Are you listening Ash Carter?

Via WISTV:

Leaders of South Carolina’s Army National Guard declared their new readiness for a terrorist attack or active shooter crisis at a guard facility.

Within the past few weeks, guard representatives said they had managed to train and equip with concealed weapons, guard members at all 68 guard facilities in the state to provide a first line of defense before law enforcement can arrive at a scene.

“Normally, an active shooter incident you’re probably getting four engagements per minute or so. That’s one person killed every 18 seconds,” explained South Carolina Adjutant General Bob Livingston, “and law-enforcement can get to our place very quickly, about 5 to 12 minutes response time, that’s not fast enough.”

Since October, some 200 guard members have received concealed weapons training from SLED, more like police training than their usual combat training. Those guard members were then stationed at guard stations with concealed weapons, which Livingston described as mostly police-style handguns, but can include long weapons, if necessary.

“The intent on the front end is to deter any would be attacker,” he said. “So we are not going to talk about exactly how we have people armed or who is armed. We just want people to know that we’re armed. And we have the capability of defending ourselves and those around us.”

Livingston labeled the enhanced security something the guard has adopted reluctantly as it tries to remain an accessible part of the community it serves.

“It’s sad,” he said. “It’s a sad commentary on our world that we are having to arm our facilities throughout the United States. It is a balancing act between that very strong bond with the community and being prepared to deal with a bad actor that comes through that community.”

Livingston explained that a big part of the guard’s training was when to draw their weapons and shoot and when not to. For any situation short of a life-threatening active shooter, he said, the likeliest course would be for guard members simply to call civilian law enforcement.

“Not trying to turn this into the Wild, Wild West,” he said.