In my previous article, I discussed practical solutions on how to address active shooter events. However, more ideas came to my differently functioning brain since publishing the article. I realized that my article was a bit passive in nature; it banked heavily on enabling. Thus, today I’ll argue for a much more active approach in solving this problem. I expect razor-sharp pitchforks…
Essentially my idea is to set-up an Amber Alert type of system for mass shootings. Gun owners would opt-in to the system, and if one of these events occurs within a 15-mile radius of their address or their phone, then they would receive a push notification. This notification would indicate the location of the active shooter event.
Recipients of the Amber Alert would have special access to bypass police perimeters and enter the building. To shield from legal liability, the recipient would agree (via signing up for this program) to waive all legal liabilities. After all, heading towards hostile gunfire is inherently dangerous.
From there, my idea is to keep the same bonus structure in place from the previous article, in which the kill shot is awarded the bonus payment. However, the civilian Amber Alert twist is that the bonus would be increased to $500,000 instead of $50,000 for police. Why the discrepancy? Police are trained professionals with the expectation of performance; all in a day’s work. Ordinary civilians, on the other hand, would be going above-and-beyond. The strength of this program is that it relies on the large pool of American civilians that:
- Are heavily armed
- Have (or at least care about) children
- Could use an extra $500,000
- All of the above
It is crucial to keep the notification range of the Amber Alert system narrow. It’s essentially a modern-day MinuteMan system. Shorter distances mean quicker response times from participants. In an active shooter scenario; time is of the essence.
This program would instantly harden inherently soft targets. Why? Simple, the short response times will virtually guarantee that the shooter will be met with fierce resistance. It’s one thing to deal with a city employee who’s content to sit around and collect a pension. It’s another thing entirely to deal with a properly motivated and heavily armed resistance hell-bent on taking your ass out. In case you haven’t’ noticed, armed civilians are quite effective at dealing with these problems.
Let’s face it, we as a society have the money, technology, and population to put this idea into place tomorrow if we want to. But that’s just it; we have to really want to. I hear some heavy-set klopping of Gucci heels getting closer and closer. Ahh…our good not-so-friend Karen has arrived to argue with me once again! What’ve you got for us, today?
“Dan, how does this program prevent mass shooters?” Prospective mass shooters seeing their fellow pieces-of-shit getting pumped full of lead shortly after their rampage starts is a message worth sending.
“Dan, this program is expensive!” Not really. According to the FBI, there were only 24 of these incidents last year. Thus, even 10x multiplying the payouts for civilians would only equate to $12,000,000. We’ve been able to find much more than $12,000,000 being spent on useless shit. $12,000,000 is a drop in the bucket for an impact that is clearly fucking worth it.
“Dan, allowing tacti-bros to walk past the yellow tape just makes the officers job’s harder!” Cry me a fucking river.
But to engage Karen’s point in good faith; an influx of new entrants into an active shooter zone could create confusion. However, building in the requirement that participants carry their Amber Alert-enabled devices on them when crossing police lines would be a nice start. Admittedly, I don’t have all the tactical answers on how to identify friend from foe under duress. But what I do know is that Do nothing and expect the problem to magically disappear hasn’t worked.
“So Dan, what if we roll out the program and the citizens who show up are outgunned?” Truthfully that indicates a failure of the local area’s gun laws than the program itself. Let’s face it, the perp is going to be rocking an AR-15 chambered in 5.56 with 30-round mags. If the local law-abiding populace cannot match that, then you don’t need a new Amber Alert system, you need a new state legislature. Vote the bastards out, sheeple!
“Well Dan, maybe we just need stricter gun contr-“ No, and shut the fuck up, Karen. Guns aren’t going anywhere. The Second Amendment exists. And I’m not trading my rights because of, again, two dozen lunaticsin a nation of 330 million people.
I don’t see you guys coming up with any better ideas…
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