Friday the 13th on Monday.


I know that last Friday was the 13th but the news on Monday with the Nor’ Easter in New England and the shootings on the campus of Va Tech. make Monday the more appropriate day.


Because we used to work on a military base we were trained annually on terrorism. As part of that training we were told to always be aware of your surroundings. Part of that training included inspecting anyplace you were and planning what to do if someone came in the main entrance with a weapon. The training stresses planning a second way out and anticipating how to protect yourself and escape. That’s fine in an auditorium or office but what do you do in a classroom.


I’ve use my “training” often when I’m in a fast food restaurant or shopping in a mall or even at a movie. I try to be aware of where alternate exits are and plan how to react if a gunman appears. But there is no where to go in a classroom. The best you can do is duck. All that does is force the gunman to aim better. I can’t imagine the terror those people experienced and the hurt that their loved ones feel. If someone you know is killed, knowing they were scared or suffered makes the pain so much more unbearable.

I’m sure the anti-gun folks will jump on this, but there is no way to keep guns out of peoples hands. There is no way to secure all the “soft” targets that exist in our open society. Just think what havoc could be made if organized teams of terrorists spread out across the country and randomly hit these soft targets. Schools, shopping malls – any place where a good number of people gather could be targeted. It is a scary thought.