A
fewyearsago,afriend’s
daughterwasgetting
marriedattheSt.LouisRitz
Carlton.Alargenumberof
peopleattendedtheceremony,anda
fewdaysbefore,thefatherofthebride
andIspeculatedonhowmanyinthe
audiencewouldbearmed.Wecouldaccountforatleastsixorsev-
enandfiguredtheremightbeacouple
ofmoreconcealedcarrylicenseeswe
didn’tknowabout.Situationssuchas
thatraisethequestionofhowyou
shouldreactwhentherearemultiple
armed“goodguys?”Theaverageconcealedcarrylicensee
willhavehadminimaltacticaltraining
andmaybeunsureofwhatactionsto
take.Myownpolicyhasalwaysbeen
nottopresentmygununtilIhave
evaluatedwhatishappeningtoavoid
beingshotbymistake.Still,havingdis-
cussedcontingencieswithotherarmed
citizensisbeneficial.Thesituationisdifferent,however,
whentwoormorearmedcitizensare
togetherandhavesomedecision-mak-
ingtrainingregardingarmedencoun-
ters.BelowI’lloffersomepossible
scenariosthatmightbeencountered.TWOAGAINST
MULTIPLEHOSTILES
Adecisionwillhavetobemadeif
acoupleortwofriendsencounter
multiplepossibleattackers.Whowill
engageeachattackerisnotsomething
tobedebatedwhentheactionstarts.
Thesimplestsystemisforeachgood
guy(orpersontobepoliticallycorrect)
toengagetheattackerorattackers
oppositehimorher.However,friendsandIhavediscussed
scenarioswherethismightnotbethe
bestplan.Forexample,iftwoattackers
ononesidehavetheirweaponsoutand
theattackerontheothersidedoesnot,
itwouldmakesenseforbothgoodguys
toquicklyengagethearmedattackers.
Traditionalwisdomalsodictatestheat-
tackerwiththedeadliestweaponshould
beengagedfirst(i.e.shotgunorcarbine
beforehandgun).
Otherconsiderationsmayapplyifthere
twogoodguysandthreebadguys.Who
shootsthethird?Aneasyanswerisboth;
eachwouldengagetheattackernearest
withoneshot,theneachengagethe
thirdwithoneshot,theneachgoback
tofinishtheirfirsttargetifnecessary.I
oftenpracticeoneshoteachonthree
orfourhangingplates,thengobackto
completethedelayeddoubletap.COMMUNICATE WITH
EACH OTHER
Normally, talking to each other as soon
as the threat is perceived is important.
It’s a comment on the St. Louis neigh-
borhood where I grew up that a couple
of friends and I made a standard
practice when we spotted local thugs
approaching to say something such as,
“I’ve got the one in the red jacket.”When one of those friends and I went
away to college, we were on a date
with two girls who had attended an
exclusive private school. As we saw
some local “townie” thugs who liked to
pick fights with college kids approach-
ing, we picked our targets if trouble
started. Obviously, the girls were not
used to their dates reacting in that
manner. By the way, the locals left us
alone. However, that youthful training
has carried over to my later life.COVER AND
EVACUATE
Another street situation that may arise
is a threat to the family when a couple
are both armed. In this case, it might
be prudent for one to evacuate children
or other possible victims, while the
other prepares to engage. Once the
more vulnerable members of the partyPractice with a part-
ner to determine
who will engage
possible threats
when operating as
a team.118 CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS • FALL 2019