I got a call from a school superintendent last week. There was a threat against a school. There would be a shooting involving a rifle during the 6th period that day. The attack didn’t happen, but the school and law enforcement took it seriously.
If this was terrorists’ probing, it gave them a good look at the response they will need to contend with when they execute a mass hostage siege at our schools.
This is just one event. But it is just the latest in a series of events I’m aware of where there is a threat against a school, but no threat materializes. Sometimes these can be easily be explained as a kid trying to cancel class to get out of taking an exam he’s not prepared for. But it is becoming more common that we don’t find any such explanation.
What is going on?
Before terrorists attacked our airlines, they profiled. They researched. They studied. Mohamad Atta was a frequent flier who spent years putting together the teams, the plan, and the specific flights they would hijack. Terrorists put in great effort before an event because they know planning greatly increase the probability of success. On 9/11/2001, they had success while we suffered failure.
Terrorists have told us they will target out kids. They have slaughtered school children in many other countries, and there are many clues that indicate they are well into the planning stages in the United States.
Law enforcement is familiar with the spectre of an “unholy trinity:” State-sponsored terrorists organizations, (Al Qaeda/ISIS/Hamas) Mexican drug lords, and U.S. gangs (MS-13 is estimated to have over 20,000 members in the United States). Terrorists pay the drug lords to import key terrorists, who work with the gangs to pull off an attack on our kids.
In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, there were several stories about terrorism. The caption under a front page photo of Israeli forces behind burning tires stated, “…Hamas calling for in escalation of the confrontation.” In “Obama’s options narrow in Syria”, they noted that the “Pentagon abandons plan” and “President Barack Obama is picking from two bad options for how to respond.” And in “America’s fading footprint in the Middle East,” the subtitle is, “As Russia bombs and Iran plots, the U.S. role is shrinking – and the region’s major players are looking for new ways to advance their own interests.”
As the saying goes, we can fight them there, or we can fight them here. It is obvious to all that we chose not to fight them there.
The terrorists have told us that blood will run in our streets, that they will kill our children, who they see as “noble targets.” We have a clearer picture that they will attack our schools like they did in Beslan, Russia than we had prior to the 9/11 attacks. And yet most don’t take this threat seriously.
I just spoke to a woman- a mother – who has offered to pay for her school board to attend the upcoming seminar with John Giduck. She knows that just because you can’t stop every threat does not mean we should not try our best to do everything we can.
It scares me what we are seeing. It scares superintendents I know that others in their profession are not taking this threat seriously.
On October 24, we are bringing in our nation’s expert to talk about what happened in Russia, and what is likely being planned for our schools right now. He will discuss what lessons can be learned and what steps can be taken by schools and law enforcement to be better prepared. We encourage you to attend “Preparing for Terror – The Massacre coming to your School.”
Jim Irvine is the Buckeye Firearms Association President, BFA PAC Chairman and recipient of the NRA-ILA’s 2011 “Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award” the CCRKBA’s 2012 “Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award,” and the SAF’s 2015 “Defender of Freedom Award.“