It’s Time to Recognize That Active Shooting Events are Becoming a Social Norm in Some Segments of Society
Today, in Houston (where I live and train), an active shooter managed to open fire in a grocery store parking lot in the early hours of the morning, striking between six and nine people before meeting his end courtesy of several Houston Police Department bullets.
As the details continue to trickle out, it’s worth noting that authorities have already declared that this incident is not terrorism. Really? Because the man was of Indian descent, not a fanatical Muslim, are we supposed to pretend that the same act carried out by people with differing backgrounds means that the act itself is somehow different?
The reality is really quite simple – someone who enters the public sphere and begins shooting people at random is creating terror, and those caught by his/her bullets or other weapon likely don’t care to differentiate between backgrounds or parse words based on intent or religion. As a practical matter, everyone should be preparing for the small probability that each person may face some kind of extreme violence. Your training paradigm, if well conceived like Krav Maga, should not change based on the ethnicity or background of a gun wielding madman.
The problem has become more and more real: several segments of society now fully accept and believe that the level of violent response to outrage defines the size and scope of the perceived offense. Logic has been turned on its head. As our culture continues to (1) accept this backward thinking, and (2) become more and more desensitized to violence through the 24/7 news cycle, movies, television, and video games, the more escalating violence we’re going to face in our society. It’s really that simple, and there’s no end in sight.
So, get thee to the Krav Maga school, keep training ,and be ready to deploy your skill set. IT just might save your life.
