What is the difference between a “gun-free safety zone” and a free fire zone? The sign. It seems, at least at Fort Hood, that a shooter kills until confronted by anybody with a gun. Hence the more people given access to guns the sooner the shooter will meet armed resistance and the fewer people will die, from Richard Fernandez, Belmont Club [1]:
The phrase “shelter in place” has been used at least twice in the last few hours. The first was in reference to a shooting at Fort Hood. “The incident began shortly after 5 p.m., when Ft. Hood tweeted and broadcast an alarm that all personnel should take shelter in place” The second was to do with Kent State. “Kent State campus puts shelter in place after gunfire.”
Shelter in place, or hide under a desk and politely wait your tern to die.
Fernandez:
Gradually the word has morphed to mean to hide somewhere in case a roving shooter guns you down. Wikipedia notes: “The phrase has also erroneously been used, instead of the more accurate lockdown, to describe precautions to be taken by the public when violence has occurred or might occur (particularly in shootings) in the area and the perpetrator is believed to still be in the area but not apprehended. The public in the area is advised to carry out all the same tasks as a typical shelter-in-place but without the key step of sealing the shelter up to prevent outside air from circulating indoors, in this scenario people are simply urged to lockdown – stay indoors and “close, lock and stay away from external doors and windows.”
Soldiers have traditionally advanced towards the sound of gun fire. Shelter in place is an order act like a coward rather than a soldier. Luckily good soldiers sometimes disobey bad orders, from Fox News [2]:
Gripping accounts of heroism are emerging in the aftermath of Wednesday’s Fort Hood shooting massacre, including the story of one soldier who died trying to hold a door shut, preventing the gunman from killing dozens of military personnel packed inside the room.
Army Sgt. Danny Ferguson, who had just returned from deployment in Afghanistan, was killed while trying to keep the shooter from entering the room, Ferguson’s fiancee, Kristen Haley, told WTSP-TV.
Haley, also a soldier, told the station that Ferguson held the door shut “because it wouldn’t lock.”
Time to let our soldiers be soldiers again and let them defend themselved, every officer, commission or non-commission, should be armed. It will put a stop to having lone lunatics freely roam a free fire zone.