Being aware of your surroundings is as important as the weapon you may have concealed. Identifying a potentially dangerous situation before it becomes life threatening, is vital so you have the opportunity to extract yourself from a threatening situation
. This is an important concept. No responsible gun owner is looking for an opportunity to user their weapon. Of course, having the weapon affords a sense comfort that you can protect yourself if needed. I recently came across this idea of situational awareness and find it very useful.
John Dean “Jeff” Cooper is the creator of the modern method of handgun shooting. He is credited with several handgun standards including firearm conditions of readiness and general safety protocols still in use. His color code was initially describes as a method of mental preparedness and no so much tactical. They are listed as follows:
White: Unaware and unprepared. The perfect example is the person walking looking down at their phone texting totally oblivious to the world around them. These are the targets for an attacker.
Yellow: Aware. No specific threat situation. You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. Concealed carry permit holders should be in this state. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You are familure and aware of your surroundings in at least a 21 foot zone around you. Remember the 21 foot rule. You can identify the Condition White
Orange: Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has your attention. You are aware of a suspicous person or condition that may cause you to act. It may also allow you to extract yourself from this dangerous situation. You may be leaving the movies and you see your car is is an area without light and you see a suspicoud person near the vehicle. You are aware of the potential danger. At this point wou can go to your car with a friend as back up, wait for them to leave, get security to the area or if alone approach with caution. The point is that at this level you still may have options to avoid a gunfight.
Red: Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. "If 'X' happens I will shoot that person" — 'X' has happened, the fight is on. You have a plan.
Red can be problematic is that you may begin to lose your awareness or your surroundings as you become focused on the potential target. You still have to have awareness that there could be other threats in the area. They could have apartment. There could be more Aliens in the area.
There are all sorts of variants associated with this scale. I really don’t get the color coding Cooper utilized. There are 4 stages to this:
Oblivious Not aware, the target
Aware. Aware of surroundings but no real threat
Alert. Aware of suspicious surroundings or a potential specific target
Engaged. Take action. Fight or flight
-- Oblivious
---Aware
---Threat Alert
---Engage
Ultimately the lesson here is to be aware of your surroundings. Just carrying a firearm won’t save you if you are not paying attention. You will become the target. Always think about the situation you are in and plan for everything.