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The "Shooter" Drill

blackjack50

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So I have been playing a new game. Basically the premise is...pick a plausible scenario for an area that you are in (preferably when you aren't doing anything and you are bored an your mind is free to drift). I am in a hospital right now so I was thinking "active shooter."

Basically the object is to come up with a decisive course of action that could keep you (those around you) alive. Then you weigh the merits. Find better courses of action. My plan (since I am disarmed in a hospital) involved grabbing a chair and a fire extinguisher and using a bathroom to hide the children in, and keeping a chair on the main door of the room.

The other portion of this scenario involves a partner. Observe someone or something while you are with that person. Something close to insignificant. Shirt color of someone near bye. Facial hair. Balding? What object were they using. Wait a while (15 minutes or more). Then ask the other about it.

These 2 games are fun and competitive. They also help you learn observance and situational awareness. I recommend them.
 
I think you might be a wee bit paranoid if that is what you think about on a regular basis.
 
I've got it all planned out. My secretary is in the front office so she'll take the hit while allowing me plenty of time to line up on target.

But seriously, my office is one way in/one way out so my options are pretty limited. I do have the blinds drawn in such a way that I can usually see who's coming to the door well before they can see me.
 
So I have been playing a new game. Basically the premise is...pick a plausible scenario for an area that you are in (preferably when you aren't doing anything and you are bored an your mind is free to drift). I am in a hospital right now so I was thinking "active shooter."

Basically the object is to come up with a decisive course of action that could keep you (those around you) alive. Then you weigh the merits. Find better courses of action. My plan (since I am disarmed in a hospital) involved grabbing a chair and a fire extinguisher and using a bathroom to hide the children in, and keeping a chair on the main door of the room.

The other portion of this scenario involves a partner. Observe someone or something while you are with that person. Something close to insignificant. Shirt color of someone near bye. Facial hair. Balding? What object were they using. Wait a while (15 minutes or more). Then ask the other about it.

These 2 games are fun and competitive. They also help you learn observance and situational awareness. I recommend them.



Hospitals sure are boring aren't they?

You know, the one I was in never checked my bag...
 
So I have been playing a new game. Basically the premise is...pick a plausible scenario for an area that you are in (preferably when you aren't doing anything and you are bored an your mind is free to drift). I am in a hospital right now so I was thinking "active shooter."

Basically the object is to come up with a decisive course of action that could keep you (those around you) alive. Then you weigh the merits. Find better courses of action. My plan (since I am disarmed in a hospital) involved grabbing a chair and a fire extinguisher and using a bathroom to hide the children in, and keeping a chair on the main door of the room.

The other portion of this scenario involves a partner. Observe someone or something while you are with that person. Something close to insignificant. Shirt color of someone near bye. Facial hair. Balding? What object were they using. Wait a while (15 minutes or more). Then ask the other about it.

These 2 games are fun and competitive. They also help you learn observance and situational awareness. I recommend them.

If you're in a hospital, the best course of action to keep yourself and those around you alive would be to leave, as soon as possible. Everybody knows hospitals are deadly.
 
I think you might be a wee bit paranoid if that is what you think about on a regular basis.

I figured someone would make a naive comment about how this game is "paranoid."

Hey. Let me ask you. Is it paranoid to come up with an exist plan for your house in the event of a fire? A place for tornado? Earthquake? Or go over what you do in the event you need to call the police?

I suppose you would rather me be a George Zimmerman with no plan and going wily nilly into a situation I don't belong in. That would be better for the anti gun/pro gun control crowd. I look underprepared and shouldn't have a gun. Of course if I have a plan...I'm a paranoid wacko who shouldn't have a gun. Damned if I do. Damned if I don't.

Ill tell you what. Keep those comments to yourself and enjoy your time behind the fan. Just don't ask anyone who is "paranoid" for help because you certainly didn't help them by being bystander who don't see brown substance heading for the fan.
 
I've got it all planned out. My secretary is in the front office so she'll take the hit while allowing me plenty of time to line up on target.

But seriously, my office is one way in/one way out so my options are pretty limited. I do have the blinds drawn in such a way that I can usually see who's coming to the door well before they can see me.

Sounds to me like you could use a buzz lock system...depending on the business. I'd keep the secretary prepared. But a 1 way in out isnt bad for you if you are on the inside and they want in. It means you only need to cover 1 spot :)
 
So I have been playing a new game. Basically the premise is...pick a plausible scenario for an area that you are in (preferably when you aren't doing anything and you are bored an your mind is free to drift). I am in a hospital right now so I was thinking "active shooter."

Basically the object is to come up with a decisive course of action that could keep you (those around you) alive. Then you weigh the merits. Find better courses of action. My plan (since I am disarmed in a hospital) involved grabbing a chair and a fire extinguisher and using a bathroom to hide the children in, and keeping a chair on the main door of the room.

The other portion of this scenario involves a partner. Observe someone or something while you are with that person. Something close to insignificant. Shirt color of someone near bye. Facial hair. Balding? What object were they using. Wait a while (15 minutes or more). Then ask the other about it.

These 2 games are fun and competitive. They also help you learn observance and situational awareness. I recommend them.

You recommend them? I recommend the drugs you're on. ;) ;)

Best wishes, Stonewall.

Whatever works. ;)
 
I figured someone would make a naive comment about how this game is "paranoid."

Hey. Let me ask you. Is it paranoid to come up with an exist plan for your house in the event of a fire? A place for tornado? Earthquake? Or go over what you do in the event you need to call the police?

I suppose you would rather me be a George Zimmerman with no plan and going wily nilly into a situation I don't belong in. That would be better for the anti gun/pro gun control crowd. I look underprepared and shouldn't have a gun. Of course if I have a plan...I'm a paranoid wacko who shouldn't have a gun. Damned if I do. Damned if I don't.

Ill tell you what. Keep those comments to yourself and enjoy your time behind the fan. Just don't ask anyone who is "paranoid" for help because you certainly didn't help them by being bystander who don't see brown substance heading for the fan.

There is a line between planning for things your home or workplace (you know where you spend most of your time) and planning for an event that 99.999999999% repeating will not happen, everywhere you go. That line is called paranoia and you crossed it.
 
That was humorous but I stand with Stonewall.

Oh, me too!!! Why, as I'm sitting here, I'm thinking: What if somebody broke down my front door right now??!!!!

I'd reach for my hot coffee; throw it in his face; grab the lamp, pull the cord from the wall, pitch it at his head; or, better, if he was slightly incapacitated from the coffee, I'd beat him over the head with it a half-dozen times; run for the nightstand to grab my .38; close the bedroom door behind me; pull the little orange thingie that sits between the bullets and the firing pin; load my gun; take the safety off; yell through the door that if I saw his ugly face in the doorway I'd blow his ****ing head off; use the bedroom phone to call 911 and pray they got there before I had a heart attack.

My scenerios don't often end well.
 
There is a line between planning for things your home or workplace (you know where you spend most of your time) and planning for an event that 99.999999999% repeating will not happen, everywhere you go. That line is called paranoia and you crossed it.



Wrong again. :)


Paranoia is a mental disorder where a subject persist in "connecting the dots" on EVERYTHING and assuming there is a malignant overarching force controlling numerous disparate and disconnected phenomena. Commonly this manifests as a belief that there is a "secret cabal" conspiring against him/her capable of controlling all manner of minutia that happens in the person's life.

Now of course that's the clinical usage... the casual usage of paranoid is a denigrating term for someone which means "You think about bad things that might happen but make me uncomfortable so I'm going to label you something associated with mental illness to make myself feel better about NOT thinking about such things." :)


People like me and Stonewall, we don't think about this stuff ALL the time. Just a lot more than people like you.

When a true paranoid sees a butterfly, he's apt to wonder if his enemies planted it there purposefully to distract him from some other nefarious evil they are concocting.

When people like me or Stonewall see a butterfly, we think "Ooh, a butterfly. Cool." :lamo


Difference.
 
Wrong again. :)


Paranoia is a mental disorder where a subject persist in "connecting the dots" on EVERYTHING and assuming there is a malignant overarching force controlling numerous disparate and disconnected phenomena. Commonly this manifests as a belief that there is a "secret cabal" conspiring against him/her capable of controlling all manner of minutia that happens in the person's life.

Now of course that's the clinical usage... the casual usage of paranoid is a denigrating term for someone which means "You think about bad things that might happen but make me uncomfortable so I'm going to label you something associated with mental illness to make myself feel better about NOT thinking about such things." :)


People like me and Stonewall, we don't think about this stuff ALL the time. Just a lot more than people like you.

When a true paranoid sees a butterfly, he's apt to wonder if his enemies planted it there purposefully to distract him from some other nefarious evil they are concocting.

When people like me or Stonewall see a butterfly, we think "Ooh, a butterfly. Cool." :lamo


Difference.

Fine how about overly cautious.
 
Fine how about overly cautious.



Accepted as a more reasonable mode of critique. :)


Of course, the definition of "overly" is rather subjective, and also depends on one's environment and circumstances.



He's in the hospital and he's bored, so this is mostly just mental exercise. :)
 
Oh, me too!!! Why, as I'm sitting here, I'm thinking: What if somebody broke down my front door right now??!!!!

I'd reach for my hot coffee; throw it in his face; grab the lamp, pull the cord from the wall, pitch it at his head; or, better, if he was slightly incapacitated from the coffee, I'd beat him over the head with it a half-dozen times; run for the nightstand to grab my .38; close the bedroom door behind me; pull the little orange thingie that sits between the bullets and the firing pin; load my gun; take the safety off; yell through the door that if I saw his ugly face in the doorway I'd blow his ****ing head off; use the bedroom phone to call 911 and pray they got there before I had a heart attack.

My scenarios don't often end well.
I recommend you practice dialing 911 at least monthly on each of your phones. Surprisingly it is almost impossible to remember how to do it when your heart is beating at 150 beats per minute.
 
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I recommend you practice dialing 911 at least monthly on each of your phones. Surprisingly it is almost impossible to remember how to di it when your heart is beating at 150 beats per minute.



:scared:

"What's the number for 911?!??"




:mrgreen:
 
I think you might be a wee bit paranoid if that is what you think about on a regular basis.

Professionals such as me have terms for people like him and people like you

Him-survivor

You-Victim
 
Oh, me too!!! Why, as I'm sitting here, I'm thinking: What if somebody broke down my front door right now??!!!!

I'd reach for my hot coffee; throw it in his face; grab the lamp, pull the cord from the wall, pitch it at his head; or, better, if he was slightly incapacitated from the coffee, I'd beat him over the head with it a half-dozen times; run for the nightstand to grab my .38; close the bedroom door behind me; pull the little orange thingie that sits between the bullets and the firing pin; load my gun; take the safety off; yell through the door that if I saw his ugly face in the doorway I'd blow his ****ing head off; use the bedroom phone to call 911 and pray they got there before I had a heart attack.

My scenerios don't often end well.

usual night in the turtle house. I am upstairs in my office with the TV on and playing or working on the computer. In my desk is a beretta 92 and four magazines. The next room down the hall is my son's. There is an electronic gun safe that has one of my Colt M4 carbines and three mags. Mrs Turtle and Junior Turtle are downstairs in the living room. The dogs bark if anyone gets within 50 meters of the house. In the closet with a combination lock that is instantly accessible behind our bedroom is a mossberg shotgun that is loaded and ready to go. Under the bed is a Glock 19 in an instant access combination safe. In my nightstand drawer is my carry piece that I put in the drawer when I come home.

if the dogs start barking we investigate. We have yet to have anything more serious than a coyote

when we sleep, my wife and I are downstairs. She sleeps with ear plugs. I do not. Jr is upstairs. If I hear the dogs barking I retrieve the glock if its the type of barking that indicates an intruder (rather than a potty break bark). Junior-- if the alarm goes off he knows to take cover behind that safe in his room with his 20G shotgun covering the entrance. he can easily hear someone come up the stairs. The minute he hears someone he is to warn them that he will shoot if they reach the top of the stairs. If they are a police officer to stay put until I tell him to stand down.
 
When my heart is beating normally it is 911. When my heart rate elevates the numbers cease to exist.



Oh I understand. It's amazing the things the mind does under severe stress.
 
usual night in the turtle house. I am upstairs in my office with the TV on and playing or working on the computer. In my desk is a beretta 92 and four magazines. The next room down the hall is my son's. There is an electronic gun safe that has one of my Colt M4 carbines and three mags. Mrs Turtle and Junior Turtle are downstairs in the living room. The dogs bark if anyone gets within 50 meters of the house. In the closet with a combination lock that is instantly accessible behind our bedroom is a mossberg shotgun that is loaded and ready to go. Under the bed is a Glock 19 in an instant access combination safe. In my nightstand drawer is my carry piece that I put in the drawer when I come home.

if the dogs start barking we investigate. We have yet to have anything more serious than a coyote

when we sleep, my wife and I are downstairs. She sleeps with ear plugs. I do not. Jr is upstairs. If I hear the dogs barking I retrieve the glock if its the type of barking that indicates an intruder (rather than a potty break bark). Junior-- if the alarm goes off he knows to take cover behind that safe in his room with his 20G shotgun covering the entrance. he can easily hear someone come up the stairs. The minute he hears someone he is to warn them that he will shoot if they reach the top of the stairs. If they are a police officer to stay put until I tell him to stand down.

So . . .

Does that mean you don't throw a lamp at anybody? ;)
 
So . . .

Does that mean you don't throw a lamp at anybody? ;)

lamps are expensive

a 9mm costs less than 40C for the good stuff
 
Fine how about overly cautious.

He (goshin) was considerably nicer in saying what I was going too. But if you desire to discuss things...that is an excellent phrase. I will add that this "game" does not Change my course of action and I don't assume these things will happen. I also consider what to do in the event of fire, health emergency, and so on.

I have been involved in a lot of training (high ropes, life guard, first aid, concealed weapons, martial arts, school safety). It is always great to play the what if game because it keeps you considering possibilities. The best plans are rudimentary, simple, and easily put I to play in any situation (or as many as possible).
 
A recent demo project found an old fire extinguisher. The reason the extinguisher popped into my head as a defensive weapon was not really for hitting...but obscuring and blinding an attacker.

Watch these kids empty it:

http://youtu.be/aHIsTDIKrLA

Hard to see past that dense cloud. We emptied one we found at my house and the cloud was huge...30x30 foot cloud.
 
The "mission impossible"
 
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