We presented our third class in Federal Way on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at Federal Way City Hall. The City of Federal Way did not sponsor the class.  Nevertheless, the Patrick Maher Room is an excellent venue in which to hold a class.

We had approximately16 participants most of whom are volunteers with our local police department and/or volunteer emergency personnel. Some of these men and women are retired, some are former military personnel  and some of them virtually work  full time, serving our community without pay. 

Our class on Washington firearms law focuses on the use of lethal force to protect  home and family.  Last year the Noon Kiwanis Club formed an exploratory committee to create a community event honoring first reponders- law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, etc.  We ran into some roadblocks, not the least of which is the reluctance that first response personnel have toward being in  the spotlight.

Another problem was that there are so many emergency response folks that work in our community as professionals and volunteers at the state, local and federal levels.  We have lawyers that are reservists in the JAG Corps, school personnel, chaplains, search and rescue groups and CERT volunteers- just to mention a few categories of personnel that don’t immediately come to mind when we contemplate all the folks out there that put in hours of their personnel time preparing for all kinds of emergencies.

There is an old American tradition of giving distinguished lawmen and military leaders a custom-made pistol commemorating notable achievement with engraved images and expressions of appreciation. 

If I had it in my power, we would give every volunteer and professional first responder in Federal Way such a gift engraved with the words, “Thank you for your commitment.”

Volunteers and other vigilant citizens are more important than ever before now that we are beginning to recognize that the most likely sources of terrorism may originate closer to home than most of us expect.  Experts tell us that many potential terrorists lack the training for large scale attacks like the attack on the World Trade Center and may go after smaller places of business and public places, including churches. 

Ironically, the fact that such attackers may be Lone Wolf terrorists operating without any apparent ties to groups like Al Qaeda makes them more difficult to detect.  All of us need to be more aware of  possible surveillance activities.  According to the experts, just the act of observing pre-operational surveillance may be enough to deter a potential attacker.

We brought up the subject of honoring first responders at a recent meeting of all the Federal Way service clubs and the idea of coming together this way  as a community is not dead.  Meanwhile there are all kinds of events occurring throughout the year to honor the men and women that keep us safe.