Prior planning can be a valuable tool provided the planners are grounded in reality.  “Quick Scotty beam me up!” covers almost every eventuality, but for the fact the capability doesn’t exist.

Active Shooter Training in Schools is a response to preparing educators and students to react to an active shooter event.  I am a great believer in advance planning.  Indications from an FBI study of active shooters show that the shooter terminates the action, prior to a law enforcement arrival almost 70% of the time.  My suspicion is as soon as the reality of the event deviates from the shooter’s fantasy, the end is near.  From that standpoint any resistance on the part of the intended victims is worth trying.

That does not excuse any institution from implementing realistic security protocols to meet realistic threats. If the threat environment involves armed suspects then the security response can be no less.

Here is one school Principal’s  take on the Active Shooter Training.  Not sure, but I feel the lesson may have been lost between the classroom and the Principal’s office.

 W.F. Burns Middle School Principal Priscella Holley asked parents to have each student bring an 8-ounce canned item. “The canned food item could stun the intruder or even knock him out until the police arrive,” Holley wrote. “The canned food item will give the students a sense of empowerment to protect themselves and will make them feel secure in case an intruder enters their classroom.”

Using cans or other items as weapons would be a last resort for students unable to evacuate, Hodge told the AP.Teachers are taught to barricade classroom doors if an intruder is in the school, but if that fails, the cans and items such as textbooks could be used, she said.“If somebody is going to force their way through, then as the last resort you would start throwing any objects you could get your hands on,” Hodge said.

So many questions.  Given the prevalence of Islamic terrorists is SPAM or DEVILED HAM off the list of acceptable canned goods?  When would it be appropriate to drop a can of DINTY MOORE into a tube sock in order to turn it into a bludgeon?

Have the people who came up with the can drive checked classroom doors?  Is shelter in place viable?  Most standard door locks will not stand up to two or three good kicks. In residential construction the door jam fails.  In commercial construction (metal jams) the lockset fails due to faulty installation. Wooden wedges kicked in under a door that opens into a classroom, may provide additional protection.

I have actually heard of an instance where canned beans were instrumental in capturing a suspect.  The suspect came into a Stop & Rob late at night, placed a can of beans on the counter and then asked the female clerk for a pack of cigarettes.  The brand that suspect asked for were behind the clerk and below counter level.  She retrieved the cigarettes and as she turned back observed that the suspect had laid his penis out on the counter, now at her eye level since she was still in the process of standing up. She grabbed the can of beans and slammed it down on the suspect’s penis.  He screamed and fell down and was still there when the police arrived to take him away.  I guess there are two points to be made here 1. In the right hands a can of beans can be a viable weapon and 2. had the suspect planned better he would have purchased a loaf of bread.