Improvised Weapons for Self-Defense

When SHTF, you may need to defend yourself. And when that happens, you may not have your preferred option, such as a pistol, at hand. In fact, you may find yourself in a location, such as a FEMA camp, that will not allow you to carry a personal defense weapon.

First, some advice:

1. Remember what you have on you,  and remember that even a show of force is often enough to make people go away. What this means is that when an individual who carries a weapon is confronted, he often only has to present the weapon in order to avoid conflict.
2. Make sure that you’re aware of your local municipality laws. This article assumes that you do not carry a handgun for whatever reason, and the local laws may be one of them. These laws often extend to knives, and even pepper spray is  banned in some areas, so be careful.

Here are a few recommendations for improvised self-defense weapons:

• Metal chopsticks, especially if the ends have been sharpened. They don't present an obvious threat, can be carried into offices and similar, and make a dandy defensive weapon. I know women who use them as hair sticks, and I often carry a (unsharpened) set as eating utensils. 
• A heavy food-service fork in your pocket, in case you want to eat a salad in an emergency, can also be used to poke into other things.
• The ever-popular tactical pen (I am fond of this one) certainly has a place in self-defense.  Despite lacking an edge, it is very unpleasant to be jabbed with one. If this is too tactical to pass muster, or carrying one is forbidden, use a metal drafting pencil instead. 
• An adjustable wrench kept to make repairs is not considered a weapon, especially if carried in a steel tool box (which can also serve as a deterrent). Nor is a lug wrench, which can be quite large. Pipe wrenches are both large and heavy and not easily carried, but is suitable for a car... or, again, a tool box. 
• Walking sticks are an ever-popular method to deal with unwanted pests, be they two-legged or four-legged. There are also ski poles that have nice sharp metal ends for digging into rough terrain.
• Inside a building, there are all sorts of environmental advantages to anyone who decides to use them defensively. Chairs, tables, and the odd fire extinguisher on the wall all make handy bashing weapons, should you need to use one.
• Innocuous things that most people would never think of as a potential weapon, like a laptop, make dandy bashing weapons. (I do not recommend this in most circumstances, since laptops are expensive, and you’ll either have to replace your laptop, or potentially somebody else’s).
• A cell phone grasped firmly, especially with a rugged case like an OtterBox, can serve as a blunt striking weapon when there is absolutely nothing else. 
• Even a book can be used as a weapon.

At the end of the day, the ultimate weapon is your mind. Remember that objects don't make people dangerous; people make objects dangerous.

Be a dangerous person, and don’t forget to practice.

Emergency Self-Defense

I like to start off my posts with something funny and memorable, but I am going to tone that down for this post because of the subject matter.

Preppers talk about TETOWAKI or SHTF a lot. Both of those terms imply that something has gone horribly wrong with society, at least on a local basis, but even if all else is well you may find yourself in an emergency that requires that you defend your life at any time. With luck and situational awareness you can avoid most of these situations -- but not always.

One of my favorite quotes is “There are no dangerous items, only dangerous people”. In self-defense, be a dangerous person.

Awareness

The first step is to make sure that you don’t have an emergency. Keeping an eye out can save a lot of grief, and there are articles in the archive on the subject that cover this in depth. Having situational awareness makes a difference, if for no other reason than that it makes you look like less of a target. Having any potential threats view you as "too difficult to bother with" can save you a whole lot of trouble.

Range

If you are in an emergency, the most important thing you can do (unless you're a professional first responder) is to see if you can get away from the situation. I'm not kidding; run away if you can! There is nothing wrong with that. Talk to a martial arts instructor, and you will get the same advice.

Range can matter, even if it's just to find a place to hide, gather your thoughts, and strike back.

I understand that retreat is not an option for some people; for example, those of you in wheelchairs have a much harder time in getting away. This is where the next item comes into play.

Planning

Little things matter, like keeping a cell phone charged, knowing what your local weapons laws are, and keeping it somewhere accessible if you carry one. Even making sure that your shoes are tied can matter! In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Practice

Things are easier if you make them a habit.

• Going to the movies? Find the exits. Make sure that you know how you will get to them, and if you have someone else with you, determine if you will need to help them in case of emergency.
• Do you carry a weapon? Determine the best way to practice. Fifteen minutes of practice once a week in infinitely better than none, and can be done between other tasks.
• Do local laws (or other situations) prohibit you from having a weapon? Lean some basics of unarmed self defense, and practice.
• Do not rely on unarmed techniques to save your bacon. If you are dealing with someone who is larger than you, or armed, it can take a lot of skill to overcome that.
• Make it a game: how much can you plan for while doing normal tasks?

Practice can make the difference between using a skill smoothly, and having it be a disaster. This is why I frequently end my blog posts with "Don’t forget to practice."

Improvising

A lot of this comes down to being good at improvising.

• Strange men are starting to follow you. "Where can I duck into to avoid them/how do I find a better position to defend myself?"
• Someone attacks you, and you don’t have a legal means to defend yourself. "What in my environment will work to defend me? How can I use what I have on me?"
• Etc.

Remember, be a dangerous person, and don’t forget to practice.

When Seconds Count, Help Is Minutes Away

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Once again there's been another massacre in another gun-free zone, and once again innocents are dead. As we all grieve for the lives lost as ask ourselves what can be done to prevent this, preppers are silently nodding their heads in mournful acknowledgement of a fact we've known for years but the country is only now discovering: the authorities cannot arrive fast enough.

It's unfortunate, but it's true. Police, firefighters and paramedics cannot teleport instantly to your side when 911 is called; they still have to get into their vehicles and cross the intervening miles between you and them. If you are lucky, there will be a unit in your neighborhood, but unless they're a block away or less when they are dispatched you will still need to wait minutes when your life could be over in seconds. Of course, their presence is no guarantee that they will help you, as the inaction at the scene of disgraced Coward County -- excuse me, I meant Broward County Sheriff's Deputies will attest.

In fact, the police have no legal duty to protect you. This has been affirmed over and over again by the courts:

• Castle Rock v. Gonzales
• Warren v. District of Columbia
• Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Department
• DeShaney v. Winnebago County

This sad truth is one of many reasons why preppers are prepared. We understand that if we are in an emergency situation, we are our own first responders, which is why we carry first-aid kits and defensive weapons and seek out training for same.

There is nothing we, as individuals, can do to prevent such tragedies, but there are things we can to do to be prepared for them so we can act properly when it necessary. As Discerning Shootist pointed out on Friday, we need to accept: Accept that evil exists; Accept that we cannot change it; Accept responsibility for ourselves and for our actions.

That last point is the purpose of this post. We must accept the fact that we must guard our own lives and then act, with responsibility and purpose, toward that end. Therefore:

1. If you are licensed to carry a handgun, do so every day and practice with it regularly. 
2. If you don't know how to shoot, contact one of the 1500 volunteers of Operation Blazing Sword. They will gladly take you to the range and teach you the basics of firearm safety and operation, and will put you on the path to acquiring more training and obtaining your carry permit. 
3. Attend a Red Cross course on First Aid and CPR. They're free. 
4. Learn how to use a tourniquet and carry one on a regular basis. 
5. Have a plan for how to escape an active shooter incident. I stand by what I said on this topic in 2015, even though some of my suggestions were a bit controversial. 

Your job is not to stop the shooter; your job is to survive and to protect your loved ones. Please learn how to protect yourself until help (finally) arrives. 

The Disneyland and Hermit Crab States of Mind

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

This article was brought to my attention courtesy of Firehand. I meant to post it Monday, but I had a crippling headache all afternoon and I forgot, so I'm posting it now and back-dating it.

I've spoken about the Vacation State of Mind and the "Safetyland" mindset on the GunBlog VarietyCast, but this article is an excellent follow-up to both of them.

Read it at No Nonsense Self-Defense.

Stop Sabotaging Your Situational Awareness

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

I and others on this blog have talked a lot about the importance of Situational Awareness. This is because situational awareness is the key to being prepared; if you are surprised, it won't matter what your preparations are, as you will be unable to utilize them as your brain grapples with what is happening.* In many ways, situational awareness is preparedness, because if you can't react in time then all your preparations are for naught. It is a constant source of astonishment for me, then, when I notice just how often so many people willingly place themselves in danger while disabling their situational awareness.

Now let me be clear: there is a time and a place for tuning out all distractions, be it to get work done or to relax. After all, everyone needs to sleep sometime! This is what Col. Cooper calls Condition White, and it is best done in the safety of your own home. Barring that, do it in a place that you know (not think, not suspect, but KNOW) is safe, preferably among people you trust to have your back.

But just as it's possible to get drunk responsibly, it's also possible to become distracted irresponsibly. And worst of all, many people choose to be irresponsibly distracted. Perhaps they feel safe all the time; perhaps they think that society exists to protect them; perhaps they don't think at all.

However, if you are reading this blog then you have made a conscious decision to be responsible for your own safety. Here, then, are the things you will need to stop doing in order to give your situational awareness a chance to work for you.

Don't Lose Yourself in the Visual
There's an excellent scene from The Matrix which perfectly illustrates this point:

Were you listening to me, Neo? Or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?

Human beings are visual creatures. This can be an incredible advantage, as we are biologically primed to notice movement, facial expressions, body language, and patterns or behavior which seem out of place. Soldiers, police officers, and medical personnel are highly trained to notice important visual cues.

However, this biological optimization can also be a weakness. We are easily distracted by movement and color -- just try to have a conversation with someone when there is a television within your field of view. Your eyes will be drawn it, because you have millions of years of genetics telling you "Look at this flickering thing, it is important to your survival."

If you are reading in a book, watching a movie or television, or engrossed with your computer or smartphone, you are in condition white. Don't do this in places where you ought to be in condition yellow, or you are sabotaging yourself.

Don't Keep Yourself from Hearing
Sound is another immersive sensation for humanity, and is equally beneficial and distracting. While it is marginally safer to be out in the world with headphones than it is to have your eyes glued to a screen, there are still important audial cues that you can miss if nothing can penetrate your wall of sound.

Listening to music or a book is fine; just make sure that it isn't so loud that you cannot hear important things, like trucks backing up or someone shouting "Hey, look out!"

Don't Daydream (except at home)
Of course, you don't need a screen or headphones to miss out one cues; some folks are so good at concentrating (or daydreaming, which is concentrating without the focus) that they can miss cues necessary to their survival, such as the smell of smoke or a fire alarm going off.

It's okay to daydream, but don't zone out (or sleep) in public unless you have someone you trust watching over you.

Have Things Ready Before You Need Them
The classic example of this are your car keys: take them out of your pocket or purse before you step foot into the parking lot, because if you get to your car and then spend time digging for them, your focus narrows to "must get keys" and you lose the world around you. This makes you a very temping target, as all someone needs to do is get the drop on you and not only can they rob you, they can take your car as well. If you're a woman, this robbery-turned-carjacking could easily escalate into kidnapping and thence to rape if you are pushed into the passenger seat.

If you know you are going to need something, like keys or a flashlight or a knife, get it out and have it handy so that your attention can be used on deploying it effectively rather than getting at it.

Keep Your Head on a Swivel
That's a military phrase; translated to civilian it means "Don't just just straight ahead. Look to the sides and behind you as well." Be aware of your environment in all directions; danger can come from any angle.

Get in the habit of scanning from left to right as you go about your business. Occasionally look over your shoulder ("Checking your six" in military parlance) to make sure no one is following you; this can be done by moving your eyes to the side in the same direction that your head is sweeping and using your peripheral vision to check behind you. If something seems off, then turn your head (or whole body) and take a better look.


Do these five simple things and your situational awareness, and your ability to respond to surprises, will increase dramatically.


* It's a semantic quibble, but I differentiate between "Being startled or taken off-guard" and "Being surprised."  To me, the difference is that with the former, your opponent has the drop on you and goes first before you can react; in the latter, you are figuratively caught with your pants down and your brain requires several precious seconds to process what is going on -- seconds which put you at the mercy of your aggressor.

Situational Awareness is a Two-Edged Sword

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

It's been a week since the Paris attacks and my mind is still fixated on them. I cannot think of anything else, prepping-wise, to talk about. Unfortunately for me, most of the important things have already been said by others and I'm not sure what else I can bring to the conversation.

Chaplain Tim, who lived through a riot in Germany, spoke about how to prepare for and protect yourself from mass violence in cities in last Friday's post. On Monday, Bearing Arms wrote an article titled "Ten Ways to Avoid Being killed During a Terrorist Attack". The entire event has been analyzed and dissected from multiple perspectives.

And for the life of me, the one thing that I cannot get out of my head are the conflicting notions of "Stay away from crowds, you're vulnerable there" and "If I stop doing the things I want to do because there are other people there which might make a good target, then my actions are being dictated by fear which means that terrorism has already won."

If we don't want terror to win, then we need to continue living our lives as we normally would -- but that leaves us vulnerable to people who terrorize us because we haven't taken precautions.

As preppers, we have a certain advantage in that we normally live our lives at least aware of the possibility of trouble and with an idea of how we'd react to it. We are fortunate that situational awareness is a way of life for us... but unfortunate in that it keeps nagging at us.

Example: Let's say that I live in a city that is famous for having tourists from all over the world, and that I am eagerly awaiting the new Star Wars film. Do I:

1. Not go see the film until well after opening day (and risk having key parts of the movie spoiled before I see it), because the risk is too great?
2. Avoid large crowds by skipping the nice theaters with digital projection/IMAX/3-D and instead go to smaller theaters where presentation is merely average?
3. Say "screw it!" and go anyway, and try to enjoy myself as much as possible -- which means being completely enraptured by the event and letting my guard down?
4. Go to the movie, but maintain situational awareness -- which means watching people as they enter/leave the theater, being alert for unusual sounds or smells, and generally not paying attention to the movie I just paid to watch?
5. Give up on watching the movie in the theater and see it on DVD months later?

To be honest, none of these appeal to me. I'm not even sure if there is a right answer here; it's all a question of how much risk a person wants to take, and that's something which must be decided individually. 

I'll tell you this much, though:  if I do decide to see the new Star Wars movie, I'm going to do it armed, and I'm going to go see it with a group of people who I know have my back. 

Stay safe, everyone.

Paris 11/13/2015

This is being written as events are still unfolding, so there may be some bad information due to the “fog of war.”

Having been caught on the edge of a street riot in a major European city many years ago, I've seen what happens when a crowd loses control and is desperate. It is not a pretty sight when they're all around you -- we were lucky enough to duck into a store just before the owner locked the doors and we waited for the police to clear the streets. Paris is likely ten times as bad tonight.

Terrorists have carried out multiple attacks in Paris, France. At least 200 wounded and 100 dead from gunfire, fragmentation grenades, and suicide vests. Martial law is in effect, chaos and lack of information are the rule, the borders of France have been sealed, airports are shut down, public transportation is not running, people are being told to get inside and stay inside. There are reports of the attackers shouting “Allahu Akbar” and other reports of fire-bombs being thrown into “refugee” camps outside Paris that are full of Muslims.

The shit has truly hit the fan.

The more I hear about this attack, the more it resembles the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai (Bombay), India:

• A small number of (radical Muslim) attackers who don't plan on getting out alive,
• targeting large gatherings of people, mostly in the wealthy areas of town,
• using grenades and fully-automatic rifles,
• creating chaos through multiple, closely-timed attacks.
• Civilians, for the most part, have no clue about what to do,
• even though there is a history of terrorist attacks in the city.

With a few differences:

• Police in France responded much quicker than the police in Mumbai.
• The French police were much better trained and equipped.
• Since France is considered a “developed” nation and India isn't, the news coverage is more intense.

How do you prepare for something like this?

1) Pay heed to Uncle Remus' advice to “stay away from crowds.”
Uncle Remus wrote a weekly blog for 10 years before retiring last year, but some of us recall his constant advice to “stay away from crowds”. Crowds make large targets for idiots who don't care to aim their firearms. Crowds limit your mobility. Crowds have a type of group mentality that resembles a herd of herbivores in its reaction to anything.

2) Weigh the risks and rewards of any trip out of your normal Area of Operations (AO).
Is it really worth traveling to a strange city where you don't know anyone, can't speak the language, and don't know the streets just to watch a sports event? Especially when there is a history of violence in the city and things are getting worse rather than getting better?

3) Always have a way out.
On of the eyewitnesses to the attack on the concert hall mentioned trying to get on the stage after hearing gunfire, knowing that there was an emergency exit backstage. Always look for the exit signs in any building you enter.

When driving, always leave room to maneuver your car around the one in front of you. The shoulder or the ditch may be better than sitting still in a traffic jam.

The French government has sealed the border and shut down public transportation. How are you going to get home, or at least to your hotel room? Have a plan, or at least a map to a place of safety.

Know where the embassy is in any foreign country you visit.

Some suggest carrying a gold coin or two to be able to pay for an emergency trip home. Gold takes up very little space for its value and is generally accepted anywhere in the world

4) Be prepared to fight back if at all possible.
If you live in a place that allows citizens to carry firearms, carry the blasted things. I, personally, will not shop in stores with the “No guns allowed” signs on the doors. I refuse to be left to the tender mercies of even the common lunatics running around on the streets, let alone someone intent on racking up a high body count. If you can't carry a gun find some other way to defend yourself -- martial arts, stun guns, mace, improvised weapons, or a bodyguard are all options.

Be mentally prepared to fight back. I have met several people who have been so thoroughly conditioned in “modern” living that they are unable to fight, even to defend their lives. Pacifists will become victims when TSHTF, unless protected by those who aren't.

5) Remember the “Rules of Stupid.”
Don't go to stupid places, with stupid people, at stupid times, and do stupid things. Know how to figure out what stupid is.

6) Have first aid training.
After the shooting is over, there will be people who need medical aid. Pray that you aren't one of them and be ready to render aid to those who need it. Most of us don't travel alone, and being able to help family/friends comes right after being able to defend them.

http://news.yahoo.com/nous-sommes-tous-fran%C3%A7ais--u-s--stands-in-solidarity-with-france-160956067.html

My prayers and condolences go out to those hurt or killed in the attack on Paris today. It sounds like the attackers are all dead, mostly by suicide, but the investigations will take a long time to root out all of the supporters and collaborators. I pray that no American city ever witnesses such an attack, but I know that it is possible.

Feedback re: Active Shooter Scenario

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

My last post generated quite a bit of dissenting feedback on Facebook, so I thought I would address it here, where everyone could see it.

Under "Leave", you advise to evacuate immediately, even if it means throwing a chair through a window. But then you advise to be quiet, stay hidden, etc. If you are throwing a chair through a window, you're making a lot of noise. That's going to attract the shooter's attention. I would NOT advise breaking a window unless that's your immediate exit to safety (e.g., ground floor window leading to a parking lot).

Yes, that's what I meant to say: take the most direct route to safety (so long as it doesn't endanger you), and think outside the box if necessary. Don't let a window stop you if it's the best way out. 

Sheltering in Place is a valid tactic, although Active Shooter tactics are very much in flux with police departments and military. If you run out into the middle of the situation, you risk becoming the shooter's next victim. If you have a crowd of people (especially kids) with you, trying to keep them all going in the same direction quietly will be very difficult. If the shooter has explosives, you don't know where he's placed them. Or if he has a partner, waiting to shoot people as they exit the area. Plus, once you're running around out in the area, you make it more time consuming for the police, as they have to stop and check everyone to make sure they're not the shooter.

However, if you have a secure location, or one that can be made secure by locking the door, moving a desk, table, or something heavy in front of the doors, and turning off the lights, you are redirecting the shooter's attention elsewhere. The watchword in an Active Shooter situation is caution. If you can't immediately evacuate to a safe location, Shelter in Place. Lock the door. Put something heavy against it. Turn off the lights and stay quiet. You are creating a deterrent for the shooter to go look for easier prey. Once you have more information about where the shooter is, and if they're moving away from your location, you can think about leaving. But Sheltering in Place is valid if you have a secure location.

This is one of those situations where I agree with most of the points made, but I still stand by what I said last week. Part of that is personal preference; I do not know if I could stand the tension of staying quiet while jumping at every sound, of feeling trapped like an animal in a cage. I think the anxiety would become unbearable for me, and I would rather take a risk by being proactive than depend on luck and being reactive. But that's me. If you like sheltering in place, then do it. 

As for not knowing if there's a shooter waiting to shoot people as they exit: one of the problems of planning for situations like this is that you can "What If?" them to death. No, I don't know that there is a sniper looking for running people; but if that's the case, then I'm likely dealing with a highly trained force rather than a solo spree killer, and in such a situation I'm likely boned regardless of what I do. 

My decisions are based on the gunman fitting the typical profile: an angry person who is working alone and is looking to rack up a high body count before being killed or committing suicide. 

As for making it more time consuming for the police: I get what you're saying, but that is SO not my problem. My first duty is to keep myself and my family alive; the convenience of the emergency response personnel isn't even in the top ten of my concerns. 

Don't pull the fire alarm, PLEASE don't pull the fire alarm.

Now you'll have people milling around wondering what to do, gabbing through the hallways about the interruption, entering public spaces blissfully unaware there is a killer among them. The alarm is going to cover the sounds of gun fire, and most of those doors that close won't lock, so it's at best a very small temporary obstacle.

If your facility has a code for such an event try issuing the code over the PA or other such methods if possible. Better would be to simply dial 911 and even if you can't talk, dispatch is going to send a unit to investigate as well as listening to any background sounds.

So I've been looking at this and wondering if I should be polite or if I should be honest. I've decided to go with honest.

My idea with pulling the alarm was that it would be a good way to make everyone evacuate to safety without having to stop my personal evacuation by making a phone call. It would also have the benefit of creating noise cover and making sure that someone with the ability to summon backup and provide medical care would be en route.

But honestly -- if people are so stupid that they will wander through the halls gabbing when the fire alarm sounds, then they're likely too stupid to be saved by me. If they won't evacuate, that's on them and not me, because I did my part by using the universal signal of "Exit the building, your life is in danger."

Finally, I have to wonder what kind of klaxons on steroids people have for their fire alarms that they might mask the sound of a gunshot. Per the National Fire Alarm Code. the maximum volume for a fire alarm is 110 decibels. Typical gunshots start at 150 dB, and go up from there if they're magnums or long arms. Even a .22LR is around 120 dB. So unless the killer is using subsonic rounds, or a suppressor, I have a hard time believing that the alarm is going to occlude the sounds of gunshots at a range that will generate more victims.

I will however concede the point that it might be worth it to dial 911 and leave, so the operator can record what is happening and send units to your position.

As a 911 operator, I second the advice to call 911.

I'll also add, if you know you aren't going to be able to talk to us, try to dial 911 from a land line. Cellular locating still doesn't work all that reliable in some areas of the country, but even an out of service landline can usually dial 911 as long as it's physically connected, and will more often than not give the 911 center an accurate location. Cellular location info is getting better, but it's still not as reliable as it needs to be.

This is a good point, and worth reinforcing.

Thank you to everyone who left comments -- they certainly made me think! And getting people to think is why I founded this blog. Even if you disagree, know WHY you disagree with it; as I said earlier, every active shooter situation is fluid, so knowing why you feel a certain way will help shape your responses, and this self-awareness should help you make the correct decision for the situation.

The Active Shooter Scenario

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission. 

The events of last week have me thinking about how I would react to an active shooter and what steps I would take to prepare for that. While I am far from an expert on these matters, here is the advice I would give to anyone wishing to be prepared for such an event.

Avoid Gun-Free Zones Whenever Possible
From last year's Crime Prevention Research Center report, 92% of all mass shooting have occurred in gun-free zones (that number has likely gone up since then).

The simplest way to avoid having bad things happen to you is not going to places where those bad things commonly happen.

Some GFZs are better than others. A courthouse, for example, has metal detectors and armed guards at entrances and hallways, so this is a "good" GFZ. Compare this with a Post Office, which deals in cash money, has no guards at all, and prevents you from even keeping a gun in your car if it's on their parking lot.

Carry a Self-Defense Weapon
Carry the most effective means of self-defense you can legally bear. (If you choose to carry illegally, that's between you, God, and the courts; for legal reasons I'm not going to advise you to violate the law, but neither am I going to judge you for it.)

Whatever you carry, make sure you have both the training and the will to use it. A gun you don't know how to use is worthless. A killer you can't bring yourself to shoot is going to have a new weapon within a few seconds.

Maintain Situational Awareness

I and others have talked about this in great detail. The more you know about your surroundings, the more efficiently you can react to a threat. 

Know where the emergency exits are. Know where the stairwells are. Know where the first aid kits and fire alarms are, and how they work. 

Know What Gunshots Sound Like

If you've gone shooting, this isn't a problem, but most people don't know what one sounds like in real life. Hint: it doesn't sound like what TV or the movies lead you to believe. 

A gunshot is a sharp crack, not a bang, and most of the noise comes from the expanding pressure wave through the air caused by the ignition of the gunpowder*. In other words, gunshots are felt more than they are heard, unless you are far enough back that you don't need ear protection. Since it's impossible to accurately record what a pressure wave feels like, Hollywood makes recorded gun shots sound far more impressive. 

Go to a range and experience what a gunshot sounds and feels like. Learn what multiple gunshots sound like, preferably from different kinds of firearms from different calibers. That way, you can hopefully tell the difference from a gunshot, a car backfiring, and something falling onto a flat surface. 

* The rest of it -- the sonic boom of the bullet breaking the sound barrier -- is too loud for most recording devices to adequately capture. Either they wash out as the pickups are overloaded, or they're condensed down into a channel that sounds like a rather anemic "bang". 

When It Happens, Take Decisive Action

And by decisive I mean "make a decision and execute it instead of waffling."

What you should do:

• LEAVE. Evacuate via the safest, most immediate way possible. If that requires you to throw a chair through a window, do that. Move as quietly as possible, and remember that if you can see the shooter, he can probably see you. Stay low, stay hidden. Get out, get your family out, and don't be a hero. (See below.)
• Call for help. I don't recommend you run while on the phone, or staying still while calling 911. Instead, pull a fire alarm on the way out. Not only will this summon the authorities, the noise of the alarm will 1) distract any gunmen and 2) make it harder for them to hear you escaping. Many buildings will also implement security measures when such an alarm is sounded, like closing fire doors. Anything which puts obstacles between you and a killer is a good thing. 
• When you're out of the building or area, keep moving. I wouldn't stop unless I was at least 100 yards away, with cover and concealment between myself and anyone who might shoot me. This is a good time to call the authorities. 

What you should not do:

• Hide. I am very much opposed to "sheltering in place" as that renders you immobile and therefore susceptible to all sorts of environmental hazards -- you don't know if the gunman has set fires, or has planted bombs -- and if he comes into the room where you're hiding, you are trapped. The only time I can advise hiding and playing dead is if he's right on top of you and you have no way to escape without drawing attention to yourself.
• Seek the gunman. You are not a police officer; it isn't your job to risk your life for others. You don't have kevlar vests, armed backup or sovereign immunity; besides, if you are wandering the halls with a gun drawn and the police find you, odds are excellent you will be shot because you look like a bad guy. 
• Hesitate to kill him. I realize this is in opposition to what I just said above, but the difference is that you shouldn't go looking for trouble when you ought to be evacuating. However, if you happen to run into him -- or worse, he comes into your classroom first -- YOU KILL HIM. If you have a gun, shoot him until he stops moving; if you have a melee weapon, charge him. In fact, have EVERYONE charge him (unless you're shooting), take him down under your combined weight, and kill him. 
• Yes, I keep saying "Kill Him." This is deliberate. If someone is trying to kill you, then you kill them right back. 
• Normally this is where someone says "What if he's unconscious or bleeding out?" and in that case, I suppose you don't need to kill him because he's no longer a threat... but speaking only for myself, I would not want to take the chance that he might have a backup weapon and regain consciousness before the authorities arrived. Personally, I would make sure the threat was 100% neutralized for the safety of myself and others, and I don't think there's a cop in the world that would arrest me for it. 
• But make sure that's actually the gunman. You don't want to be shooting at another concealed carrier who is trying to evacuate. My personal rule of thumb is "Someone who belongs here, and who is trying to leave, looks and acts a lot different from someone who is looking for victims." If in doubt, don't attack. 

Basically...
Get down. Get out. Get help. Mess up anybody who tries to stop you from getting out, but don't be a hero.