Be prepared to act when needed

I read a quote once that amounted to the fact that if you don’t decide beforehand to do the right thing when it matters, then when presented with the opportunity, you will likely do nothing.

I was a junior in high school in Columbus, Montana, when the Columbine High School shooting occurred in Colorado. I was deeply affected by it, and even then, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t anyone assume an offensive role against those boys to prevent the number of deaths?”

Thirteen years and countless “crazed gunmen” later, I feel much the same way.

My message is in no way intended to blame the victims. But I submit that while talking heads on TV want to go “inside the mind of the killer,” I can’t help but recognize that no matter how much these people talk, nothing is being done to prevent the next incident. In fact, for every one incident that is showcased on television, there are another 100 deranged people out there fantasizing about when it will be their turn to get that kind of notoriety.

I am sure that if one unarmed person in that theatre in Aurora, Colo., had jumped on this “crazed gunman,” then dozens of others would have followed suit. The problem is that there wasn’t one person who took such action for others to follow. Had the headline read, “Man with gun kills two in theater, then attacked by moviegoers and arrested,” perhaps those previously mentioned deranged weirdos wouldn’t be fantasizing about the next tragedy and perhaps, we could prevent the next one. Only that’s not what the headline reads. The headline says exactly what the man who perpetrated this crime and other people like him want to read.

Armed or unarmed, the fact is violence has been a part of society since before society was a word and long before the center-fire cartridge was invented. This is not a new phenomenon. If you’re not prepared for it, then you better be prepared to be a victim. Furthermore, psychologically, the kind of people who perpetrate these crimes are not expecting offensive action by you. After all, they are almighty behind that gun and we have proven them right time and time again. It is our responsibility as citizens in a free society to control each other. Letting these “crazed gunmen” get away with their crimes is a step into anarchy.

Regardless of your political affiliation, or “feelings” on violence and guns or gun “control,” you better have a plan in place long before being confronted with violence. A conversation that I have with myself often, even when I’m not “on duty,” goes something like this, “If anyone threatens my life and the well being of my family, it will be the last thing they do, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Though I’m highly trained in the use of them, I don’t carry a gun as often when I’m off duty. Regardless, I always have a plan. Most importantly, I DO NOT live in fear. And for those of you who are picturing a muscular wedge-necked cop, I’m not that either. I’m a 30-year-old slightly overweight regular guy who has the same worries about everyday life as you.

Dialing 911 is not an “action,” it is a request for response, or a “report of an emergency.”  If you are there, in the flesh, and you have the opportunity, it is your right and responsibility to take action yourself to preserve your life, the lives of your family, the lives of your neighbor, and the person sitting next to you in a theatre.  However, your action will be based on the decisions you make, consciously or unconsciously about how you will respond if a threat is to present itself.

The call to action is to make the decision right now to not tolerate this kind of incident in your presence at any time, so you know how you’ll respond when you have to. Gunshot wounds, contrary to popular belief, are survivable. Panic and mayhem are most often not. In the days of the U.S. cavalry vs. the American Indians, many a cavalryman lamented in letters home that Indians could not be killed with one shot, but with many, and only to vital organs. These courageous Indian warriors had the will to fight through “superficial” bullet wounds, even if it killed them later by infection.

Early in my career I was told by a very wise officer “even if it’s later deemed wrong, do something.” Whatever you do, don’t cower to these kinds of criminals. Do something. Your life, and your society, depends on it.

Ben Woods, of Bigfork, is a deputy sheriff at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office with eight years of law enforcement experience. He has specialized training in response to active shooter incidents and is SWAT certified.