https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7IMPnhrLf4\u0026amp;t=7s
The recent discussions around mass shootings are gut-wrenching. We put kids and law enforcement in impossible, horrific situations, and here’s the truth: when you hear assault weapon fire, your fight-or-flight response kicks in automatically. There is no controlling it. There’s no “playing dead.” That’s the heartbreaking reality.
This is why, when Donald Trump once claimed he would have “run into” a school during a shooting in Florida, I knew it was nonsense. Nobody—not even trained professionals—runs toward gunfire without intense training and preparation. And even then, it’s a monumental challenge.
The Hollywood Myth
We’ve all grown up watching movies where the hero always hits their target, and the bad guy conveniently can’t land a single shot. But that’s Hollywood fiction, not reality. In real life, these shooters—often young men who’ve spent years training on first-person shooter video games—are dangerously proficient. Combine that with the power of their assault weapons, and the situation becomes terrifyingly one-sided.
Nobody “instinctively” runs toward gunfire. The body’s natural response to that level of danger is to flee—or freeze. This isn’t just speculation. My father, a machine gunner in World War II, shared countless stories of combat. He lived it, and he understood that fear isn’t weakness—it’s survival.
My Experience on Set
Years ago, I worked on the film R.I.P.D. In one scene, we shot in a meth lab where a make-believe SWAT team raided the set. As part of the scene, I played a corpse on the ground while actors fired semi-automatic weapons loaded with blanks over my head.
Even knowing I was safe, wearing earplugs, and surrounded by professionals, I felt terror. The noise was deafening—it physically hurt my ears. Hot shells from the blanks tapped my face as they discharged. My job was to lie completely still, to “play dead.” And despite being a professional actor, I couldn’t do it.
The sheer power of those weapons—even fake ones—overwhelms the nervous system. Your body reacts instinctively. It twitches. It convulses. It rebels against the very idea of lying still in the face of such overwhelming sensory assault.
The Unthinkable Reality for Children
If I, an adult in a controlled, professional setting, couldn’t “play dead,” how can we expect children to do so in a real-life nightmare? The sound, the vibrations, the fear—they override rational thought. This is why hearing stories of children “pretending to play dead” breaks my heart. The thought of what they endured, the fear they felt—it’s unfathomable.
This isn’t just about policy or politics; it’s about humanity. Those children never stood a chance.
A Call for Empathy
We must face the reality of what guns—especially assault weapons—do to people, both physically and psychologically. This isn’t about blaming video games or movies; it’s about recognizing the devastating power of these weapons and the impossible situations they create.
To anyone with military experience or firsthand knowledge of active combat: feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. But based on what I’ve learned from my father and experienced myself, the toll these situations take is unimaginable.
My heart mourns for the children who were told to “play dead.” For those who couldn’t. For the lives lost and the ones forever scarred. We owe them more than thoughts and prayers. We owe them action.
