I find the conversation of arm-chair quarter backing going on relative to how poorly Norway handled the bombing/shooting event of July 22, 2011 instructive. It exposes our own naivety.  We probably agree that giving a person 90 minutes free-rein to shoot teenagers reflects poorly on planning and preparedness.  I argue, we would have done no better in this country.

Call me a cynic that all of our “active shooter” efforts post Columbine would not serve us well. Let’s not forget the Virginia Tech shooting eight years after Columbine showed we still had some problems.   Before we start pointing fingers and offering Norway solutions, lets take off our rose-colored glasses and honestly examine our efforts to prepare for such an event.

If someone told me an agency had a plan and exercised it to deal with an active shooter on a remote island with a youth camp, I would be amazed. I think we all would be deafened if we could here the “what if” conversations taking place behind closed doors in this country as I type.

Provide me an after action report of an exercise conducted on a remote island with a youth camp and an active shooter dated prior to July 22, 2011.  I suspect in a year’s time, there will be all kinds of them.