Today my building was given a rundown of “Run, Hide, Defend,” which is the college preparedness drill for an active shooter on campus. My question to UPD is this: how do you expect us to defend ourselves against a violent attacker when we aren’t even allowed to carry knives on campus, let alone firearms? Why should we have to “improvise weapons” in the forms of chairs or fire extinguishers when we are already at such a disadvantage defensively? I do not feel as though my right to defend myself is being upheld or respected at this university, nor do I believe the response time of a police department is something I want to trust my life with.
I would like to know why items such as knives are not allowed to be carried on campus if defending ourselves is so very clearly stated for an emergency such as an active shooter. Yes, I am aware of the blade length and build exceptions, but those are truly pathetic. They can’t possibly expect anyone to fight a gunman with a pocketknife, do they?
Write letters, picket, do what you can to change things. In the meantime. Get a tactical pen and a Kevlar backpack. Carry mace if you can and be in the best shape you can be in.
Maybe one day you’ll be able to change some minds.
Ultimately you must decide what is more important to you. I believe that the chances of you getting caught carrying are far slimmer than actually having to use it so in my opinion it is worth the risk. Your degree or what you have of it is no good to you if you are either death or disabled and can not use it.
I stopped promoting carrying guns to people who don’t already a long time ago. These situations are incredibly rare- you’re hundreds of times more likely to hit the Powerball jackpot than to become the victim of an active shooter. You can train for it, but you can’t train for it. People who will not train for it are completely ****ed, and we all know probably 9 out of 10 people carrying guns don’t “train” any more than a few magazines at the cold range a few times a year.
A PSA video can’t change anything; not for the better, nor the worse. I wouldn’t waist any brain calories on it at all.
Yep, so that’s how we came to be the pre-eminent civilization on the planet, not to mention the top of the food chain.
By adhering to the time-tested principles of: Run, Cower under a desk, Die begging for your life.
Natural selection at work
Most colleges and universities are run by the liberal idiots who fear guns. It’s their playground. It sucks - but that’s what we are stuck with in most cases.
That said - if you’re in a classroom and there is an active shooter there is a technique that has a high probability of success. The fewer doors the better. But picture a classroom with a single door. Have everyone stack on the inside of the door and wait. Maybe the shooter looks in the window and sees an empty room, passing it by. If he enters, everyone stacked up jumps him.
Yes - some of you may get shot. Some of you may die. But no matter what type of firearm he has, he won’t be able to stop the dogpile. This of course works best on single shooters and thugs who aren’t wearing explosives. But the technique will work and will stop the killing. And it beats the hell out of hiding under a desk and hoping he doesn’t shoot you. I’d rather get dead fighting to the very end than letting some wanker with a gun casually decide my fate.
My wife works at the local community college (Reading Area Community College) and they went through a similar “Active shooter response” course. Basically, a dude went on for over an hour on how they could stack chairs against a door. The fact that a lot of the classrooms have a giant glass wall didn’t seem to enter into his plan. Pathetic. Sadly, the decision must be made to act within your limitations, knowing, as is stated above, that some will die.
People running colleges take their “expertise” from their idols in congress…make rules, laws, and programs even though you have no knowledge at all about what you’re talking about. I’d say screw it and get a small folder, idk about your college, but I normally had a small folder on me when on campus…nobody ever said anything. YMMV depending on strictness, I’m sure colleges have gotten even worse since I’ve been out (5+ years).
In a case like this, you have to look at who typically attends the university. We’re talking about 18-20 somethings who are leading increasingly more sheltered lives, though there’s a recent influx of recent veterans (thank you) attending on the GI.
The typical college student isn’t the survival minded, situationally aware, M4C type who applies “thinking outside the box” to many things outside of a classroom or lab setting. In short, these aren’t the types who have the training, foresight, or intestinal fortitude to carry a knife or firearm (maybe pepper spray) in defense of self or others.
Tacti-square, “Run Hide Defend” isn’t for you, or many of us here. It’s geared towards the types who haven’t given much thought to the scenario before. Is it the ideal, where CCW is allowed on campus, and everyone in the classroom gets behind the 2 guys who are armed? No. But not even three years ago, this type of training for colleges and large businesses (I organized one for a hospital in 2012) was unheard of, and largely consisted of “put your head between your legs and kiss your behind goodbye”.
The fact that you’re getting some training from the school is a big step in the right direction. A lamp or a small folding pocketknife aren’t the ideal defensive weapons, but they beat cowering or yelling which, for a time, were approved options.
I don’t disagree that we are dealing with 18-20 year olds, many who have lived a sheltered life, but I do believe having more direct security measures implemented at institutions of higher learning are a good idea. The training given to students should also include “Welcome to the real world” instruction that make them less like sheep heading to slaughter. Perhaps better training would also help in addressing other problems such as violent attacks against individuals and sexual assaults.
Agreed! But that’s not going to happen overnight, and The OPs video, though it’s not perfect, is much better than what’s been passed as “training” before.
Some more situational awareness or WTTRW training would do our college (and high school) students some good. I also have some issues with how some colleges talk about and deal with sexual assaults and other forms of campus violence. The fact that the OP’s campus even showed the video is amazing, since many high schools and colleges don’t want to admit to the possibility of bad things happening on their property.
Also true. Again, I submit that implementing more physical security measure (along with training/education), hiring more and better cops (with a focus on protecting the student body, vs traffic control for the football team), and revisiting campus weapons policies (as in, allowing) are all great ideas, but they will take time, money, and convincing. Frank talks, a short video, and a modicum of personal responsibility and initiative are cheap, if not free.
My major is Music Education with an emphasis on percussion, so unfortunately I need to be in hands-on environments for mastering my trade and working with kids.
I went to a southern college that was fairly conservative. You were the odd man (or woman) out if you didn’t have a good size folder clipped in your front pocket. The campus police didn’t say a damn word to us about it. They understood.
Many of my fellow classmates carried guns. I kept an AR in my truck and took certain measures. Hell the campus police told us to keep guns in our cars.
If an active shooter had picked our campus, he would have been kicking over the wrong hornets nest for sure. It was understood after VT that you were expected to fight back.
I know a member on another forum who was attending the University of Texas when Charles Whitman climbed the tower. He gave us a good detailed rundown of the incident and how students/professors provided countersniper fire
I went to a southern college that was fairly conservative. You were the odd man (or woman) out if you didn’t have a good size folder clipped in your front pocket. The campus police didn’t say a damn word to us about it. They understood.
Many of my fellow classmates carried guns. I kept an AR in my truck and took certain measures. Hell the campus police told us to keep guns in our cars.
If an active shooter had picked our campus, he would have been kicking over the wrong hornets nest for sure. It was understood after VT that you were expected to fight back.
I know a member on another forum who was attending the University of Texas when Charles Whitman climbed the tower. He gave us a good detailed rundown of the incident and how civilians provided countersniper fire, observation, such.
You should be carrying snare drum sticks all the time right? That is a nice start.
There are a lot of improvised weapons around. Think fire extinguishers.
Tacti-square we share majors except I have a focus on vocals. Year left. Not sure if I’ll finish or not but anyway, my school is private and has the saddest security. I doubt we can carry at all without facing trouble. Judged by 12/carried by 6.
I always have a light and Hinderer pen on me. Maybe something slicey might help but probably isn’t permitted.