Active shooter event // “Run, hide, fight”

Last July, Manu’s university sent to staff and students this very stunning video. At first sight, it just looks like an ad, but it’s definitely not. This film is very realistic and deals with active shooter events. It was release soon after the 2 tragic events of the summer. This video is supposed to prepare anybody to this type of attack insisting on the fact that it’s not that casual, and it happens. The clip isn’t very long, but I was completely into it and shocked. Frightening.

Millons of guns. I have to admit it, before coming to the USA I had this big cliché that people would carry a gun all the time. I realized it wasn’t true, at least from what I saw in Massachusetts. Law asks people who possesses guns to be registered to the police and to have a license. It suprises us, as European this “freedom”, but it still surprises American people such as one of our friend – when he saw a guy coming into a coffee shop in North Carolina with a gun on his pocket, he was pretty surprised too. But it must please some others… you can download plans to build a small riffle at home if you’ve got a 3D printer.

“It makes America safer”... Really? The ownership of a gun is implied in the Constitution – even if it’s not literally written: the Second Amendment of 1791 aims to give the right to citizens to avoid a too powerful federal government. This was at first a political decision for the right to insurrection and self-defense, specially in that very violent time of history. Little by little, the meaning has shifted: it becomes (from what I understand) more than a right but a duty towards community. This urge for community to be concerned by its safety is hard to understand for me… I wouldn’t ask anything to my neighbors to watch my apartment, but to the police – or government in general to protect me. Manu faced this issue as well in the university. When he arrived, a sheriff talked about security rules, which imply denunciation or “information”. Again, this is something I guess pretty despised in France – unless you are an actual witness. The city is full of “Crime Watch” signs: everything or everybody suspected has to be denounced to the police. I found this atmosphere pretty anxious is also due to the security alerts Manu’s got once in a while to avoid “crime scenes”, some streets where a robbery happened.

Strengthening gun rules? Politically, the situation evolves very slowly, because it would touch the Constitution and the holly American freedom. Tough each big event, such as  Colorado this summer, may change people thoughts towards this. It may be in Obama’s plans if he’s got reelected to strenghten gun rules. Tomorrow is one of the first big debate – election is in one month – we will follow this carefully!

This post was in limbo of the blog, I couldn’t finish it for a while, expecting “something” to happen. And I read this great post on LifeHacker – 5 Realizations that helped me write regulary – and I thought, ok let’s post it. Enought with procrastination…

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Mathilde

Mathilde

Rédactrice, grande organisatrice et réseau socialite du Blog de Mathilde. Quand je ne suis pas devant un écran, j'organise des visites guidées de Boston, là où j'ai fondé ma petite entreprise Boston le nez en l'air. Je suis aussi auteure de nombreux guides de voyages, de livres de yoga et de jeux chez des éditeurs français. Suivez-moi sur Instagram, Facebook ou Pinterest.

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