# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/41 "2019-07-13T01:41:38Z")
I’ve trained to respond to active shooters at other businesses. Nothing mandatory with regards to our building but the principles are the same. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/42 "2019-07-13T01:51:15Z")
No such training offered at my workplace. In an active shooter situation, I fully expect to be deployed as a human shield. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/43 "2019-07-13T02:25:16Z")
My job does not offer/require it. I’m in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/44 "2019-07-13T03:04:45Z")
I’m in Canada. No training or drills for active shooter. We did recently put locks on the doors into our area from the elevator landing. Before that, the doors were kept open except at lunch hour. We do have a script in case someone calls us with a bomb threat. I read it when it first came out a few years ago. Fire drills once or twice a year. We gather at the muster point down the street and then go for coffee at Tims. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/45 "2019-07-13T03:13:05Z")
Sort of. I’m a US federal employee, we have an security refresher course that we are forced to take every year. Most of it is about computer security but they added a section about emergency preparedness that includes a few slides on active shooters. Otherwise no. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/46 "2019-07-13T04:17:32Z")
It’s an annual requirement. Along with workplace harassment, how to spot phishing emails/social engineering attacks, and 4 or 5 others. I just wait for them to pop up on my calendar and let them run in the background while I do actual work. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/47 "2019-07-13T04:18:43Z")
I work in a secure facility that’s part of a large university. We have active shooter training every year that’s recommend, but not required. I go voluntarily. We had an active shooter on the main campus once. That was enough. > **[Charles Whitman](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman)** > > Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was an American mass murderer who became known as the "Texas Tower Sniper". On August 1, 1966, Whitman used knives to kill his mother and his wife in their respective homes, then went to the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) with multiple firearms and began indiscriminately shooting at people. He fatally shot three people inside UT Austin's Main Building, then accessed the 28th-floor observation deck on the building's clock tower. Th... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/48 "2019-07-13T12:01:47Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > 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? Did the training lead to a bump in pay? My son works in a prison, and every weapon/technique he trains and qualifies for leads to a small pay bump. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/49 "2019-07-13T12:14:58Z")
I work night audit at a hotel, so no. We do have a script we’re supposed to follow in case of a bomb threat but since **my** plan is me calling 911 from off property I ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![MartinLane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f17d59/32.png) [@MartinLane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MartinLane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/50 "2019-09-09T05:22:19Z")
Navy Shipyard, active shooter training complete online each year. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/51 "2019-09-09T07:44:08Z")
I work at a pretty big hospital. It’s a small part of our annual safety training, which is divided into fire safety, emergency preparedness, and hazard communication. The emergency preparedness section has a security emergency subsection – the plurality of that talks about missing persons, but active shooters, suspicious packages, hostages, and bomb threats each get a slide. Since we don’t have to take the training as long as we can pass the test each year, I voted no. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830/52 "2019-09-09T15:32:12Z")
My employer just started mandatory online training for all employees this year, and it was the second training we were required to complete. (The first was “Heat Stress” and the next is “Distracted Driving.”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-required-to-do-active-shooter-training-for-work/836830.md?page=2)