How to stay alive during a Terrorist Attack

Ten Ways To Avoid Being Killed During A Terrorist Attack

In light of Friday’s terrorist attacks, it seems only a matter of time before similar incidents occur in the U.S. The question many people are asking is “What would I do if suddenly in a situation like Paris?”  To help answer that question, Florida Gun Classifieds has a created a list of ten things you can do to avoid becoming a casualty in the “War on Terror.”

1. Realize it WILL happen here – This isn’t a paranoid statement: it is a simple unpleasant fact based upon intelligence gathering efforts, expert opinion, and common sense. At some point, it is likely there will be a coordinated, Paris-type attack in the U.S. on schools, shopping malls, sporting events, or other mass-gathering areas. And, don’t think it would happen only in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles because what would be better to create fear (the ultimate goal of terrorist action) than by killing dozens or hundreds of people at a school in rural Mississippi or a shopping mall in Montana?
2. Always carry a concealed firearm where legal – Carrying a firearm is a lifestyle habit, not something you should do only occasionally or when you feel it is likely there will be trouble. Odds are, you won’t correctly guess the date, time and place of life-threatening violence. A concealed firearm in the hands of a responsible and trained individual is statistically one of the best tools available to stop mass killings.
3. Improvised weapons are within reach – If you cannot or choose not to carry a firearm, there are always effective weapons within your immediate area so learn to use them. Whenever unarmed in a public area, make it a habit (or game) to choose three nearby items that would make a good weapon if things turn dire.
4. Know where exits are located – Many people die during all types of emergencies because they don’t know where exits are located.  This should be the first thing you do, above all else, whenever situated in a public place.
5. Act decisively – The “immediate action drill” during an attack is either fight or flee. Don’t mill around, waiting for instruction or to gain a better idea of what is happening. Flee the area when you have an opportunity or instantly attack a threat if one presents itself. The old chestnut is still true: “To Ponder is to Perish.”
6. Be alert to people and unusual circumstances – Most folks wouldn’t see a large pink gorilla wandering down the hallway and certainly won’t see a suspicious individual fiddling with wires under a long trench coat on a hot day. You don’t have to glare at every passerby but simply maintain a loose focus for unusual patterns of activity within your surroundings. This is also known as “Maintaining Condition Yellow.”
7. “If you see something, say something.” – Cops everywhere have stories of witnesses who said after a crime, ‘I wasn’t sure what was going on and I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.’  If you see people or objects that look suspicious, notify the authorities immediately. There is no punishment for being mistaken but there are huge consequences to being correct but not sharing the information.
8. There is one more bomb/attack/assailant – Experience has shown that attackers are increasingly planning not only their initially assault, but follow-up actions such as secondary or even tertiary explosives and attackers. Such actions not only increase the “shock and awe” of the incident but cause additional carnage and damage the emergency response system.
9. Have a basic understanding of trauma medical care – in the aftermath of a bombing or shooting incident, many people will be bleeding to death and you have two or three minutes to save lives.  This means you need to understand mass-casualty triage principals and some basic tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) techniques. Be ready to provide aid such as tourniquets, spinal immobilization and safe patient evacuation from threatening circumstances.
10. Trust your intuition – If something ‘feels’ dangerous or simply makes you uneasy, trust your inner voices. This inner dialog might be wrong, but then again, you may have subconsciously picked up subtle environmental clues that you “can’t quite put your finger on,” but are real nonetheless. At the very least, move to a safer position or relocate to where you can more easily escape a potential kill zone.

It is not hyperbole to state that we are all now terrorism responder’s because the avowed goal of Daesh and other such groups is to bring death and destruction to Mainstreet U.S.A. However, with planning and preparation individual citizens can sometimes prevent, often shorten and effectively respond to mass killing incidents.

The world is changing quickly, and you need to adapt to stay alive. Would you rather be prepared, armed and ready to take out any threat? Or be that victim that is just another number added to the body count on the nightly news? Ask yourself: Do I know how to stay alive during a terrorist attack? Am I ready to neutralize any threat that happens to present itself at anytime? Daytime, nighttime, on the bus, in a mall, at a restaurant, walking the dog, driving to work, picking up the kids, cashing your check. Can I protect not only myself but the people around me at any given moment in time?

It is now our civil duty as Americans to be able to defend not only ourselves, but one another. In a time that will go down in history as the one of the most divisive times in American history, when our own president seeks to divide his people and pitted neighbor against neighbor, brother against sister, black against white, citizens against police, maybe this is God’s way of bringing Americans together once again for a higher purpose: To protect innocent lives against radical Islamic trash who seek to destroy our way of life. Remember, the enemy is unknown, he is not wearing any uniform, and cannot be distinguished from you or I. They are trained to blend in with us, live among us, eat, sleep, walk and shop with us. Essentially, they are us. The only thing that separates them from us is their ideology. They want us dead and we want to stay alive.

Remember these three words: ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYONE. You must practice situational awareness. It has to be your new way of life. Knowing everything that is happening around you at all times, and if something is out of place or seems like it doesn’t belong, you can’t just brush it off like we all used to on a daily basis. YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO ACT AT THE DROP OF A DIME AND TRAIN TO KILL THESE SCUMBAGS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY. Referred to as Operation Kratos, Shooting an active target once is insufficient. You must train to NEUTRALIZE any threat by shooting the target multiple times, aiming directly for the BRAIN STEM. You must assume they are planning to detonate an explosive device AKA the suicide vest every time, and you must eliminate their ability to detonate their device by severing their spinal cord so they loose the ability to press that button and detonate their suicide vest. Suicide bombers are likely to detonate their devices as soon as they realize they had been identified. Tactics must ensure immediate incapacitation to give the bomber no opportunity to detonate the bomb. These tactics were developed by London’s Metropolitan Police Service for dealing with suspected suicide bombers, and teaches firing multiple shots into the head without warning, specifically aiming for the BRAIN STEM which is at the base of the head, connecting the head to the spine. The tactics were developed shortly after the September 11th , 2001 attacks, based in part on consultation with Israeli and Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies on how to deal with suicide bombers.

As soon as a threat is identified, there is no time for hesitation, not even a second. Draw your firearm, and unload every round in your magazine directly at the base of the head of the terrorist. Make sure you have extra magazines because most attacks are not carried out by a single individual. Multiple attackers is a real and likely threat.

After eliminating the first threat, quickly reload your firearm and scan the area for additional threats. Look for the person or people that are not running away from the shooting, but coming toward you or any area where there are a lot of people all in one spot. Anyone that is watching what is unfolding instead of running away could be that second possible threat. Aim your firearm directly at their brain stem and start giving verbal commands to show and raise their hands above their head. If they do not respond, this is a situation where you must assess the threat quickly and correctly to determine whether or not to engage.

Ask yourself:

1. what is the demeanor of the supposed target?
   1. is their fear on his face? or is he emotionless and cold?
   2. is their panic expressed on his face or is he calculating and stoned faced?
   3. if he were to detonate a suicide vest, are you or others in immediate danger? or has everyone ran far enough that minimal loss of life would take place if he were to blow himself up?
      1. if this is the case, give commands to keep his hands up in the air and stay where he is until authorities arrive or everyone is far enough away that he is no longer a threat to you or anyone else.
      2. depending on what he does next will give you a better understanding of what his intentions are, and whether or not you have to shoot.

IMPORTANT: In these types of situations, chaos will ensue. People will be irrational and make many mistakes, including police and other possible concealed weapons holders. Although you are not the threat, you must understand that other people do not know this. YOU CAN BE MISTAKENLY SEEN AS THE THREAT, so you must do everything in your power to let everyone know you are one of the good guys.

1. SCREAM LOAD VERBAL COMMANDS: make sure it is known exactly what your intentions are, by verbalizing everything you are doing load enough that everyone can hear you are attempting to protect them by trying to neutralize a suspected threat.
2. TELL OTHERS TO CALL 911 AND TELL THE DISPATCHER YOU ARE THE GOOD GUY: do whatever you can to have someone dial 911 and make sure they tell the dispatcher exactly what is going on, and especially what you are wearing to avoid the police mistakenly thinking you are the threat. This might not be a feasible option with the panic happening all around you especially while you are making life or death decisions and scanning the area for additional threats. If possible dial 911 on your cell phone and put the phone somewhere that the dispatcher can hear your verbal commands. In between commands or whenever possible, scream “911 dispatcher I have the suspect at gun point, I am wearing a *whatever color shirt you are wearing* shirt, tell your officers I am not a threat and not to shoot, the suspect is wearing *describe the suspect* and I suspect he is wearing a suicide vest warn your officers to approach with caution” and repeat this saying over and over again, as loud as possible. You want everyone in the area to know exactly what your intentions are. This will increase the odds of you staying alive from other individuals carrying a firearm and the police when they arrive on the scene.

This is where professional training makes the difference between life and death. Proper training will give you better insight on the difference between a an innocent civilian that is panicked and frozen with fear and a terrorist trying to murder innocent civilians and first responders. Seconds count, you have to be as prepared as possible for anything and everything.  There is no training like this for civilians, concealed weapons holders do not have the ability to train for something like this, it just doesn’t exist. So it’s really up to you to train yourself to handle this type of situation.

Practice and proficiency with your firearm will build confidence and allow you to keep a level head in time of chaos. 

One thing these terrorists did not anticipate is for all Americans to be armed and prepared to fight back at any given time, anywhere. The government has failed to protect us against enemies, foreign and domestic.  It’s time to take your life into your own hands, and increase the odds in your favor.

Although having a concealed weapon is one of the first steps in being prepared, simply carrying a firearm does not mean you are prepared to deal with this type of threat. I estimate 95% of concealed weapon permit holders would not perform well in this type of situation. This is no ones fault, remember, this is a new type of threat we are facing. With new threats comes new types of required training. The more training you familiarize your self with the better off you and the people around you will be.

If you want more information on how to stay alive during a terrorist attack or would like to get professional firearms training, contact me and refuse to be a victim. You don’t have to be a statistic. It doesn’t matter your age, sex, weight, height or build. Anyone and everyone should and can become proficient with a firearm. You could be the only thing between one or more of these scumbags murdering you and everyone around you. You can and should be the person that has the ability to take out these fucking scumbag when seconds count in a life or death scenario. You have the choice to be the wolf or the sheep. I choose to be a wolf, I train to be a wolf, and when the time comes to act, I will be the wolf. What do you choose to be? The better question is: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BECOME THE WOLF YOU NEED TO BE TO STAY ALIVE?