Flash Mobs-- American Thinker article 8/31/11

[Lorimor]

Food for thought... 

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/the_racial_violence_that_dare_not_speak_its_name.html

[bkoenig]

We were in Kansas City the a couple of weeks ago when there was a shooting during the flash mob at the Plaza.  We normally go to the Plaza when we're in town but decided not to because of all the problems they've been having.  I'm glad we didn't.

[sjwsti]

For me this emphasizes the need to have some defensive hand to hand skills. You get caught in the middle of something like this you need to have practiced some multiple attacker drills. And I don't mean simply hanging 3-4 IPSC targets and running some generic shooting drill.

If your ambushed, and don't have time to get to your gun, you will need to use your hands to protect your head and keep from getting knocked out. Drop both hands to go for a weapon and it might be goodnight.

There are strategies and techniques on dealing with multiple attackers at close range and they need to be practiced full speed with contact.

How do you do that? Get a couple of buddies, holster a blue gun, stick in a mouthpiece (dental work is expensive..) and throw down.

Interestingly enough that was what I had on the agenda for training tonight. Video to follow.

- Shawn

[NENick]

Shawn,

I completely agree. The ability to defend yourself while unarmed is critical. If you can't get to your weapon before you're engaged, then you have to provide yourself with some options.

I would be willing to wager that these flash mobs are rather obvious. If you see a group of black juveniles that seem out of place, keep an eye out. Add in loud swearing… Come on people. If it looks like a potentially violent mob then it probably is.

[Mudinyeri]

Shawn,

I completely agree. The ability to defend yourself while unarmed is critical. If you can't get to your weapon before you're engaged, then you have to provide yourself with some options.

I would be willing to wager that these flash mobs are rather obvious. If you see a group of black juveniles that seem out of place, keep an eye out. Add in loud swearing… Come on people. If it looks like a potentially violent mob then it probably is.

I can't argue with being able to defend yourself without a firearm.  I also can't argue with maintaining situational awareness that would help you identify a gathering flash mob.

However, if you find yourself in the midst of a flash mob of 150 people, defensive tactics are going to be somewhat different than if you're accosted by two or three people.  I'm not 100% certain what those tactics would be, since I have no training or experience in 150:1 odds, but I have been caught in disparity of force situations before.  The one lesson I learned in those situations was to attack one of the individuals so violently that it broke the mob mentality of the other individual(s) and killed their desire to attack.  I'm not sure what it would take to convince 149 people not to attack but I'd guess you would need a LOT of blood and, perhaps, some brains or internal organs on the ground.

[Ram Ringer]

That is something to think about, especially since the wife and I just came back from spending a few days in the Denver area. Had my kel-tec everywhere we went, even thought I still trying to figure out if I was actually legal or not. It sounds like Colorado originally had a patchwork of city ordinances like we did, but from what I can tell they got it fixed. Though it looks like the Denver metro area still tries to enforce there own laws similar to Omaha.

[bullit]

I thought we received a text message when the flash mob was starting.