Tuff's interview is a textbook explanation of how to calm down a disturbed individual. You do that by listening carefully to he is saying, and by telling him, as Tuff explains, that she understood what he was feeling. Then she started sharing some of her own stories, and establishing a personal connection with him by noting that her mother's maiden name was the same as his, and that she remembered his previous visit to the school. Here was a person determined, as he said, to end his life and take many people along with him. Tuff assured the gunman that he did not have to die that day, and that he might have something to live for, and he agreed to surrender peacefully.
Few people would deny that guns have their uses, and most people agree that armed security is appropriate in some situations. What we need to be wary of, however, are people who claim that the only way to respond to violence is with more violence. There are lots of other ways to deal with violence, and many effective means of resolving conflict that do not require force. We need to study those methods. Listening to Antoinette Tuff tell how she did it would be a good place to start.
The question for each of us is:
ReplyDeleteDo you want to be face to face with a mass murderer and talk him down. Or do you want to plant a bullet between his eyes. Or, run.
Each of us will answer differently. For the record I am from San Diego and I am a hugger.