NIU, one year later

I was a few miles away from Cole Hall when the infamous massacre happened, sitting in the break room at work. I first heard about the shooting from coworkers getting calls and texts on their cell phones from fellow students; needless to say it was among the most surreal experiences I've ever had. In the following weeks anyone expressing support for the idea that students (or any law-abiding citizens in this state) be allowed to properly defend themselves from subhuman piles of shit like Steven Kazmierczak via concealed-carry was usually dismissed as a right-wing nutjob. Imagine my surprise when I read the local paper one year later, only to find:

"...A number of campus police officers have also undergone specialized training to equip them to deal with the threat posed by 'an active shooter' on campus,' Grady said. The officers, Grady said, will be part of what he calls the CAMPUS program, an acronym for the Community Assault Mitigation Program for University Settings.

The program is essentially modeled after the federal Air Marshal program, which places undercover law enforcement agents on airline flights, specifically to reduce the threat posed by potential hijackers.

University officers in the CAMPUS program will be placed undercover among students on campus. Should a threat then present itself, the officers would be in place to neutralize the threat.

'They are constantly among the students,' Grady said. 'They are in classrooms, in the common areas, everywhere students gather. If a shooter were to become active on campus, he will have no idea who is in the room, or whether one of our officers is in there.'..."


Hmm, a number of people indistinguishable from the rest of the population, discreetly armed and ready to defend themselves and others, I swear I've heard that idea somewhere before...