Mass shootings might as well be a starter pistol for the anti-gun zealots. After all, it’s their signal to pile the bodies of the dead up and use them as a platform to scream about taking away the rights of ordinary Americans. They jump on this in an instant. It’s how zealots are.

However, mass shootings also do something else. They often tend to get people thinking about how to protect themselves should they ever find themselves in such a horrible situation.

From the Houston Chronicle: 

A new class, which is open to the public, is meant to teach participants what to do if faced with such an event.

Kris Mayfield, who has spent 28 years in law enforcement, many as a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, is teaching an Active Shooter Survival class at Spring Guns and Ammo’s Spring location at the end of July.

“The class is designed to let people know that these are the circumstances you might find yourself in and what you can to do get out of there alive if you’re confronted with an active shooter situation,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield is certified to teach the class through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program. He has instructed police officers before, but this is the first time he’s opening the course to the general public.

He said that ideally, the goal is to first keep an active shooter out of a populated area, but he will teach students how to be aware of their surroundings and what their options are in any circumstance.

“I don’t pass on tactics, but I do pass on knowledge — things to look for, things to keep in your office to keep someone out if you get trapped or how to hide if you haven’t been able to run,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield said that in the past year, different gun ranges and stores in the area have received a lot of calls from people inquiring about this type of training.

That’s not surprising. Whether the number of mass shootings is really up or not, we are seeing an increase in the coverage of such shootings. That means the media is making sure people know about this and, perhaps more importantly, can’t avoid the news about these shootings. The idea is probably to push a gun control narrative, but some people aren’t receptive to that.

Instead, they want to be able to keep them and their’s safe from a mass shooting monster. However, they also know they don’t know how to do that, so they go and look for training.

That’s good.

It’s also good that they’re able to find it. As we’ve seen time and again, a mass shooter isn’t going to be talked down. You can hide from them, but that doesn’t mean you’ll escape. The only thing that works is to take the fight to them.

If people start fighting back and halting the attack–whether by forcing the killer to disarm or by putting them on the ground, it doesn’t matter–you’ll see these kinds of things stop. Until then, don’t count on it.