In case of massacre, make lots of noise, keep moving, kids told

Potentially fatal guidance for children has been conveyed to parents at PTA meetings while Congress avoids acting against guns used in school shootings, U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke told voters.

At a Feb. 24 stop in Waco, the El Paso congressman said: “How (expletive) up is it that PTA meetings are now being conducted to help parents tell their kids what they are supposed to do when some guy with an AR-15 walks into their classroom — and you know what the message is today for those little third-graders and fourth-graders, and fifth-graders . ... The message today is you are supposed to create as much chaos as you possibly can. They want you to scream and yell and dance around and throw books and just keep moving.”

O’Rourke went on: “And when the question is asked, how in the hell is that going to save my 7-year-old, or my 11-year-old, or my 9-year-old, they say, ‘Well, it might not, but what it will do is it’ll buy some more time for the other kids in the class. It will take 10 seconds if no one does anything and they’re slaughtered like sheep. It’ll take 20 seconds if there’s movement and activity and chaos in the classroom, and yes, most kids will die, but maybe two or three are able to escape through an open door in the midst of that chaos.’”

O’Rourke, who won the Democratic nomination to face Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in November 2018, ranks among House sponsors of legislation to bar the future manufacture, sale or possession of 200-plus firearms, including the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

We inquired into O’Rourke’s basis for saying parents are taught at PTA meetings to coach their