Fear, rumors not the biggest problem

Details were still being pieced together Monday afternoon, but it appears a crazed gunman opened fire at different sites over a period of several hours Monday morning on the sprawling campus of Virginia Tech University, killing at least 32 before turning his weapon on himself.

(The electronic media immediately dubbed the incident the "worst shooting massacre in U.S. history." Those who remember how 300 Sioux -- many of them women and children -- came to die in the snow at Wounded Knee in 1890, for the "crime" of one old man found in possession of a rifle, might disagree.)

Many who wish sections of the Bill of Rights could be ignored or repealed have ridiculed Nevada state Sen. Bob Beers for introducing legislation this year which would again "allow" specially trained Nevada classroom teachers to carry handguns, a step intended to dissuade or (in a last resort) halt any such attack on school grounds here in the Silver State.

Testifying against Sen. Beers' bill in Carson City March 29, Ken Young of the Clark County School District Police said armed teachers are not needed. Why?

Back when two gunmen invaded Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, Mr. Young explained, a mind-set still prevailed in which police would hang around for hours -- allowing victims to bleed to death, in that case -- waiting for a specially armed and trained police SWAT team to arrive before entering a campus where a shooting had been reported.

But that's all changed now, Mr. Young explained. Since 12 students and a teacher died at Columbine, police all across the country -- all across the country -- have changed the way they respond to reports of people with guns inside schools.

Now, instead of waiting for a SWAT team to arrive, police are trained to enter school grounds much more quickly to eliminate the threat. That's why armed teachers are not needed to put an end to any such incident, Mr. Young explained.

At Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, it appears the shooter killed two people in a dormitory around 7 a.m., and that the first 9-1-1 call came in around 7:15.

Were all students promptly informed there'd been a shooting, so they could flee or lock their doors? (They could not legally arm themselves. Sen. Beers reports Virginia legislators last year defeated a bill that would have "allowed" those with permits to carry self-defense arms on campus; a Virginia Tech spokesman thanked the lawmakers "because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.")

Did Virginia Tech police quickly secure the campus and "eliminate the threat"? Apparently not. Students who were in the engineering classroom after 9:30 a.m. when the gunman arrived and started shooting there say they had been unaware, up till then, that people had been killed at the dormitory across campus more than two hours before.

University President Charles Steger explained later in the day that it's hard to reach everyone on such a large campus, but also that he'd been concerned about, "People putting out all kinds of rumors that were creating fear and uncertainty on campus."

Well, good heavens. Wouldn't want anyone to have experienced any "fear" after the 7 a.m. shootings.

Yes, people can be trampled in a crowd. But believe it or not, there are times when "remaining calm and staying where you are" is not the best solution. (Think Sept. 11.)

Because authorities "assumed" the shooter had left the area, it now appears the culprit was free to walk across campus and open fire again, more than two hours later.

And this is why there's no need to allow specially trained teachers to carry arms to defend themselves and their students, you see. Because campus police "all across the country" now have new training and procedures which guarantee they can and will swarm the school grounds much more quickly to "eliminate the threat."

Even as administrators worry about spin and damage control, fretting about "people putting out all kinds of rumors" that might "create fear and uncertainty on campus."