Suppressive Fire
Suppressive fire means exactly what it says. You are using your outgoing rounds to suppress, control, or stop the opponent’s incoming rounds. Generally, this means that, in order to actually cause a suppressive affect, your rounds need to be more accurate than your opponent’s or greater in number than your opponent can produce.
One event that showed the use of fire suppression against an enemy happened in the Trolley Stop Mall, in Utah. An off-duty cop was eating lunch in the food court with his wife, when a nutcase began opening fire on innocent patrons. The officer got his wife down and then went after the shooter with his Kimber .45. But because he’d listened to the wrong person about gun advice—his bud told him that the magazine springs needed to “rest” on occasion— he had downloaded to six rounds in each, rather than the eight he could have carried. He also had just one spare magazine. Yet, by judicious, accurate fire, he was able to suppress the shooter, keeping him pinned in a hallway until the uniformed boys came in to assist. The off-duty guy was on his last one or two rounds when the troops arrived. I don’t think he hit the gunman, as he didn’t have a direct shot, but he didn’t need to. The rounds from his gun had the bad guy pinned down, his position suppressed.
As was said, in most of the post-calamity situations we’ll be in, especially when away from home, we’ll need to conserve ammo. Therefore, most of our fire suppression should be based on accurate, rather than voluminous, fire.
Beating Back the Mob—Riot Guns
The traditional riot gun, the 12-gauge pump shotgun, can still be effectively deployed against a crowd. While it is certainly lethal, it can also be deployed in a potentially less-lethal manner, simply by using the bouncing bullet technique, which means those 00 Buckshot pellets will strike with less velocity after being shot at an angle against the ground in front of the mob. The pellets will strike the shins and feet of the rioters, and while the wounds from lead pellets will be more severe than wounds from bouncing rubber or wooden pellets, unless the person on the receiving end is unlucky, should not prove to be fatal (at least not immediately). A few rounds should turn a crowd.
I would only use this technique against a crowd not visibly armed with firearms and far enough away that deploying the shotgun thusly is not unsafe. However, if that doesn’t appear to be working, you need to be selective in your target, and not for reasons of fear of collateral damage, but rather what should be a fear of being overrun, having a limited supply of ammo, and perhaps facing superior forces. There is only one answer to this problem besides retreat—which would be the best choice—and that is taking out those who appear to be the leaders.
While there is such a thing as mob mentality, which allows people to act as a collective body that’s free of individual responsibility, there are certain people who are the encouragers of such action, the leaders, and they need to be taken out and taken out fast. Several years ago, there were major problems in Columbus with unruly students and interlopers rioting on or near the Ohio State Campus following the outcome of OSU Buckeye football games. Officers tried to deal with this, but were ineffective at first. After a number of these incidents, CPD started becoming more selective in what they were doing, interspersing undercover officers amid the crowd to identify the instigators. As soon as that was done, those people were taken out and arrested, nearly immediately. By doing that, the police took a lot of wind out of the sails of those who were present. Other monitoring actions followed, and there hasn’t been rioting on campus in several years now.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Emergency Evacuation: Needs Beyond the Gun
Food, water, and medical considerations are of the second biggest level of importance compared to the selection of firearms, and one could argue easily that they’re the first, but having all the food you need is of no value if you can’t defend and keep it. One of the things I noticed on the Doomsday Preppers television series was that a few folks had stockpiled a huge amount of stored food, but were planning on an emergency evacuation anyway and, thus, would leave the majority of their food stocks behind, since they didn’t have enough vehicles or large enough vehicles to carry it all.
There may be occasions when there simply isn’t enough time to load everything, even if your vehicle situation would allow for it. If you have the money to spare to buy a bunch of stuff and then lose it when you abandon it, then good for you. I don’t have that luxury, so I believe that, to prepare properly for all scenarios, whether you may or may not have to abandon your home, then you need to find a balance. You have to take enough to keep you going for an extended period if you leave and have enough to get you by if you stay. If you have a place that is absolutely defensible, such as the abandoned U.S. missile silo a group of folks I know collectively owns, then stockpile away. If you don’t and if you know that you absolutely will leave when disaster strikes, then only store up food supplies that can go with you.
One of the very best systems for out there for emergency evacuation food supplies comes from a company called Food Insurance (www.foodinsurance.com.) I obtained a sample of its Essentials two-week kit. Contained in a quality backpack designed for long-term carry, the Essentials kit contains enough food for three meals a day for one person for two weeks, or two persons for one week. This is not only an ideal kit to store at home in preparation for evacuation, but also to take with you when taking trips out of town by car for business or pleasure. The meals are freeze-dried, which allows them to be stored for the very long term (seven to 10 years), while maintaining good taste if properly prepared. Like the late Karl Malden said in the American Express ads of old, “Don’t leave home without it.”
For $199.99, the Essentials Kit contains the following two-week, three-meal-a-day food supply, all sealed in a Mylar bag. Examples of the meals contained in the bag are granola, oatmeal, or a protein shake for breakfast, and lasagne, beef stroganoff, or creamy chicken rotini for lunch/dinner. Extras include supplies of rice and powdered electrolyte drinks, matches, a cooking tin, and a reusable heat source. There’s also a water filter with a capacity for 1,500-plus uses that will filter a total of a 100 gallons of water, safeguarding you against nasty bacteria that can make you very sick or kill you.
Keep in mind that clean drinking water will be your primary concern in terms of physical well being, as you can die of dehydration within 10 days or so, while true starvation will take four to six weeks, depending on your physical build and condition. Again, while this could seem to be your absolute priority, in the end it won’t matter how much water or food you have if you can’t keep it.