“You have to create a first line of defense,” he (Dale McClellan, a former Navy SEAL and president of Special Tactical Services) said. That, he said, should include training teachers and school officials how to react to an attack. Then schools should install ballistic doors with magnetic locks, put Kevlar blankets in every school room and even put Kevlar sheeting on desks for kids and teachers to hide behind.
via Ex-SEAL one-ups NRA wth tougher, safer plan | WashingtonExaminer.com.
Sorry, I have to call B.S. on this one. Covering a room with Kevlar blankets would be so expensive it is not even funny and the idea would be dropped before it started.
I checked a manufacturer on-line and they offer a Level III-A, 6×6 blanket for $ 2,480. Just covering the wall of a classroom that faces the hallway would require 5 blankets (30 foot wall) at $12,400. Multiply that for the number of classrooms in a school…… you get the idea. And don’t forget to add the ballistic doors while you are at it; I don’t want to know how higher the bill would go.
But wait, it gets better:
Also, teachers should receive a TASER, with training, to shock an attacker. “It’s easy to use and very effective,” said McClellan.
No and No. It is not easy to use and it is not 100% effective as even the manufacturers admit. Its efficiency goes to nothing if the shooter is wearing clothing thick enough for the probes not to make contact with the flesh. Also, with the Taser you have one shot only before having to reload if it failed to subdue the attacker which is not a problem with a firearm which at minimum will provide you with 6 shots if your school district cannot digest the idea of having a weapon with them “high-capacity assault magazine clips.”
I know we are living in highly technological times where a person is carrying more computer power in a smart phone that NASA used in the flight to the moon. But simple solutions work as well if the brain is used. I like the idea of locking the doors: restricting the shooter’s access to the classroom is important but, Do you really need a magnetic door lock at $100 a pop? A pair of sturdy cane bolts will do the trick just as good for 10% of the magnetic lock price. And by the way, a couple of small curtains or something to block the little windows on the doors so the shooter cannot see inside would be nice to have.
Let’s go back to the $12,400 price tag for one classroom worth of blankets. If we use the money properly we can have the following for 6 teachers:
6 handguns at LEO prices : $398 x 6 = $2,388
6,000 rounds of frangible ammunition: $4,000
Three day class at Thunder Ranch for 6 teachers: $6,000
I am not including traveling & lodging expenses and I am selecting perhaps one of the best firearms classes available (For naysayers, cops and military go to train at Thunder Ranch, OK?) Hell, I am sure that Clint Smith would not mind sending some of his instructors to any school district that wanted to train teachers. So for the price of one wall covered with Kevlar, we can have 6 teachers very well-trained in the use of handguns.
Active Shooters are to be dealt swiftly and terminally. Even the craziest of the crazy do not enjoy feeling pain or bleeding unnecessarily. The great majority of Active Shooters end up killing themselves when confronted by anybody with a gun so let’s play those odds by providing those who are there with the proper tools and training rather than taking a passive role and waiting for the Calvary to arrive.
And in the Old West, same as today, the Calvary usually arrived too late to stop the killing and not for lack of trying. Circling the wagons and shooting back has always been a better option
+1 Not to mention hat most of the under 4th grade kids wouldn’t be able to push open the armored doors 🙂
As my Friend Dave Grossman says stop calling them active shooters, shooting is what we do, call them what they are “Killers”
Or rampaging murdering lunatics.
Level III-A armor also will not protect from rifle bullets. For that you are going to have to add ballistic plates. Since the murdering scumbag used a rifle….
What would the cost be to make the desk surfaces from ballitic plate material? Similar to the old nuke ‘duck and cover’ drills from the 50’s one could train the kids to flip their desks on their sides for cover and face the surface toward the entry point. Circle the wagons as it were. (not that I’m disagreeing with arming staff…just adding layers of preparation to the mix)
I don’t know what type of school desk is the most common, but here is an image search I did (http://tinyurl.com/ameyc5j). It should be fairly intuitive as to what I’m talking about.
My opinion, but I think the desk can be used stacked against the doors to further block entrance to the classroom if time allows.
This goes back to the “I’m an ex-navy seal” so I’m an expert in all things BS. Yeah and going through AZPOST training (or whatever your state has) as a LEO automatically qualifies you to be a firearms instructor. How many times have you seen someone on message boards say I’m an ex-whatever and I support the Assault Weapons Ban BS?
“Shooters end up killing themselves when confronted by anybody with a gun…”
K.I.S.S. Plan how to keep them out and how to confront when breached?
Then schools should install ballistic doors with magnetic locks
Two words: breaching rounds. A SEAL never heard of breaching a door with a 12 gauge?
No single armed guards. If everyone knows who the armed guard is, they’re the first target. Distributed concealed carry. Groundskeeper Willie, Principal Skinner, Mrs. Crabapple, – no one need know who’s carrying.
I recall a test in a magazine of a minigun equipped Suburban. It was minimally armored to “encourage” the guards riding inside to go on offense when they were attacked, not turtle up inside. Might not be applicable, but better than hiding in the corner.
We need to quit spending but having a police officer in every school should be mandatory.
I saw this statement before and my first thought was that McClellan couldn’t be more wrong. It’s the tired old game of yes for me and mine, no for you and yours. McClellan is a misinformed or willfully ignorant fool. Being a SEAL does not confer on anyone expertise in all things security related. I’ve worked in schools, with both teachers and students, on security and violence issues and both groups are way more informed and capable than idiots like him would have us believe. Run yes. Hide if you must. But making those the only choices is criminally negligent. There is absolutely no downside to being able to fight back against the homicidal maniacs that exist in our country. The real problem is the homicidal maniacs masquerading as security experts asking an ill informed public to trust them. Mister McClellan should STFU and stick to what he knows best and leave the job of protecting our children to those of us equipped to make rational suggestions.
Run yes. Hide if you must. But making those the only choices is criminally negligent. There is absolutely no downside to being able to fight back against the homicidal maniacs that exist in our country. The real problem is the homicidal maniacs masquerading as security experts asking an ill informed public to trust them.
Very well said….
I think this guy is at least taking a different approach and starting a discussion of non-typical ideas and that should also be part of the process. I do think an armed, trained and uniformed police officer is still the best choice.