NACOGDOCHES, TX (KTRE) -
All sorts of complex "fixes"
are being thrown out by politicians and citizens on how to prevent future
school shooting. Today in Nacogdoches, a trained, active shooter-responder
offered East Texas News a "simple solution."
Retired US Army Special
Operations Master Sgt. Paul Howe joins the nation's sadness over the latest
school shooting.
"It was like a kick in the gut,"
Howe said.
But more than others, the
former assault team leader, sniper, and senior instructor in Army Special Operations
is also growing weary of the "lip service about protecting our children."
"The only way to protect them
is put an officer there," Howe said.
The owner of Combat Shooting
and Tactics, a training ground for active shooter response teams, said an armed,
trained officer in every school is a simple solution to senseless
massacres.
"When that person knows that
this is a police presence or an armed presence, they kill themselves, and
that's problem solved right there, but you've got to have somebody on-site to
do that," Howe said.
Howe wrote the book on training
for the fight against active shooters. He claims response time and skill can
match any high-powered weapon.
"It's the person actually
driving the gun, so if they can make the hit, they can stop the problem," Howe
said.
So why not arm teachers and
staff with guns?
"Maybe as a combat vet or a
military timer or a former police officer, yep, they could probably do a lot of
good, but for the average teacher, no, I don't think it's a good idea," Howe
said.
Instead Howe suggested training
officers who already have the mindset of being capable of taking a deadly
critical shot should it become necessary.
"I have to be able to change
the angle, right, left, up or down and I can change which way that bullet goes
through the target," Howe said. "And the answer is if you can't make the shot,
you don't pull the trigger."
Howe said he believes issues
lie shielding guns from the mentally ill and ending the glamorization of
violence should be addressed too.
"I've seen people die; it's not
glamorous," Howe said.
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