I have stolen, with permission from the writer, the following post about civilians/non-law enforcement personnel carrying guns with regards to active shooter situations. Let me be clear, I do not believe in the idea of “gun control” as proposed often in our society. I do not believe that banning guns solves our problems. I am very nervous, however, about the idea that we encourage guns to be carried as a way to help in a shooter situation. The following post by Eric Ode (http://www.ericode.com) sums it up very well. I’ll let it speak for itself:
“A scenario I’ve tried mulling over for many months. I will TRY to listen respectfully to dissenting opinion, but, to be honest, I have very little patience when it comes to this topic. This is a campus photo of a nearby university. (I was going to use an image from a university more near-and-dear to my heart, but that was too painful to imagine.) When the guns-rights people insist “We’d all be safer if everyone would carry a gun” or “Only good people with guns can stop bad people with guns,” I want them to picture this exact scene. And before anyone flies off the handle and tells me I’m wrong, please think this through. Let’s say one out of every four people you see in this photo is carrying a weapon. My estimate is there are 130 people in this scene, so we’re looking at over 30 guns. Now word goes out at this university that there’s a shooter on campus. Okay, what happens next? I’m guessing everyone goes for their gun, correct? Whether they are planning on saving the day or are running for cover, there are a whole mess of guns drawn. And then what? Who are the good guys? Who’s the bad guy? Maybe that person running over there with a gun in his hand is the shooter. Or that person. That one over there has his gun out and is looking right at me and my gun. Is he the shooter? Is he going to shoot me? Should I shoot him first? And if I do shoot him first, what is every other person who has their gun drawn going to assume about me? And with all of those guns out, what’s to keep any one of those 30 from firing just out of sheer panic? What happens when that first shot IS fired out of panic – just one mistaken, terrified, misfired shot? And, finally, what happens when the police turn up and they are faced with a crowd of 30 vigilantes with guns drawn? How in the world are they supposed to identify the real shooter? No, my friends, I cannot for a minute imagine a world where we’d all be safer if more people were carrying guns. Quite the opposite.”
-Eric Ode
Author, poet, songwriter, and just all around awesome guy
Very good perspective! I agree with him!
I think there should be a program similar to the one that pilots currently use with the airlines. You have volunteers (teachers, administrators, staff) who are specially trained to be armed in a school. These people would be know to local law enforcement. My daughter who is a teacher feels that the current process they have in her school really only creates a room full of targets.
Great perspective – and of course there are many more than 120 people on a campus, so there would be many more than thirty people with guns.
I grew up hunting, and the other thing that fills me with fear is that – it’s not that easy to shoot accurately – and just because you practiced at a firing range does NOT make you competent in an emergency. Police and state patrol go through an EXTENSIVE amount of training, and still sometimes react badly in an extreme situation. No, I do not want people armed on campus. I do not want people to ‘volunteer’ to be armed on campus.
I heard this quote recently – ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ – and I am happy to say that we have a strong, inclusive culture in our schools. I honestly think that is always the best defense.
Very good point. Being a great shot on Call of Duty does not translate to real life.