There’s an old saying: practice makes perfect

Sadly, that adage doesn’t always prevent shooting massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Yes, schools can conduct drills to help them deal with tragedies like the one in Newtown, Conn. Law-enforcement and emergency-medical personnel can train and train to respond to such tragedies. The problem is they usually respond after lives have been taken and people have been seriously injured. They usually don’t prevent such tragedies. Often, the gunman or gunmen behind such carnage take their own lives after taking the lives of others.

That doesn’t mean first responders should forgo such training. They need as much training as they can get, just in case there’s a similar event in which the perpetrator doesn’t take his or her life, but continues to murder and maim innocent people.

It’s comforting to know the Highway Patrol office in Washington, law-enforcement officers and EMS personnel work with local school officials to make our schools safe.

We like what Highway Patrol First Sgt. Brandon Craft said about this issue.

“As a law-enforcement officer, and especially as a parent, I take great comfort in knowing our school system has been making efforts to be proactive when it comes to the safety of our schools. Having the opportunity to be a part of the drills and planning alongside the schools will only make us stronger if and when we do carry out a response to an incident on a campus,” he said.

Amen and amen.