# Are you required to do active shooter training for work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830 "2019-07-10T13:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/21 "2019-07-10T16:12:22Z")
I work for a very large company. We have training for a lot of things, like using fire extinguishers, emergency evacuation, how to protect proprietary information, but nothing on active shooters. Don’t give them any ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/22 "2019-07-10T16:26:15Z")
Working in a 9-1-1 center we have two kinds of Active Shooter training. One where we are handling the call for an active shooter somewhere else and another where we are experiencing the Active Shooter in our own building. As far as how prevalent they are, All of my police departments have people that do the training for local businesses, churches etc. Just a guess, but I’d say we probably get two or three calls a week from people asking for the training. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/23 "2019-07-10T16:31:16Z")
My employer insists I remain proficient in multiple types of firearms and be willing to use them as needed. Boss is a real stickler about this, and even makes me work weekends without paying overtime at least twice a month. What an asshole. Huh? Well, yes…I am self employed. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/24 "2019-07-10T16:34:05Z")
Federal government – yearly, plus drills. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/25 "2019-07-10T16:34:05Z")
I work at a medium-sized university. Staff and faculty have had an active shooter training. My role has no interaction with the university’s students and is based off campus so I’m unaware of if they’ve had it too. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/26 "2019-07-10T16:36:23Z")
No active shooter drills here. Quarterly fire drills where 1/5 of the building stays inside are our staple however. The closest I had to a threat was when an employee called into work threatening people and the cops were called. I came back from lunch and mgt had had an impromptu emergency meeting where they talked about the threat but did not name the employee! I later found out who he was after one of the callees told me. The funny thing was that my employer-large govt contractor-did not see fit to actually fire him for almost 3 months. They also hired extra security around the building and even had what they thought was his house watched. I know this because I was asked to process the Pinkerton invoices which totaled over $30k. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/27 "2019-07-10T16:36:30Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > No shooter drills. UK based. > > We do have the occasional (roughly every six months) “invacuation” exercise in the event that there is a credible bomb threat outside the building, but it’s not really something we worry about much. Same. Back in the 80s, we used to have those at my school, due to heightened fears of IRA bombings (this was in Birmingham, about ten years after the pub bombings, hence the paranoia). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/28 "2019-07-10T16:55:09Z")
I work for a major financial firm in the Chicago Loop. It’s not required, everyone in this office has passed an FBI background check. We did occasionally have emergency terrorism drills as the office is very near the Sears Tower which might be a terrorist target. It’s kinda stupid that they keep the stairwells locked except in an emergency. It’s fairly common that I have to a conference room on the floor below and I have to waste time waiting for the elevator for one floor. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/29 "2019-07-10T17:19:21Z")
I am a teacher and it is required. In fact, we also attended a training for our local SWAT team and they came in with actors pretending to be shooters and they did a full SWAT procedure drill. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/30 "2019-07-10T17:32:50Z")
No active shooter training here. We do have a script for taking a bomb threat call. Nobody I know keeps it by their phone, so I’m guessing that most folks would wing it. There’s an overhead code for “I need help at the window” and one for “There’s a gun at the window, call the cops and stay away”, but no specific training on how to respond to either. The door codes are changed when a disgruntled employee leaves and pictures are posted if someone has publicly threatened city employees. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/31 "2019-07-10T19:20:37Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, my company, too. > > And we _had_ an active shooter. Four people killed and two injured. One of the injured was a guy in my work group who got a stray bullet in the leg that went through his cubicle partition. I was off work that day (thank god!), but people told me they were squished into the few meeting rooms that were the only spaces (other than bathrooms) with full height walls and doors. > > Our shooter was a disgruntled employee with specific people he was targetting, so it could have been worse. Good grief!! Yeah, our meeting rooms all have frosted glass walls, so…::shrugs:: We all joke that if it ever happens the two (single person) bathrooms are going to be like clown cars. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/32 "2019-07-10T20:35:30Z")
Work in a big box store. We have the video version of active shooter training. No active shooters, but we had one person on third shift beaten up and forced to show thieves where the expensive electronics were several years ago, and last night one of workers at the ancillary gas station was mugged going to her car after her shift - we worry about crime, not so much the _shooters_ although we keep in mind the possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/33 "2019-07-10T20:58:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Federal government – yearly, plus drills. This, except neither is mandatory. I went to the classroom training once a few years ago, plus I’ve seen a few active-shooter YouTube videos. I get the idea. The drill involves someone walking through our facility with a cap gun, simulating an active shooter. There’s a designated hour on a designated day in a designated part of our facility when this is supposed to happen, and people who don’t want to participate are allowed to be elsewhere in the facility during the drill window period. When the “shooter” shows up, we’re supposed to just hide, which basically means close your office door, turn off your lights, and be quiet. We’re not supposed to move furniture to blockade doors, and we’re not supposed to attack the “shooter” with blunt objects. So the drill, ISTM, is of pretty limited value. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/34 "2019-07-10T21:01:19Z")
I work at a large federal facility near Washington DC We have to watch a video or go to a class once a year. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/35 "2019-07-10T22:01:26Z")
I work alone at home. If an active shooter enters the house, I’m dead. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2019, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/36 "2019-07-11T10:14:27Z")
It was required at my job. I retired recently and assume it still is. By a happy accident, my retirement date was a few weeks before the dates to take this and the other annoying crap we’re required to sit thru. I got a kick out of watching the email countdowns and ignoring them (“The following training is due in X days, please logon to corporate training website and…”). ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/37 "2019-07-12T18:55:23Z")
Nationwide retail company: On-line training required annually. No actual drills. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/38 "2019-07-12T19:51:17Z")
Yes. Training every year and “exercises” 5-6 times a year that everybody ignores. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/39 "2019-07-12T20:06:26Z")
I work at a college, so we have training, but no drills. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/40 "2019-07-13T01:22:40Z")
My job offered me optional training in handgun, rifle, and shotgun (including riot shotgun) out at the range. I did the training. We actively shot. It turns out I’m a pretty good shot, even though I rarely fire a weapon. But that riot shotgun really made my shoulder hurt for weeks. So, um, yes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830.md?page=3)