You do not need thousands of dollars in training to prepare yourself for a situation. You can do it yourself without the use of a gun guru by following several common sense factors, and running the scenarios over again and again in your mind until they become ingrained. Firearms proficiency, on the other hand, requires constant practice. The mind set is key here. Observe, observe, observe. If anything seems out of place orient yourself to best be able to confront a threat successfully, which includes noting areas of concealment, movement, cover, and most importantly observation. Practice this constantly wherever you go, dept. stores, restaurants, etc. It will eventually become second nature to you. In a situation such as the restaurant, there is in reality very little you can do, for the shock factor will most likely incapacitate you for up to a minute(which can be an eternity) or more after which use of a firearm will probably prove useless. Best you can do here, if you wake up unharmed, is to have kept current with your first aid training and assist those whom you can help until EMT units arrive. You do have to recognize the situation you are in. In something like a robbery in a public place, unless threat of life in imminent, it is best to comply. Human life trumps loss of property easily. In all situations, find cover/ concealment if possible; play dead if you have to. It is of utmost importance here to take a few deep breaths and assess the situation. Your senses have been assaulted by the sounds of gunfire, explosions. Your adrenaline is pumping at 110% and part of your brain is telling you that this cannot be happening. You are scared to death. If you cannot overcome the fear, then stay where you are and let the assault come to you, then react as best you can. Your death would solve nothing. Once some semblance of coherency has returned to your brain, note the direction of gunfire. Observe the location of shooters if you can, covertly if possible( around corners, low) If it is possible, move as close as you can to your target to assure a reasonable chance of success. Remember you're still pumped up on adrenaline and your hands are shaking beyond belief. You should have already tried to breathe normally and calm yourself down. If you do manage to get yourself in an advantageous position, take a couple of deep breaths and take your shots. If you do manage to take down a gunman and there are more, upgun. If you have a pistol and the other BGs have AK's then that puts you at a distinct disadvantage. Grab his rifle, check the mag, grab any other mags you can and move to some point where you do not need to check your 6, which you have to constantly do. Shoot, move, shoot move. You have a slight advantage in the first few seconds because they don't know where you are and you are shooting from behind some type of concealment. Make those first few shots count. You are most likely doing this amid bursts of gunfire. so your aimed single/double shots will not necessarily register in their minds until one of them actually sees another go down, and that automatically gives you your next target. A few other major things to remember in such a situation; resist the urge to flee toward the exits. The aggressors in this scenario seek body count and their attention will be focused on the largest group of people, with possibly one performing overwatch. He should be primary initial target, but that depends on your location, access. They will not be shooting at something they cannot see and it will surprise them, at least initially, to encounter resistance. Do not underestimate your opponent, but by the same token, do not overestimate him either. He is in all likelihood, a common foot soldier and not endowed with an overabundance of brains. Face the fact, you could die trying, but in a similar situation you could die just as easily doing nothing. I carry everywhere I go, even to concerts, etc. and I have never encountered a problem with it, but it has a lot to do with carrying a hard card. I have another person sign an agreement that I am working a protection detail for them, notify those in control of the event, and generally have no problems. It allows me to be at least minimally prepared. Anyone can practice the scenario above in an empty barn, church, even a roped off section of empty field. Of course the location determines if you are capable of using live ammo for this type of training, which I highly discourage. Paintball can give a reasonably realistic scenario. Of course, every situation is different, and it is ultimately up to you to decide whether you want to invest the time to train yourself, and how specifically to engage/not engage in such a situation. Also you must realize that coordinated police reaction is at best 30min. away, and probably longer. Almost every venue will offer concealment; concert halls have seats as do theaters and churches. Restaurants have booths, bars, tables. In open floor concerts you can always choose to be seated on an upper level. As the old saying goes; Keep your head when those around you are losing theirs.
