[Gary L. Griffiths]

I am a retired Special Agent of the US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), and for the past thirteen years, have been Director of Advanced Force Tactics, Inc., a company devoted to providing training in judgmental use-of-force and gunfighting tactics to law enforcement and armed security agencies nationwide.

Like all Americans, I was heartsick to hear of the tragic mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. It is especially poignant to me, because for years I have trained the Fairfield University Department of Public Safety in nearby Fairfield, Connecticut.

As a consequence of this tragedy, there have been calls for a new ban on “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines. That won’t prevent future tragedies like Sandy Hook. There are tens of thousands of these weapons and hundreds of thousands of these magazines in the hands of law-abiding Americans, and these are the very types of weapons that our forefathers envisioned our having when they ratified the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

The ONLY effective way to stop an active shooter bent on killing is IMMEDIATE armed response. It is a truism that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. That was never truer than at Sandy Hook. Some propose allowing teachers and school staff to carry concealed weapons in schools, if they have concealed weapons permits. This might well stop an active shooter, or, if made known, dissuade a potential shooter from even attempting a mass murder. But allowing teachers to carry their concealed weapons would open the possibility that unauthorized persons could gain access to the weapons if left in a purse, briefcase, or desk drawer. Moreover, the responding teacher would be at a severe disadvantage in using a pocket pistol to confront a gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle or shotgun, possibly wearing body armor. Finally, there would be a severe risk that a teacher attempting to intervene in an active shooting incident would be shot on sight by responding law enforcement officers.

Based on my training and experience training law enforcement agencies all over the country, I believe there is a better solution to effective immediate armed response while minimizing the risk to the armed responder. A fellow law enforcement trainer has accurately called active school shooters “monsters.” Every school building in the country has fire extinguishers to enable teachers and staff to fight fires, should they occur. I believe that schools should also have “monster extinguishers” strategically located throughout the campus – a securely locked container holding an easy-to-use rifle, such as an M-1 Carbine or AR-15, plus an armored and distinctively marked “raid jacket” that would instantly identify the responder to law enforcement responders and provide some modicum of protection from the shooter. Specially trained volunteer teachers and staff members would have keys to these containers, and would be able to respond instantly with effective lethal force to terminate the threat. The rifle is much easier to shoot accurately in an emergency than a handgun, and would penetrate all but the most cumbersome body armor.

Congress must resist the temptation to infringe on our Second Amendment rights, and to consider this proposal as an effective substitute.