doing.)
So no: if we’ve learned one thing from all this, it’s that this shit can happen anywhere. And we would do well to be prepared to deal with it.
Once again, I’m absolutely not hoping that I get involved in some of this mayhem; but at the same time, I will admit to doing some mental role-playing in my head, dredging up all the old “Coinops” (counter-insurgency operations) drills I learned back in those far-off days when we all carried muskets and bayonets.
One thing is for sure, though: I will not be a helpless victim.