Lessons from the White Settlement Shooting

Dear Fellow Survivalist;

By now, pretty much everyone has heard of the shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, even with the mainstream media trying to cover it up. Unlike other mass shooting events, this one has been ignored by the majority of the left-leaning media, because it doesn’t fit their narrative. In fact, it goes against their narrative, because it’s the classic case of a good guy with a gun, something those on the left say doesn’t exist.

What made it possible for this particular good guy with a gun to stop this shooter was two laws recently passed by the Texas Legislature. One reaffirms the rights of those with concealed carry licenses to carry at church, unless it is otherwise posted. The other allows people with a concealed carry license to act as volunteer security for churches. Before that law was passed, the only applicable law required paid security personnel to pass a 40 hour class.

The man who stopped the killer, with a couple of well-aimed shots, was Jack Wilson, a firearms instructor and former owner of the local gun range, who was the head of the church’s security team. If you’ve seen the video, he wasn’t the only one who responded, but he was the first.

You’ve Got to React Quickly

If you’ve seen the video of the event, the whole thing was over in six seconds. That’s six seconds from the time that the gunman drew out the shotgun he was using, until the last shot was fired and he was on the ground. Jack Wilson did everything he needed to so in less than five seconds.

There are two critical segments of time, under your control, which affect the shooter’s ability to rack up a score. The first of these is your reaction time. It takes time to realize something is happening and then switch modes from whatever you are doing, to becoming a guidance system for a gun. Staying in condition yellow can cut anywhere from one to three seconds off this time.

The second critical time period is how long it takes you to draw and aim your gun. There really was no such thing as the “quick draw” in the Old West. That’s an invention of Hollywood. Nevertheless, there is a very real place for it in our arsenal of skills. When the time comes, we need to be ready to act quickly and decisively. That means practicing our own version of the quick draw and becoming proficient at it.

It’s Rarely a Battle

Active shooter events rarely turn into battles. Statistically, 70% of the times when an active shooter has cause to draw his or her gun, it’s three shots in three seconds; that’s it. We need to be sure that we make those first shots count.

That’s not to say that it can’t turn into something longer; only that it is unlikely to. I still carry three magazines for my pistol, one in the gun and two in my pocket. That’s called being prepared. But I don’t really expect to need the other two.

The other thing this affects is our need to seek cover. Granted, it’s always better to fire from cover, if you can. But with most active shooter events being over in three seconds; there just isn’t time to seek out cover. In fact, if you’re going to use any cover at all, it will probably be because you had spotted that cover before hand and planned on using it.

Better to Fight as a Team

Although the shooter was taken down by Jack Wilson, the video from inside the sanctuary shows that four other members of the congregation drew their handguns from concealment and prepared to respond. I can’t say so for sure, because I don’t know; but I’d be willing to bet that at least two of those people were also members of the church’s volunteer security team.

From my personal experience running a volunteer church security team, I can say that if you form one in your church, pretty much anyone who carries will be ready and willing to join it. So getting a team isn’t usually a problem.

Guessing again, I’d say that this team had practiced together and knew each other. Both of those are important. When the lead starts flying, it’s important to know who the good guys are. Anyone who is carrying, but is not known to your team, is likely to be assumed to be a bad guy. That could cause inadvertent blue on blue fire; something we all want to avoid.

The team was spread out, throughout the congregation. That’s better than picking strategic locations or guarding the doors. If the gunman had spotted Jack and fired at him, taking him out, one of the other members of the security team would have dropped the shooter, protecting the congregation.

Take Time to Learn to Shoot Well

Jack Wilson was a firearms instructor and had owned a shooting range. Based on my relationship with other gun range owners, I’d guess that he was a crack shot. Although I can’t find anything to back it up, I heard he dropped the shooter with two shots to the head. Don’t know if that’s right, but I wouldn’t try it myself.

When an active shooter situation occurs, you’ve got to assume that your shooting is going to be off. The adrenalin coursing through your veins is going to make it hard to control your gun and render your trigger control toast. Typically, most shooters find that their group size is five times larger than normal. So Jack must have spent a lot of time in his own range, making sure he could shoot well.

But then, learning to shoot well is just one more part of being prepared. Fits right in there with keeping your powder dry and your survival gear close at hand.