Germany has had two different gun-free zone attacks in three days, one on a train by edged-weapons attack, one in a big shopping mall by shooter(s). France had one a week ago, by vehicle attack.
We're next. Why, you ask?
The perpetrators are ALL recent Muslim immigrants, brought in by either an incompetent Government or a conniving one, you choose. WE have such a government, and we have many recent Muslim immigrants, brought in and shuffled around the country in secret, so State and Local policing agencies have no clue where they are.
All the GFZ attacks have occurred in essentially "gun-free countries", where armed resistance to the attacks is unlikely ("when seconds count, police are only minutes away"). Parts of our Nation allows armed citizens, parts of it doesn't. Point in our favor? Probably not. Refer: San Bernardino (GFZ), Dallas (not GFZ) Baton Rouge (not GFZ). Note that not all these attacks were by Muslims. Some were by Marxists.
So, considering that we face two, maybe three types of threat here, what DOES a citizen do?
- If you live in an area of the Nation which respects the Second Amendment, qualify yourself and get armed. Try to carry something with which you can defeat an armed individual at 50 meters distance. Practice at those longer ranges. The old FBI stat of gun encounters occurring at under seven yards are valid, but only for the purely criminal sort of attack one might face when one has the bad luck to be in close proximity to a gun assault against an adjoining target, or a robbery in progress when you are at or near the cashier in a store.
- These "M&M" (Muslim & Marxist) attacks all seem to involve either areal firing by the attacker or ambush firing, and areal firing is almost always with a rifle on targets of opportunity (whoever crosses the attacker's front sight). Defense involves cover (not just concealment), and the ability to put effective and immediate return fire on the attacking rifleman.
- Vehicle attacks are best met by moving laterally out of the path of the vehicle, at the last moment, so corrective steering by the driver is not possible, and firing a lot of shots through the windshield and driver-side window.
- Political action: through your local politicians, fight with all means to convince the pols that gun-free zones bring more attacks, and rather than reducing the number of armed citizens, the number of gun-free zones should be reduced.
Range practice.
Short-range handguns are less appropriate. They are better than NO handgun at all, but not much better. "Service" handguns are the best choice if you can't carry a rifle, which is the SUPERIOR choice. Few places allow open carry of rifles, but most anywhere you can carry at all, you can carry a handgun concealed. Practice involves something similar to "Shoot-village" training, where you walk through a built-up range area, and as threats appear, you analyze them and engage as appropriate, using the cover of buildings, walls, vehicles, etc. near the threat. Few of us have such practice opportunities, but if your gun club has a "Dynamic Range", you can set up multiple targets and have a rangemaster call out the threat target which you then fire upon. My club has such a range. You may have to find some empty land out in the boondocks for practice.
Choice of arms.
In pistols, any high-capacity, full-size gun. 2 extra magazines for the pistol. 1911s, Glocks in the big versions, .357 Magnum or bigger revolvers with at least a 4" barrel (for more muzzle velocity). You look at the ballistics charts to see how your chosen Service weapon performs at some distance. A guideline might be a minimum of 300 foot-pounds of energy at the maximum range you can engage at. Note: if you choose a 9mm Luger gun, you have to be very careful as to ammo, only a few loadings will give 300 foot-pounds at 75 to 100 meters. The NATO 124-gr round or equivalent is about the weakest you would want to carry, and it is +P rated. Loadings by Buffalo Bore or Cor-Bon give you the edge with 9mm. Same with 40 S&W and 45ACP, they are marginal, but the hot loadings will make the grade. make sure the pistol will handle +P or +P+ loads. In revolvers, any .357 Magnum except "reduced recoil" loads will work. 44 Special, no, unless it's an "Elmer Keith" load. 44 Magnum, anything will do. 45 Long Colt (for the "Judges") will work in the hotter loadings, the cowboy loads don't make it. The 410SG rounds for the Judges do not make the grade, so if you carry a Judge, you MUST carry a speedloader of hot 45 Long Colt for it.
We are at war, my friends. Carry and practice like we are at war.