“Be prepared” is the motto of the Scout movement, but it is good advice in all endeavors, so we were glad to see a number of schools and agencies participating in “active resistance” training at Flathead High School last week.

No one wants to imagine a scenario where such training will be needed in our local schools, but that’s the whole idea of preparation — every contingency must be anticipated. Unfortunately, in our stressed-out society, that means being ready to confront an “active shooter” in a school, a store, a mall or a busy highway.

By all accounts, the training on Monday and Tuesday was highly successful in not just teaching the participants what to do in an emergency, but teaching them that they CAN do it.

Jim Stein, the Edgerton Elementary School Assistant Principal, appropriately noted, “I think what it does is it gives you the confidence and some skills — and kind of the permission to do what you need to do to protect kids, so if somebody’s at the door with a gun you’re going to do everything you can to stop it.”

Parents should also gain some confidence that their children are in good hands should the unthinkable ever happen. The dedication of teachers and other school personnel to ensuring the safety of their students was unmistakable at the training sessions.

We also note that in Wednesday’s paper, an accompanying front-page story told of Kalispell City Council members learning about the firearm training system located at Northwest Shooter near Columbia Falls.

The Kalispell Police Department co-owns the simulator system and uses it as its main training system in preparing for combat situations. Again, we don’t like to think of our local police as being engaged in armed combat, but the bad guys are highly weaponized, and police need to be prepared to respond.

Unfortunately the expensive system is also costly to maintain, and the Police Department needs $22,000 each year to extend the warranty and keep the system functioning. That money isn’t in the city budget, so Police Chief Roger Nasset invited council members to learn about the system and brainstorm how to keep it in use.

Private citizens are able to train on the system, as well as local, county, state and federal law enforcement. We wish Nasset well in finding a creative solution to funding this program.

It is a key component of public safety in Flathead County.