By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
University Police Chief Monica Moll is unconcerned about the prospect of allowing concealed carry of weapons on campus.
Speaking to the faculty Senate at Bowling Green State University, she said the scenarios posited by both sides of the debate are unlikely to occur.
A disgruntled student intent of wreaking havoc will get a weapon and won’t bother with getting a concealed carry permit. Given a resident must be 21 to get one, most students are ineligible anyway. So she doubts there would be a dramatic increase in weapons on campus.
On the other side, having an armed citizen with a weapon stop an active shooter is unlikely. While civilians with weapons have intervened in some situations, that’s not likely to happen in an active shooter situation where even a highly trained police officer can find it difficult to deliver the kill shot to a moving target among innocent bystanders.
“For me it’s not going to be the end of the world either way,” the police chief said.
House Bill 48, which is now awaiting consideration in the State Senate loosens concealed carry regulations on campuses and other settings. If it were passed, any change would have to be approved by the university trustees, and Moll expressed doubt that the trustees would take such an action.
Moll addressed the senate about the evolving strategies for handling active shooter situations. She prefaced her remarks by saying though such incidents have dominated the news of late, they are still highly unlikely. Tornadoes are more of a threat to BGSU.
Still she spoke about how police now handle such a crisis. Gone are the days when the job of local police was to secure the perimeter of the crime scene and call in a SWAT team which could take an hour to arrive. Meanwhile the killing would continue. Most such incidents are over within minutes. Now police go in singly or in pairs to locate and take out the perpetrator.
The advice to those caught up in such a situation has changed. No longer are people advised to lock the doors and hide. Now they are urged to escape if possible, and if be prepared to fight back necessary. All this is spelled out in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) Training. Unfortunately all these insights come from experience.
Still an active shooter is not at the top of the list of what Moll worries about. Alcohol use, sexual violence and mental health issues top her list.
The first two concerns are closely related, Moll said.
Moll said mental health issues are her “number one concern.” Those with mental health issues are far more likely to hurt themselves than others, Moll said.
She urged faculty to be aware of changes in behavior of colleagues, staff as well as students, and reach out to help and connect those is need with campus resources that can address their problems.
