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Editorial
Doing something better than nothing in shooting incidents
Friday, October 9, 2015
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is finding himself derided and even bullied for suggesting that he would fight back rather than allowing himself to be killed in a mass shooting.
Critics seem to be going far out of their way to find fault with Carson's contention that resisting agression is somehow a bad idea. They even suggest that he was criticizing the victims by saying what he would do in a similar situation.
He countered that passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 helped avoid futher tragedy by rushing the highjackers. Hitler would have had a more difficult time subduing a heavily armed Jewish population, Carson suggested, drawing criticixm from the Anti-Defamation League.
Last week's college shooting and another one this morning have thrust the issue to the forefront of the political discussion, in a large part by President Obama's statement that shooting incidents "should be politicized."
Critics who think Carson would be wrong to rush the shooter are wrong themselves, however.
Authorities have learned the hard way that staying put and hoping a shooter won't kill you is exactly the wrong thing to do. During the 1999 Columbine High School mass shootings, for example, a librarian could be heard on a 911 call telling students to stay where they are. Ten of the 13 people killed in Columbine died in that library.
Statistics show that casualties are significantly lower when shootings are resolved by people at the scene rather than by law enforcement that arrives later.
Today, more schools are adopting the A.L.I.C.E. approach -- Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counteract and Evacuate.
And, rather than staying in place, if the shooter is inside a building, it's naturally safer for students to be outside.
People are now being taught, if they cannot escape, to do anything they can to prevent the shooter from carrying out the attack -- pulling a fire alarm, throwing something at the shooter, distracting them with noise or other distractions.
Perhaps Teddy Roosevelt put it best:
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."
Read about a McCook Public Schools drill employing the A.L.I.C.E. plan here: http://bit.ly/1LDBEXn