We Should Follow Israel’s Already Proven Lead on Dealing with School Shootings

If one nation knows how to work properly around the threat of terrorism, it’s the nation of Israel, who is beset on all sides by their enemies and is under threat 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In terms of school shootings, Israel also has methods in dealing with the scenarios like the one we saw on Wednesday in Broward County, Florida, and according to Lawrence Meyers writes over at Town Hall, they’ve been putting that practice to use with great success for 40 years.

And the solution is very simple, wrote Meyers, but the solution came after Israel endured a very horrific atrocity at the hands of Palestinian terrorists:

In 1974, Israel endured the Ma’alot Massacre in which “Palestinian” terrorists took 115 people hostage at Netiv Meir Elementary School.  Twenty-two children and three others were killed and 68 injured.  Israel now requires schools with 100 or more students to have a guard posted. The civilian police force handles the entire security system of all schools from kindergarten through college.  The Ministry of Education funds shelters and fences, reinforces school buses, and hires and trains guards.

Guards don’t just stand around.  They check everyone entering, and engage threats.

And yeah, they’ve got guns.The lawful purposes for carrying guns are very clear: protect school personnel and students, create a sense of security, deter the ill-intentioned, and provide self-defense.

I wrote earlier today that the easiest method by which to stop a killer is to put someone equally ready to kill in defense in front of him or her. Some school districts have already begun to do this, and there are workshops out there that promote the training of teachers and staff in firearm use, and the correct tactics to use in defense of the school and its students.

But Israel takes it one step further. They also train their students. Instead of just hiding, or freezing in times of danger, students are taught proactive ways to make the gunman’s job more difficult. This includes using things found in the classroom to form a barricade around the door, taking opportune moments to get somewhere safe while the shooter can’t fire due to reloading or weapon malfunctions.

At this time, many schools have fire drills despite the fact that serious, life threatening fires are very uncommon thing to see, yet despite the rise in school shootings, there is no plan in place on how to deal with one should one start.

As Meyers says, helpless is the current state of our school systems in the face of a violent shooter:

Because right now, America is the deer-in-headlights.  Gun control debates are a distraction and impractical, and criminals ignore laws anyway. Crazy people are obviously not being dealt with properly – students at Parkland even predicted this would happen.

Gun control debates are indeed impractical, as there is no further law we can pass that would prevent shootings like this, and due to guns being ingrained into our very culture, ridding the country of guns is nigh impossible.

The solution to limiting the destruction that occurs during school shootings, if not stopping it completely, is armed guards and student training. It’s worked for a nation with enemies living literally right next door, and it’ll work for the United States.

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