Why All The Focus On The Reaction?

Because we refuse to participate in the death pornography that the "news" outlets are obsessed with today, we'll address a fair question of this blog. Why have BaT's posts focused so much on how faculty and students reacted to the attack?

The answer is simple: We must be mentally prepared to react to a similar situation -- if, God forbid, we're ever in it -- far in advance of the seconds it takes for the horror to unfold. Once something like this begins, instinct can be the difference between survival or death for you, your family, your friends or even strangers too weak to help themselves.

This is a new era. Hijackers are no longer looking for a free trip into or out of Cuba. They are looking to crash planes into buildings. Bank robbers are no longer folk heroes. They kill everyone inside to eliminate witnesses. And anti-social losers are no longer content with pretending to be Alhandra the Human Paladin. They spout off nonsensical tirades, worship other losers and make references to "88" -- when that particular man would have just as soon sent your non-Aryan ass to the gas chamber, too.

This is a new era. We should assume the worst and pray for the best. Most of us learned this lesson after 9/11, but the sheltered and the clueless need more reminders. This week at Virginia Tech was yet another. Be prepared, be vigilant and, once confronted, be aggressive.

Cowering under a desk and waiting for help to come is no longer an option. American schools must teach their students to respond aggressively to attacks by people bent on mayhem.

"I would hope that the administrators and folks that are making the decisions would understand that it's difficult to negotiate with a bullet," security consultant Allen Hill told TODAY. "A person that comes into your facility with a gun intends to kill and do you harm." ...

The "bad guys" plan their attacks. Schools need to plan and rehearse their defenses and responses just as aggressively.

"The training should be just as intense and be taken just as seriously as the bad guy takes their mission to kill," he said.

At Virginia Tech, Cho Seung Hui walked into classrooms and simply shot people. There are reports that he even lined up victims to shoot them one by one. But in one Norris Hall classroom, student Zach Petkewicz led his classmates in barricading the door, saving all inside.

We received an e-mail yesterday from our friend The Gay Marine from Marigny, last seen beating the hell out of a frat boy who made the mistake of calling someone "a faggot" in the presence of a queer, 6-foot-2 combat veteran. GMfM comments on our Monday post encouraging an unspoken plan for everyone to charge an armed madman as a group rather than be picked off one by one. He reminds us there is another option for those who may not have that option. He writes:

Run like hell! That might be an option, particularly if there's only one or two of you and you are physically outmatched. To charge a gunman, you need more people than he has bullets -- or at least more people than he has time to fire those bullets. So run, but run wisely. Zig-zag like hell. It is very difficult to hit a moving target, particularly under a stressful situation -- and a gunman will be under some stress, especially if he is a thrill killer. Even for skilled marksmen like ourselves, lining up the target and firing accurately becomes extremely difficult when the target moves about wildly. Run away, but not straight away. Don't give him center mass (meaning a good shot at your chest or back). He might hit an arm or leg, but you'll live.

We still prefer returning fire, but not everyone is comfortable with that. So your other choices are charging the gunman, throwing the biggest, hardest objects you can find at him or running like hell. You don't need to be paranoid, but be aware of your surroundings. Always know where the nearest exit is. When you enter a place for the first time, ask yourself: "If some serious sh*t breaks out in here, what's my plan?"

Those 15 seconds of thought before the sh*t breaks out could save your life. And that's why we're focusing on the reaction.