Several factors come to mind
1. The very first indication there's a problem is when someone starts screaming. If one is extremely lucky, one will be close enough to the problem to ascertain the situation and far enough NOT to be the first victim.
2. The very first indication one is armed is when one's sidearm appears. My thought is to keep it hidden until the required moment. (Some woman may be screaming because her child is choking. This will require assistance but not a firearm.) One does not want to alert the villain prematurely.
3. Somewhat out of chronological order, but one must have developed more than a passing familiarity with the handgun utilized. More than simply making minimal standards on a repetitive qualification course at fixed intervals AND more than simply firing a silly number of shots within a limited period of time. In any case, without - as far as can be done - a three minute preparation time to make sure arm is loaded and chambered, mantra is chanted and death song is sung, as applicable.
Knowing how to shoot is the best antidote for panic shooting.
Connected to this is the foresight to ensure proper working condition for the sidearm and ammunition in question.
4. Be careful not to be trampled by the panicked 'by standers'. Obviously, a responder will move toward the problem rather than away. Swimming upstream, so to speak.
5. A shot fired in a confined area (like a light rail or subway car, or perhaps the connecting halls of a mall) is going to be loud. This will not calm an extant panic. Be aware.
6. Shots fired must be minimal. The six-shot burst - so familiar to standard qualification courses, or the thirty-shot burst, so beloved by game shooters and shooting game course designers - are contraindicated. Every shot carries with it the possibility of an inadvertent disaster. More shots fired are more chances of disaster.
7. The idea of 'they won't get me' carrying the assumption everyone else is expendable is both deplorable and ill-advised. It carries the stamp of moral emptiness and narcissism, AND engenders the very real possibility of legal charges of culpable negligence and civil actions for wrongful death or injury.
1. The very first indication there's a problem is when someone starts screaming. If one is extremely lucky, one will be close enough to the problem to ascertain the situation and far enough NOT to be the first victim.
2. The very first indication one is armed is when one's sidearm appears. My thought is to keep it hidden until the required moment. (Some woman may be screaming because her child is choking. This will require assistance but not a firearm.) One does not want to alert the villain prematurely.
3. Somewhat out of chronological order, but one must have developed more than a passing familiarity with the handgun utilized. More than simply making minimal standards on a repetitive qualification course at fixed intervals AND more than simply firing a silly number of shots within a limited period of time. In any case, without - as far as can be done - a three minute preparation time to make sure arm is loaded and chambered, mantra is chanted and death song is sung, as applicable.
Knowing how to shoot is the best antidote for panic shooting.
Connected to this is the foresight to ensure proper working condition for the sidearm and ammunition in question.
4. Be careful not to be trampled by the panicked 'by standers'. Obviously, a responder will move toward the problem rather than away. Swimming upstream, so to speak.
5. A shot fired in a confined area (like a light rail or subway car, or perhaps the connecting halls of a mall) is going to be loud. This will not calm an extant panic. Be aware.
6. Shots fired must be minimal. The six-shot burst - so familiar to standard qualification courses, or the thirty-shot burst, so beloved by game shooters and shooting game course designers - are contraindicated. Every shot carries with it the possibility of an inadvertent disaster. More shots fired are more chances of disaster.
7. The idea of 'they won't get me' carrying the assumption everyone else is expendable is both deplorable and ill-advised. It carries the stamp of moral emptiness and narcissism, AND engenders the very real possibility of legal charges of culpable negligence and civil actions for wrongful death or injury.