Run, Hide, Fight: Dealing With a Rampage Killer if the Worst Happens

Thanks to the destruction of the moral fabric of our society by the long term, hard push from godless leftists, Democrats, and socialists (BIRM) during the last twenty-plus years, we have witnessed an increase in rampage killings in churches, schools, and places of business. The Columbine High School spree killing took place a full five years into the Clinton assault weapons ban and five years after Bill Clinton signed the Gun Free Schools Act when he promised that our schools would be safer than ever before. 

Now, we have once again witnessed the behavior of yet another minion of the demonic left. Though try as they might to disown him, the gutless murderer of innocent children was one of them, fully invested in the leftist propaganda and hate-filled rhetoric they spew daily.

Just like the Reichstag Fire, the left has stepped in to “fix” the problem they created by attacking those who had absolutely nothing to do with it. Being quite adept at dancing in the blood of innocents, Democrats are pushing to disarm their political opponents with new laws that will ostensibly “make us safe” despite the fact that murder is already illegal in all 50 states and the history of civilian disarmament has always resulted in more violence against the disarmed citizen, not less.

But we already know all this, so what can and should we do?   

Mental Health Counseling?

What good does all the rhetoric about “mental health counseling” do when the left not only embraces mental disorders, but has labeled behavior that has been considered a mental disorder for ten thousand years as “normal behavior?” The mental illness supported and endorsed by the left is exempted from scrutiny and those who point out the problem are pilloried and demonized. The only true threats, according to the left, are people who actually love America as a nation and embrace traditional family values. 

The fact is that the government could print another billion dollars tomorrow and claim it was going to “mental health counseling” and it wouldn’t change a thing. There are still thousands upon thousands of dangerous people, 90+% of whom are taking psychotropic drugs which we know lead to violence. These monsters are already out there, armed, and in the process of scrawling their own manifestos.

Even if the Democrat party somehow got their way and disarmed all the law-abiding people, why should we believe for a fraction of one second that their mentally deranged minions are going to surrender their guns? No sane person would believe that disarming the innocent will prevent the evil from carrying out their desires. 

The lesson from Minneapolis is that evil exists in our world and there are no laws current or pending that can change that fact. We must be prepared to deal with evil. Wishing for it to go away will not help. 

Run, Hide, Fight

In typically loathsome and cowardly fashion, corporate America decided to address the issue of rampage killings by coming up with officially sanctioned advice that, in the event of a “workplace violence incident” you should run first, hide second, and fight as a last resort. Those of us on the sane side of the equation immediately viewed that at sophistry. 

It has been said that you don’t truly die as long as someone remembers you. The day after the Minneapolis rampage killing, my departed friend, James Yeager, spoke to me and his friends via a video that he put up in 2019 after a rampage killing in California. As James is no longer here to promote his take on “Run, Hide, Fight” I will pick up the torch and carry it forward. His opinion on the matter is broken down as follows. 

Run 

Step number one…to save lives, run toward the sound of gunfire. Why are you carrying a gun? For Instagram views? As a responsible armed citizen, we carry guns to SAVE LIVES. Our tools are used to STOP a rampage killer as fast as humanly (and ballistically) possible. 

Hide

Step number two, hide behind cover. Use of cover is a tactic that we learn and practice in training. Cover is any object that will stop small arms fire from reaching your body.

Fight

James, not being one to mince words, stated “Shoot that m*th*r-f*ck*er in the face.” Fight until the monster who is trying to kill innocent people is no longer able to do so. Shoot them until they stop trying to kill the innocent. Whether they expire from your efforts or not is inconsequential to the matter at hand.

Four Possible Outcomes   

In his book, “The Four Pillars of Fighting,” James explained that, regardless of motives or details, if you find yourself in the middle of a rampage killing, there are four possible outcomes. You will either be regarded by history as: a Living Hero, a Dead Hero, a Living Coward, or a Dead Coward. Your actions will determine the outcome.

Your use of or lack of (or refusal to use) the tools at your disposal will play a large part. Your use of a firearm, such as we witnessed in Traverse City, Michigan, might be what it takes to stop the carnage. Your use of traumatic first aid knowledge and gear might be the difference between a victim bleeding to death before the ambulance arrives or keeping them alive.  

Parting Shots

Regardless of political sabre-rattling, reality dictates that there are still evil men and women out there who are preparing to harm innocent people. You can’t alter that fact through disbelief or a refusal to think about it. 

You can’t change the behavior of evil monsters. You can, however, make the purposeful decision to be prepared when there comes a day that you are face to face with that evil. You can train. You can practice. You can determine that you won’t walk out of your front door without the fundamental four attached to your body.

The choice is yours to make.

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.