Lessons From New Orleans

Normally I follow the 72 Hour Rule and don’t comment on these incidents until we know more about them, but I think there is enough information right now to talk about how everything went down and what we can learn from it. First off, if you haven’t read Greg Ellifritz’s excellent roundup of advice on what do to when faced with a vehicular attack, do so now.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

If you spend any time in online gun forums or on firearms-related social media, you’ll hear people from all walks of life extolling the virtue of a backup gun if you carry concealed. I can understand their desire to make sure they always have a firearm at the ready, but let’s pause for a moment and ask ourselves, “When was the last time we heard about an armed civilian reload in a gunfight?”

Yeah, pretty much never. 

A tourniquet, however, and some pressure bandages would save lives in the chaos after something like the mass vehicular homicide that happened on New Year’s Day. 

Secondly, watch how fast the attack happened. Your truck gun would be useless, even if it weren’t a half-mile away from you because you were in a “truck-free” zone. Same is true, honestly, of your concealed carry pistol. Watch a few videos of this attack which show how fast that truck bore down on the innocent people in those streets. If you took the time to draw and aim in an attempt to take out the driver, you’d be roadkill. Get out of the way, then get to work. A vehicle attack such as this is like an earthquake or a tsunami: It’s a man-caused mass casualty event. You can no more fight it than you can stop a tsunami by shooting at it. 

This doesn’t mean you’re helpless. The people who lived through this saw the trouble and were able to react in time to get out of the way. Keep your head up and be ready for action, even when having a good time on New Year’s Eve.