Video showing how to block classroom door with elementary school chair goes viral in wake of Uvalde shooting

‘Sad reality is tactical solutions like this one are a necessity until our lawmakers change gun control laws’

A video that shows people how to block a classroom door during an active shooting has gone viral on Twitter in the wake of the Uvalde massacre, furthering debate on gun violence in America.

Twitter user Robb Beaux shared the video, which shows an unnamed man in a safety vest demonstrating “a trick”. The man wedged one of the chair’s legs between the handle and the doorknob to block the door during an emergency situation. He then tilted the chair towards the wall to secure it.

“It is solid. It is not going anywhere, and that took me what? Two seconds,” the man said, advising people to mark in advance the chair leg that would be best for this, maybe with “glitter” or “googly eyes” stickers or drawings.

The video has gone viral on social media, and has been viewed more than 1.4 million times and has over 30,000 retweets.

The Twitter user who shared the video said: “It sucks I even have to share this. But just in case.”

The video came days after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos went on a rampage in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers.

The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into police response during the shooting following the admission from law enforcement officials of critical errors in their response, including an hour-long delay before confronting the gunman on 24 May even as children inside the school made desperate calls to 911.

Several social media users lamented that it was tragic and depressing that students and teachers have to train themselves against shootings.

“It sucks we have to think about these things at school. Although at my school, it’s protocol to have doors locked at all times. Nobody can get in from the outside,” user Sebastian Cardone said.

“It’s the year 2022 in the United States and teachers and children are trained to prepare against mass shooters. We need to do better to keep our schools and communities safe in the first place and prevent these acts of terror. Our children and communities deserve to be safe,” Joaquín Beltrán, who claims to be a southeast Los Angeles candidate for Congress, said.

However, many raised questions over the practicality of the trick and said a gunman could shoot down the door and break the knob to enter the classroom.

“Seconds matter in an active shooter situation. The sad reality is tactical solutions like this one are a necessity until our lawmakers change gun control laws,” user Greg Buster said.

“So you telling me an AR15 with 100 rounds can’t shoot the knob off?” another wondered.

Over the weekend, Mr Biden said he is “pretty motivated” to enact new gun safety laws but said he could not “dictate” gun policy through executive action as it was “hard to say” if the GOP would accept any of the proposals that have been floated in the last week.

Republicans have floated the idea of having just a single door for entry in schools to train and arm the teacher, but have stopped short of stricter gun control laws.