http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI5EoWBRYmo&list=UUpkaznWj_9PIVgO0BRKXu8w&index=1

Aside from the 50’s style voice-over (same guy who did Duck and Cover) and creepy music, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Active Shooter video’s a good thing, not a bad thing. It’s chock full of helpful tips for people facing an active shooter (a.k.a., madman with a gun). What’s missing, of course: any mention of armed self-defense. Luckily, we’re about to publish a major series from David Kenik on that very topic. Meanwhile, I find it a bit worrying that the DHS is getting into the public information business. You?

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33 COMMENTS

  1. Judge all you want, but something tells me that most of these issues could have been solved if schools allowed concealed carry on campus.

    • I completely agree. Eliminate gun free zones and allow those who have one through the process to obtain a carry permit to exercise it. The beauty of conceal carry compared to an armed guard or two is that you don’t know who they are or how many are carrying. Not only do I think it would be more effective than hiring guards, but it would be drastically cheaper ($0 as opposed to…pick a number ending in ‘illions’).

  2. DHS: “Citizen Smith you will exercise today as you have been instructed. The camera-eye in your apartment is always watching you. Big Brother & Big Sister love you Citizen Smith”.

  3. I too detect a bit of the Goebbels showing through. The very name of the DHS offended me when the Bush admin coined it. I suspect I am not alone in thinking that a political crew from Chicago shouldn’t be in charge of anything national at the moment, least of all social policy or gun rights reduction. As I read it, the Chicago guys realized that they couldn’t fix their horrible debt and crime problems, so they decided the national stage might allow them to transform the entire country to replicate Chicago. Ergo, Chicago would not look like such a nightmare of misconceived governance. It would look, instead, the same as all the big cities once those are transformed. “Misery,” said Aesop, “loves company.”

    • That moniker Department of Homeland Security smacked of everything Madison avenue, combined with everything totalitarian, ground into one nasty sausage.

      A wonderful way to gather disparate fiefdoms of CIA/NSA/FBI/LE under one tent. Sure they still all have their own sandbox, but now there’s one bully to run the whole playground. And woe unto him who does not yield.

      Oh yeah. This is gonna go great…

  4. What, A butter knife isn’t good enough anymore? Remember, never walk in the direction of the shooter & always try to run or hide, yeah, thats much better than trying a WWF clothsline on the perp. Randy

  5. imagine the mayhem if everybody ran around with scissors…who is the bad guy…with all of those scissors it is hard to tell who is who…just sayin’

  6. The government used to tell school kids to curl up under their desks in case of a nuclear attack, too. They had instructional videos and everything.

    • I remember those days quite well. And using your desk as cover in a nuclear attack makes about as much sense as trying to take down an active shooter with a pair of scissors.

      • Government idea: attack shooter with scissors.
        Patriot idea: attack shooter with well-placed gunfire.

        I’ll go with the second option, thanks.

  9. I’m hoping the sequel instructs people how to break the glass over the Office AR and begin applying its contents to the Active Shooter, uh, liberally.

  10. I am sure this was a Gun Free Zone they show everybody in. Nope, don’t want somebody stopping the shooter before the police get there.

  11. Did anyone else notice how the Fort Hood shooter was lumped in
    with the two nutcases from Virginia Tech and Arizona? All active
    shooters but only one a bona fide terrorist tied to islamic
    fundamentalism. I’m curious to know whether Fort Hood was
    picked simply as an example or to further downplay threats
    from islamic extremism?

    As far as the commercial itself is concerned, I’m torn. Yes DHS
    doing PSA announcements is odd, but it’s hard enough to get
    people to take training (even for there own safety) seriously.
    Even now, outside of teachers who are current/former LEOs,
    fire, EMS, military, how many will actively seek out OPSEC
    and situational awareness training? Is the PSA going to help?
    Maybe not, but how much will it really hurt?
    Here’s a thought, instead of spending money on PSAs that may
    or may not help, mandate that all teachers must take some
    form of security training regarding active shooters and
    situational awareness to maintain their teaching certificates.
    Before everyone starts throwing epithets at me find someone
    who works in law enforcement, or fire/ems and ask them how
    hard it is to get these professionals to take subjects like
    terrorism seriously, especially in more rural areas. The thought
    of “it’ll never happen here” is extremely pervasive and often
    overrides common sense. A few states, such as Maine, have
    to resort to withholding funds from police and fire to force them
    to take an awareness level class about HazMat/WMDs, terrorism,
    OPSEC etc… If it’s this hard to get professionals whose responses
    include the mentioned topics, to take relevant training; how
    are you going to get your average teacher to do the same?

  13. The same DHS that bought M-16s and millions and millions of rounds of ammunition for their own use…but for us “Citizens” the advice is “hide or find a pair of scissors”…FOADIAF DHS….

    • You have to take into account, The DHS is about protecting the few that rule the many. Got to have lots of guns and ammo.

  14. It’s a shame that nobody ever acknowledges that being legally armed exists. Quick lead’s usually the best medicine for these scenarios.

  15. And just like that the following will happen:

    1. 5.11 will introduce a line of Tactical Scissors.
    2. Paypal will cancel any account involved in scissors transactions.
    3. Barbers will need to undergo mental health screenings.

    etc…

  16. The Department of Homeland Insecurity left out the part about bending over and kissing your @ss goodbye. Maybe they’ll do that in the sequel.

  17. A good pair of tactical scissors should never be overlooked…but when the SHTF for real I break out my red swing line assault stapler! High capacity magazine and all. Take that DHS!

  18. Close and move away from OUTSIDE windows???? Not sure how that will help with an active shooter INSIDE the building….

    • Maybe so if they set up a police/SWAT sniper dude on a roof, he doesn’t mistake you with your scissors as a hostile?

  19. I don’t understand.
    Where does the Pic rail go on a pair of scissors?
    Where do you mount the flashlight?
    Will scissors now be available in Zombie Green? Surely FDE?
    Are there scissors with a shoulder thing that goes up?
    DHS has obviously not thought this through.

  20. Hey DHS! Didn’t the Safety Police already put blunt scissors in schools? That would work almost as good as throwing a weekly reader at the shooter. Brilliant thinking from the oh so not pratical anything but a gun to protect ourselves crowd. Better to noogie pinch’em them with a staple remover. That will at least leave marks.

  21. DHS, Consolidated National Federal Police Force. Nappy and her girls have got our backs. Same old same old, still the CIA/FBI/BATF/NSA, and the rest of the can of alphabet soup. If they don’t do their job and co-operate with each other, an umbrella cover name is not going to help. Just another redundancy to budget. Disband, de-staff DHS, and let the pros do their job. It is a thankless job. I would not want it. Never occurred to whoever came up with this inane title, to just call it “The Office Of Security For The United States”. Perhaps that would have been politically incorrect? Or, maybe the security of the United States is not about the citizens’ security?

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