3 things we can do RIGHT NOW to make schools safer that are better than marching

Today, Bloomberg’s Everytown organization is sponsoring protest marches across the country to demonize and hopefully criminalize legal gun ownership by responsible, law abiding adults.

They say that the goal of the marches are to stop gun violence, stop mass shootings at schools, and to keep kids safe, but, as I’m about to show you, all of these stated goals are built on lies and deception and just designed to suck people in and make gun owners look like monsters.

So, today, we’re going to talk quickly about the truth behind these lies and I’m going to lay out 3 things that YOU can do today that have the potential to make schools safer in the next 7 days.  Not 7 weeks, or 7 months, but things you can do today to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Let’s get right to it…

I’m not going to list domain names or full organizational names because I tend to get a big jump in hacking attacks when I write about these types of organizations.  It turns out that they believe free speech is a monologue which they control and they have no tolerance for diverse thought.

The marches this weekend call themselves “March For Our Lives.”  They appear to be grassroots uprisings, but they are cleverly orchestrated events.  If you go to their website, you’ll see that the email addresses for contacting them are “Everytown” addresses.  Everytown is one of Bloomberg’s organizations created to end the legal ownership of firearms by US citizens.  The goal of the march is to get as many young hurting/scared/naïve kids and adults to buy into a false argument and then make it appear as if the majority of people want gun control.

So, let’s look at the myths, starting with the names and terms they use.

“March for our lives” sounds awesome.  After all, who could argue with it?  If you’re against it, you must be against “our lives.”  That would make you evil.  You don’t want to be evil, do you?  More importantly, you don’t want people to think you’re evil, do you?  I thought at first that it was the name of a pro-life march, but that obviously wasn’t the case.

The naming of the event was designed to shape the narrative.  But let’s look at the facts.

I need to preface all of this by saying that it’s horrible when an innocent person dies.  But I would argue that it’s horrible regardless of what the cause of death is.

  1. If marchers, protesters, and the media actually want to actually save lives…specifically the lives of kids…maybe they should focus on the things that kill kids in the greatest numbers, like car accidents, malignant neoplasms (cancer), and suicide, which all kill more kids per year than school shootings according to the CDC. In fact, more kids age 10-19 die in a single average year from heart disease than have died in school shootings in the last 17 years COMBINED.

But do you know how many people have died in school shootings since 2000?  According to the news coverage, it must be thousands.  In reality, it’s roughly 150.  Just under 10 per year.  This includes elementary, middle, and high schools, but not colleges.  Why do I say “roughly.”  Because that number includes husbands killing their wives at work, youth love triangles gone bad, and the majority were the result of gang violence, including guys in their 30s shooting each other in a school parking lot after school hours.  If you count the Rancho Tahama shooting (I did), where no students died and nobody died on school property, the total number of mass shootings at schools (not colleges) since 2000 where 4 or more people were killed is 6 (six).  You can verify this by going to Wikipedia, downloading their charts of school shootings into excel, and sorting the data however you want.

The roughly 150 deaths at school shootings in the last 17 years is bad.  It’s a tragedy.

But according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2,000-3,000 teens die per year in car accidents.

According to the CDC, 4,000+ 10-19 year old kids die from suicide each year.

According to the CDC, roughly 1,000 10-19 year old kids die each year from cancer.

According to the CDC, roughly 100 10-19 year old kids die each year from the flu & pneumonia.  That’s STILL 10x more deadly than school shootings.

Please understand that I’m not trying to minimize the lives of those who died in school shootings or the pain that their friends and families feel on a daily basis.  But if the goal is to save lives, there are more effective ways than criminalizing private ownership of 300+ million guns in a feeble attempt to end school shootings.

In fact, I would STRONGLY argue that we could save more teen lives by teaching teens about the addictive nature of portable game consoles, internet connected phones, and social media.  Teach them how their feedback loops for dopamine and serotonin are being manipulated, cortisol levels elevated, and sleep cycles disturbed and teach them how to take control of the process before they get in a car wreck or come to the false conclusion that suicide is the best option.

  1. The 2nd stated goal of the marches is to “end gun violence.” Ugh.  As I’ve said before, “gun violence” doesn’t exist.  It makes as much logical sense as “fork overeating.”  Guns exist and violence exists, but guns are inert and don’t commit violence…people do, and they do it with a variety of tools.Even if “gun violence” were real, it wouldn’t necessarily be bad.  As an example, the appropriate use of “gun violence” saved the Jews from Hitler.  Do we really want to stop officers from using “gun violence” to stop violent threats?  Do we really want to stop women who are being threatened with rape or great bodily harm from using “gun violence” to protect themselves?

    We will never end violence or gun violence.  Violence has been and always will be a reality for humans and animals.  Denying that violence exists doesn’t make it go away or make us safer.  Guns simply shift the balance of power.  It gives the old, the weak, and those who want to live at peace a more level playing field against violence.  Or it gives tyrants a mechanism to control their subjects.  Our best option is to train up good people in the appropriate and just use of violence to protect the innocent from evil people who are willing to use violence to impose their will and take what they want by force.

  1. The 3rd stated goals of the marches is to stop mass school shootings. A mass shooting is defined as a shooting where 4 or more people, including the murderer, die.  There have been 6 since 2000 and that’s horrible on multiple levels.  The 6 shootings were:

Newtown, CT
Parkland, FL
Red Lake, MN
Rancho Tahama Reserve, CA
Nickel Mines, PA
Marysville, WA

I believe 100% in the goal of ending mass murder at schools.  But people willing to murder others will always be able to get guns and eliminating legal ownership won’t stop mass shootings.  It will only tip the balance of power further towards violent criminals who are willing to break the law.  We can look around the world and see that mass shootings are interchangeable with mass stabbings and bombings.  Guns aren’t the problem.  A lack of good people not having the right tools & skills to stop violent criminals is the problem.

Fortunately, we have facts, logic, reason, history, and test cases from around the world to guide our steps.

Forcibly stopping murderers as early in their sequence as possible is the only method proven effective throughout the world and throughout history to keep them from beginning their spree or racking up the numbers they want.

Don’t get me wrong.  Mental health care is awesome and we should improve it.  Enforcing current laws is awesome.  But the only way to have an immediate, tangible impact is for large numbers of good people to have the ability to forcibly STOP murderers when they go kinetic…like Deputy Gaskill did in MD this week.

So, what can we do?

What can we do today?

They’re actually different questions.

There are some things that we can do that may be “better” solutions but they can’t be implemented immediately.

Training up additional teachers with state and local programs similar to the armed pilots program (Federal Flight Deck Officer program, created by the Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act) would be an excellent solution, but it would take months to get approved and implemented.

30 states currently have some form of armed teachers/staff…but it’s a mish-mash and in some cases is only an isolated secondary school or private school.  18 states have more widespread programs, but even most of those are severely limited.  Changing all of those laws and policies and the Federal laws that complicate the matter will take time.

In the meantime, what can we do?

Well, in Oklahoma, one school installed 7 bulletproof tornado shelters.  This makes sense in tornado alley when the tornado threat is a regular occurrence, but not in most of the rest of the country when school shootings are such a rare occurrence.  Most schools would save more lives from suicide prevention, driver safety, or leadership training for students.

There are bulletproof blankets, bulletproof rolling whiteboards, escape doors, and other great solutions that could be implemented…but they all take time and cost money.

The difficult thing about these solutions is that they are all a complete waste of money—right up until about 2 seconds after the first shot is fired in a school.  In that instant, they go from being a waste of money to being priceless.  If individuals donate them, it’s a no-brainer.  But if the school has to take the money from other programs, the decision process becomes infinitely more complex.

But what can we do that won’t take time and won’t waste money?

Adding an additional fire extinguisher in each room and showing teachers how to use them as weapons is a GREAT start.

One school has put a bucket of river rocks in each room…and it’s absolutely brilliant in it’s simplicity and proven effectiveness.

We can enhance the training of teachers who are already switched on…regardless of where they are in the country and what defensive tools they’re currently allowed to carry.

For teachers and administration who are already armed and already allowed to carry at school, we’ve donated well over $2,000 of firearms training–over $1,000 in materials to a single school–in the last month and a half.  And for every 21 Day Alpha Shooter course bought through >THIS LINK< we’ll donate more to teachers who are already carrying on the job.  So click on that link to help yourself AND to help an armed teacher.  Both you and they will see a marked increase in performance in the next 7 days with minimal time and effort.

For teachers and administration who aren’t allowed to carry purpose built defensive tools, we have a couple of other options.  They aren’t as good as a gun at a distance, but for a teacher who’s brave enough to confront a shooter and take bullets meant for their students and/or who can get an angle or close distance, the right tactical pen skills or tactical flashlight skills can stop a lethal threat in a few quick heartbeats.

The best information on stopping threats with a tactical pen is in our Special Forces TacPen Guide.  And when you order a Stealth Tactical Pen through >THIS LINK<, you’ll get instant access to the TacPen Guide AND we’ll give this valuable guide to 5 teachers or other school employees.  Supplies are very limited on this.

There’s a 3rd way you can help make REAL positive change TODAY.  When you sign up for the Avoid Deter Defend situational awareness and defensive flashlight course, you’ll get instant access to the training, we’ll mail out the DVDs AND we’ll donate access to the course to a teacher or other school employee.  Click >HERE< to take advantage of this.

The great thing about a flashlight is that it’s something you can use every single day for ordinary purposes.  The correct use of a tactical flashlight can stop many target-of-opportunity attacks at a distance without having to touch the suspect and without hurting them if they didn’t mean any harm.  It will enhance your ability with any other defensive tool you may have, including a pistol.  Take advantage of this for yourself and help a teacher at the same time right now by clicking >HERE<

If you’re a teacher and want access to the training, simply comment below and we’ll get you taken care of.

Questions?  Comments?  Confusion about why the stats I present are SO different from what you see from the mainstream media?  Fire away by commenting below!

 

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16 Comments

  • Richard Jones

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Hardening schools is problematic in several ways. Since in school shootings are statistically rare and 85% are committed by students already in the school the resources needed in physical barriers and associated staffing is wasteful considering most shooters are not “fighting” their way into the school to do harm. Employees and students in any school could probably figure out a way to defeat any security if they were determined enough. As has been pointed out by others most school shootings are not random mass shootings, but personal disputes. The other problem with hardening school is the message it sends to students and parents that schools are inherently unsafe places. Again, statistics will show a school is the safest place your child will be and the most dangerous place for children is at home. Granted, some schools are in high risk neighborhoods and need to be treated accordingly but the other 190,000+ schools are very safe. The view of schools being unsafe is a barrier to learning, bonding and good mental health not to mention the wasteful expenditure of security funds that could be better spent on suicide and drug prevention or other educational needs.

  • James

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Ox, In reply to my reply:

    The design on the only accessible entrance during school needs to be very secure. Possibility double doors with a small space in between them.. Than medal detectors can do their appropriate function of detection. Camera with facial recognition software would be an aid if cost effective, especially with people mental health issues. If there is suspicious nature a trained personal of the school could be called. The this may be over kill in some cases.

    Referring to the training of personal. A very well trained person, female or male, is very desirable. Being able to shoot paper st 7-10 yards is one thing. Taking out a human life is something else. When you go to the range the next time and are shooting at a target of a perp holding a hostage, try putting a picture of your son or daughter on the face of the hostage and see how that effects your emotions and your ability to shoot.
    If you want to arm teachers or administration personal than there function should be to protect the students in the class. The classroom should be secure. Hopefully they, students, would be protected by some form of non-bullet piercing material. Teacher and administrators should not be trained to take on the intruder. That is for a fully trained tactical officer to do.

  • Marc Linville

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Ox & David:
    Got it!
    Forwarding to six others.
    Best regards,
    Marc

  • Drew Rinella

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Ironically, many schools do engage in teen car crash prevention activities through mock DUI programs, but the schools are incapable of not lying about that issue either. I wrote a page about that here:

    https://stupidheartrhythms.blogspot.com/2014/05/reefer-madness.html

    Students should be offended by the fact that school employees view the students with such contempt that they believe students must be lied to about firearms, car crashes, etc. in order to create behavioral change. But students aren’t offended; many of them love it and beg for the entertainment and attention that comes with playing into the lie. And then they eat Tide pods.

  • Ed Sossaman

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Good stats presented in your blog, although nobody on the other side is interested in facts and data. They act on emotion and ignorance. You are correct that disease, suicide, drugs, and car accidents take far more children’s lives annually than persons using guns or any other weapon. But you missed the largest loss of children’s lives by a wide margin. The CDC reports that 44.5 million babies have been legally aborted in America between 1969-2014. There were periods where the number was way over a million annually. In 2014 it was around 650,000. Those were living babies with all their organs and a beating heatbeat that were LEGALLY allowed to be killed. Where is the outcry for those young lives? The argument for abortion is freedom of a woman’s right to choose. How about the babies rights? I agree with freedom of choice-a choice to conceive ir not and a choice to give the baby up for adoption. This is a great country but our values have seriously changed for the worse. Leaders of world peace, industry, disease control break-throughs, and technology innovation were likely among those 44.5 million babies. Think of that number as if a plague wiped out every person in New York, LA, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta. That’s the same number the country has legally killed. Where’s the outcry?

  • Jackie

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Ox,
    SA is paramount, but how to teach educators without them going about at “YELLOW” 24/7?
    Pens and flashlights work; even the church group I’m training approves. But training to the follow up; the disarm, takedown, and restraint, are more critical. Without them, the best effort is futile.

  • James

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Ox, You make good points mainly dealing with firearm issues and solutions.
    The main issues appear to be the following

    1. Securing the school from unwanted entrants. In the Florida incident there was zip, nada, no-thing to deter the entrant from entering. This should not be hard to discuss such things as:
    Locked Doors
    Metal detectors
    Cameras
    Possible facial recognition software
    Many more as we can think of
    Than there needs to be a procedure in the event a shooter gets into the school. A fire drill will not work as it will only cause chaos and human damage.

    TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD NOT BE TRAINED IN FIREARMS!!!
    only trainer in first aid and trauma assistance as a first responder

    Professional defense: Only fully trained tactical professional not a deputy looking to coast to retirement.

    Mental health data availability in crisis situation: Needs a lot of input and discussion. Rights of individual verses rights of society needs to be determined in a caring manor.

    LAST BUT NOT LEAST IS CALLED:

    WEAPON OF CHOICE.
    1. Knife
    2. Bomb
    3. Club of some kind
    4. Chemical
    5 Firearm

    With reasonable intelligence one should see that removing the firearm still leaves numerous “weapons of choice”.
    Also, please remember criminals or very sick individuals will not respect the laws and obtain illegally their weapon of choice.

    Weapons of choice, FIREARMS, is not the issue that should be the MAIN AREA of discussed, unless the motive is to disarm the people of the Second Admendment.

    • Ox

      Reply Reply March 24, 2018

      Thank you for taking the time to comment. You’re on the right path and I’m glad you mentioned the things that you did, but there’s a few things that may help you develop your list…

      1. Metal detectors are a great location when you’ve got limited, controlled access. They change the location of violence for people who don’t want to get caught. For people looking to kill large numbers of people, it’s just a doorway that means nothing and the person manning it is just the first intended victim. If we look to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places, checkpoints like metal detectors serve as choke points and kill zones for attacks in addition to limiting weapons on the “safe” side of the checkpoint.

      2. Cameras are an invaluable tool and help after-the-fact with prosecution, piecing together what happened, and knowing where a shooter is, but unless they’re monitored, they don’t prevent someone who’s willing to die from doing what they’re going to do.

      3. Facial recognition software that schools can afford would do little to prevent mass murder on campus without significant other changes to the layout of the campus and restricting access points. When used properly, they’re awesome…it’s just beyond most district’s financial appetite to change the layout of their campuses, parking lots, pickup/dropoff areas, etc.

      One area where I’d encourage you to rethink your position is that you say you don’t want teachers and administrators armed. Why? Nobody is suggesting that we force a gentle elementary teacher who hates guns to become Rambo. If you’ve got someone who is already trained and carries every waking moment EXCEPT for when they’re at school, how does that help anyone? If they’re safe with a pistol every other minute of their life, why wouldn’t they be safe with it at school? Do you think having a pistol would distract them and keep them from doing their jobs? It doesn’t distract me. It doesn’t distract law enforcement. It doesn’t distract plumbers, electricians, lawyers, doctors, EMTs, surgeons, accountants, UBER drivers, receptionists, pastors, or others who carry. Why would it be a problem for teachers and administrators?

      One other area you might want to reconsider is the “fully trained tactical professional” requirement. We’re looking at 130,000 schools in the US and 60 shootings in 17 years where there was a fatality. When you add in shootings where there were no fatalities, it’s about 10 per year. So 1 school out of every 1,300 will have a school shooting in a given year. All things being equal (they’re not) the odds for a single school having a shooting in a 13 year period is 1%. It’s not realistic to train someone to a high standard for a job that they know they’ll never do. It’s not realistic to expect someone to stay vigilant for long periods of time when they know there’s virtually no chance of anything happening. That’s why lifeguards rotate every 15-30 minutes. It’s why Secret Service frequently rotates roles and duties. If you don’t, you either end up with normalcy bias and miss problems or you start creating imaginary problems where none exist to fill the void. Neither are good.

      By far the best approach is the approach that we’ve taken with other first responder roles…Everyone knows how to use a fire extinguisher until the fire department comes (and it doesn’t interfere with their jobs). A LOT of people know how to do CPR, First Aid, and use an AED until the ambulance arrives (and it doesn’t interfere with their jobs). And having randomly placed, armed, tactical first responders in a school is the best way to handle deadly violence at schools–and it won’t interfere with their jobs. They may freeze. They probably won’t perform as well as a highly trained full-time professional.

      Again, thank you.

      • Brennen Munro

        Reply Reply March 24, 2018

        Thank you for posting a very informative and chock full of fact reply to James’ comment. I just find it hard to understand how people seem to think that if you have access to a firearm, then all you will be able to do is fixate on that firearm to the detriment of every other aspect of your life. I have been carrying concealed for years, it is just another part of getting dressed, much like putting on a pair of shoes. And there it remains until I remove it at the end of the day, just as I would remove my shoes. I get on with my day with out having to worry with, or fidget with, or be concerned with my pistol interfering with my activities for that day.

        Thank you for addressing the fact that NOTHING will happen in the majority of schools and having someone waiting for there to be an incident would soon become very bored with the work, leading to all sorts of problems.

        I also wanted to add, just how many tier one shooters do people think there are in the world who would want to spend their time standing watch at a school? Most guys who have finished service just want to get on with living their lives and advancing their careers in their chosen fields. The one’s who wish to remain shooters are going to be doing something much more exciting and monetarily rewarding than riding herd on a bunch of fifth graders. And that is just the cold hard truth of wishing for that kind of protection at a school.

        Thank you for the materials that you are sending to these teachers, I am sure it is helping them.

        Munro

        • Ox

          Reply Reply March 24, 2018

          Thanks, Brennen. It’s a tough situation. You’re SO right…highly trained people who want to use their skills simply aren’t going to migrate towards a job where they’ll never get a chance to use them. It’s a bad allocation of resources. There are lots of cases where highly trained people (specifically Army Special Forces) become teachers or serve a dual role as teachers, but they take the job because they want to use their teaching skills…not their whacking tango skills.

          Now, the other side of the equation is that almost everyone agrees that teachers are under paid. Almost everyone agrees that they’re over-taxed (I’ve invited every single person I’ve talked to who says they’d be willing to pay more in taxes if they’d be willing to pay mine. It turns out, almost NOBODY who says they’re willing to pay more in taxes actually does. And those who are willing to pay more want to force others to pay more and be in control of how those taxes get spent.) MOST solutions being presented are going to cost the school board money. And, unless that money is donated from individuals, it’s going to have to come from taxpayers. That’s why I’m such a proponent of providing training for teachers who WANT the training. I don’t want to force anyone to become someone they’re not. I just want to help those who have an inner momma-bear, inner honeybadger, or inner sheepdog sharpen their fangs and be more combat effective if the need arises.

      • Terry

        Reply Reply May 22, 2018

        Ox—you do realize you make entirely to much sense!!! The liberals turned you off just after you started or never read your article. Thank you–thank you–thank you–fantastic ideas!!! You have put a lot of thought into the subject and it shows. Thank you again–now to get those in charge to listen or read better yet-put great ideas into action!!!!

    • Getfreight

      Reply Reply March 24, 2018

      James, I agree with most of your points.

      The one I disagree with is that teachers and administrators should be trained with firearms. Everyone should be trained with firearms to one degree or another.

      Just like everyone should know how to turn a wrench, send an email, pump gas, do laundry, cook a meal, etc… Basic life skills.

      It ensures everyone has had basic firearms safety taught to them. They understand the basics of a firearm. It takes the mystery and magic out of firearms. It would be a huge step towards minimizing the calls for gun control. It would be a good start in making sure everyone had the basic skills and mindset to defend themselves.

      Having teachers learn these things would be enlightening for many of them. The things they would learn conceptually would bleed over to other subjects they teach. Most teach very academic subjects without immediate, real world results. This would show them some practical lessons on how we learn, how people react to their environment, etc…

      In summary, it would be beneficial in numerous ways beyond safety.

  • Daniel Murphy

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Thanks, this is really thoughtful information. The first step to peace is truth. If what you say sounds like hate speech, then it’s because those people hate truth.

  • Joe Sokolowski

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    Thank You!! Please keep doing the great job you are doing! Revelation about REAL statistics are very important to keep exposed to the general public who believe that they know all the facts.

  • Dale

    Reply Reply March 24, 2018

    At a cost of about $20 each I would put 2 5lb fire extinguishers in each classroom and in each corridor. Then teach teachers and high schoolers how to use it as a defensive tool.

    • Ox

      Reply Reply March 24, 2018

      Amen to that! Spray ’em with the white stuff and hit ’em with the red thing!

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