Reader Responses

In his letter on Aug. 31, Rod Whalen wrote about concealed handgun trainers telling us an attacker that would have to be shot before he gets closer than 21 feet.
The major problem arises when criminals are in proximity of an unarmed victim and fire at the victim execution-style. The unarmed victim is helpless to respond. Most criminals would retreat at the threat of an armed citizen.

His use of the phrase “double pump’ is incorrect. It is “double tap.” I believe that the “triple tap” and continuing to adjust aim points until the threat is stopped is more effective.

Mr. Whalen’s scenario of one teacher in one classroom at 21 or 22 feet is one-dimensional. Have we gone back to the one-room school house? Suppose the attacker does take the teacher’s gun away. There would probably be other teachers licensed to carry that could still take out the attacker. This would still be a better scenario than an execution-style massacre.

The best deterrent against a school massacre is to arm the teachers. They have done just that in Israel and you don’t hear of school shootings there. There are already multiple instances on our own campuses in the United States where a teacher or student has stopped an attacker by getting a gun from their car and going after the attacker. It wasn’t long ago that an armed church member stopped an attacker at a church.

I believe that the Harrold School Board has done the right thing to protect its schools.

Royce C. Hayes
Flint