EDITORIAL - Can’t stop mass shootings? Improve response

Not too long ago --in fact, just last week-- we wrote about how unfettered access to guns and exposure to radical ideas are major factors in mass shootings in the US. We ended that editorial with the warning that unless something is done, these incidents will continue.

And by now we all know what happened at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a few days ago.

But as opposed to harping on the same issues again, we are focusing on another aspect of this unfortunate phenomenon --the response of US authorities to an active shooter threatening a school.

It seems the US authorities are still not used to dealing with active shooters targeting schools. Kind of like the way the Philippine government is still not used to carrying out disaster response no matter how frequently we are hit by floods, typhoons, and other natural or man-made disasters.

In Uvalde, after shooting his grandmother, stealing her truck, and crashing it in a nearby ditch, it seems the shooter was able to just walk into the school without any resistance, visibly carrying a rifle.

Initially the school claimed the shooter was confronted by a “resource officer” who “engaged” him as he entered the school, but this report was later taken back.

The response of armed law enforcement officers was also questioned after it was established the shooter was in the school for almost an hour.

According to parents of students who rushed to the school after reports of gunshots, law enforcers set up a perimeter around the school but delayed taking other action. Some parents actually begged to be given a gun and a vest so they can storm the school themselves.

To be fair to those law enforcers, it is not advised to charge blindly into a situation where they themselves can become casualties, but this did not stop some critics, including those belonging to law enforcement agencies, from saying that their response could have been better or faster.

If US authorities cannot prevent mass shootings by clamping down on radical ideas or regulating guns --something their lawmakers are not likely to do considering their unholy alliance with the National Rifle Association-- the next best thing to do is to improve their response to active shooter scenarios.

There is another thing they can do, and that is make schools hard targets for even the best armed and equipped shooters. Prevention is better than cure after all. But considering how much that would cost, it’s not likely to happen.