In my role as a firearms instructor, I’m sometimes asked about “What If” scenarios. I teach my Concealed Carry students to do this frequently as a part of their mental preparation – forming response plans for scenarios that they may encounter. It improves your reaction time.
Last week I was asked about the incident at Trolley Square. For those of you that are not familiar with it, Trolley Square is a shopping mall in Salt Lake City, UT. It is important to note that Trolley Square has signage prohibiting firearms on the premises.
On 12-February-2007, a muslim man named Sulejman Talović entered the mall with a handgun and a shotgun. He went on a shooting spree. He killed 5 people and injured several others. He was eventually killed.
Students and others have often asked what I would have done. Would I have gone to confront him?
The answer is an absolute NO. I would only have dealt with him if he was between me and my family, or between us and safety. I would not have gone looking for him.
I have been called a coward for giving that answer. But there are very practical concerns, as well as legal concerns that go into that attitude.
Remember, Trolley Square is an unarmed victim zone. They have signs prohibiting firearms on the premises. While those signs hold no “legal” weight in Utah (unlike a 30.06 sign in Texas), most good Concealed Firearm Permit holders will avoid such places. I do, so I would not have been there.
However, putting that aside, say that I was to have been there.
A Concealed Firearm Permit does not make you a police officer. It is there for when you have done all that you can to avoid trouble, and trouble still comes looking for you. It allows you to protect yourself and those you ELECT to protect. In my recommendation – that’s your immediate family.
Going to confront him is a bad idea on multiple PRACTICAL counts…
- The police will have been called.
- They will be looking for a man with a gun. If you expect them to have an accurate description, try listening in to a police scanner.
- If you are going around with your gun at low ready, guess what? YOU ARE A MAN WITH A GUN.
- If someone else – like an off-duty police officer or another Concealed Firearm Permit holder – is doing the same thing, guess what? HE IS A MAN WITH A GUN.
- If you run into each other, it could end VERY badly for one or both of you.
- If you run into a responding police officer, it could end very badly for you.
- Even if you are not shot on the spot, you will most likely end up handcuffed and in the back of a police car until the whole thing is sorted out. Expect that to take hours or longer.
Now, let’s look at the police response.
- The police will be setup at the entrances.
- They will expect the possibility that the gunman (or gunmen) may disengage and pose as fleeing victims.
- In the case of Trolley Square there is video of families being told to keep their hands up and being taken to sorting areas where they were fully checked out. They stood in the cold for hours, kids too.
- When they are frisking people, you may not have the time to announce your permit before someone yells “gun!” and you find yourself in a bad situation.
If I was there, I would only have confronted the gunman if he was between me and my family, or us and safety. In that case I would end the threat, whatever was required.
My goal as soon as I realized what was happening would have been to get my family to our car and get us out of the area as fast as I possibly could. We don’t want to get caught behind the cordon they will be setting up, and have to wait for hours in the cold while they figure out what’s going on. Better to not be there.
Discretion – It is the better part of valor.