Mall shooting?

[question everything]

There was a another mall shooting several days ago, in Maryland and I wonder: are the "powers that be" ready for the possibility that something like that may happen in the Mall of America? Or, at any of the "Dales?"

I know, I think, that all of them have the signs prohibiting guns in the mall. At least, I hope they do.

But why not have metal detectors at all the entrances? The entrances do not have to be manned, just emitting an alarm when a gun is detected? After all, we do have alarms for tags on clothes?

[blueridge3210]

1. False alarms

Said detectors would also alarm on car keys, cell phones, some shoes, medical devices, belt buckles etc. Without someone manning the station it would be worse than useless. The stations that alert to clothes tags are responding to the signal the tag sends out and nothing else.

[question everything]

2. I suppose. Thanks

Still, it just appears as if many just shrug to yet another news item of mall shooting, with no signs of alarm with the shooter. We hear the news, shake our heads and continue with our daily lives.

[sarisataka]

3. I hate to be a Danny downer...

but the answer is they think they are... But do you remember the 50 or so youths that caused trouble at MOA a year or so ago. They were able to carry on for quite a while before mall security got the situation under control.

I believe the malls all have signs but they are worth the paper they are printed on for two reasons
1) bad guy will not care what the sign says
2) in MN even if the sign complies with the law (MOA ones do not) they is no violation to carry past the sign until a person is asked to leave and refuses to do so; exactly the same as a business which posts no sign.

metal detectors could be useful but as pointed out have issues. To avoid false alarms they would have to be set high enough so it may be possible to get a small gun through without detection. They would need to be manned so to have someone investigate why the alarm goes off. Have you noticed that unless a person returns to the cashier when the exit a store and the anti-shoplifting alarm goes off, typically no one will react to the alarm? I see it at stores all of the time.

On the plus side metro area law enforcement does train for such incidents and from the bit I have seen have good response plans in case of such a shooting occurring.

[Jenoch]

4. The MOA has been open for more than 22 years.

How many mass shootongs have happened at MOA?