Going Postal
Unfortunately, this scenario has happened all too often.
It's too late when a past employee or customer "goes postal" (our apologies to the PR folks at the USPS). Businesses should do everything they can to prevent situations from reaching this boiling point. But that's a topic for another web site.
If you are in a work environment or any other crowded area, such as a bus, train, sporting event, department store, mall, etc. and shooting or similar violence breaks out, you need to make a choice.
You can hide and try to save yourself or you can resist. If you resist, you may be the hero of the day. You may also end up on a slab in the morgue. Or in the courtroom ("But Your Honor, I didn't know the skell shooting the suit was an undercover police officer!") So pick your spots carefully. You are not legally obligated to protect others, although you may (perhaps should) feel a moral obligation to do so.
If you can clearly identify the "bad guy" (the crazed pro-lifer blowing away the innocent receptionist for example), you can intervene.
If you feel you are in immediate danger of death or grave bodily harm from someone who has the means to inflict it at hand, then you can react (he threatened to make you all regret your decision to fire him and now he's returned, toting a Mac 10 and yelling for you to come out and face him like a man). If an angry co-worker stands in your door and yells threats, you would be unjustified in shooting him, but perhaps not in escorting him from the premises.
If any individual stands up in a crowded area and starts shooting what appear to by innocent bystanders, or slashing them with a sword or otherwise causing them grave bodily harm, you are on stronger legal ground if you shoot him. But as we said above, you are under no legal obligation to throw yourself in the middle of the situation. Think of those around you. If you are shopping with your two young kids, your immediate obligation should be to get them to safety. Let the other shoppers worry about themselves -- their state of preparedness if not your concern. If you wish to put yourself in the line of fire, become a law enforcement officer, and at least you'll get paid for it.
For situations like this, you can run up and tackle the offender (as two brave passengers did on the Long Island Rail Road), you can use an improvised weapon (like a chair) or you can shoot him with the concealed weapon you carry to protect yourself and your loved ones. Captain Dave thinks the latter option places you in the least immediate danger. Thankfully, more and more states have concealed carry laws.
Picking the proper concealed firearm is a topic of at least one article every month in the gun press. Check out the local newsstand for yourself. Here are a few guidelines:
Pick a weapon that is reliable and accurate. Remember that you usually get what you pay for and consider this life insurance.
- Don't get too large a weapon that will be difficult to conceal or too heavy to comfortably carry for long periods of time.
- Do balance the above with a caliber that has a good reputation as a stopper. That generally means at least a .38 special or 9 mm, although some would include a 380.
- Invest in good holsters (one is never enough) that suit all your styles of dress.
- Practice, practice, practice. Join a gun club or range and shoot at least monthly. The more proficient you are, the better you will be under pressure.