Comments on: Pure Horserace: Gun Control To The Front?

Will Virginia Tech Massacre Bring Issue Into Focus?

[lurch198]

What is an assault rifle?

I suppose in 1775 a brown bess musket would be an assault rifle?

In switzerland virtually everyone makes up the reserve military and is issued an "assault rifle" and ammo and takes it home! They dont have the gun violence that America has. Its not the gun, its the user.

Why not question the system that lets violent offenders out to prey again? 2/3 of inmates in the US are repeat offenders. Why do we the people tolerate this? Cause "...accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

A population armed with rifles cannot be tyranized. A population unarmed is doomed to suffer with no means of righting the wrongs.

[realpatriot1]

klingon,

By gun grab do you mean assault rifles? Do you want law abiding citizens or anyone else walking around with them?

To say that rarely do perps acquire the guns legally is simply not true. Gangs in New York don't make zip guns anymore, they drive down 95 to here( Virginia and North Carolina)where they know there aren't background checks and they drive them back to the city and make a nice criminal profit. So has Al Queda to finance their operations.

You're right that we need to better enforce the laws.

[kansas1946]

I was reading the profiles of the victims, and I saw that one man, a professor, a holocost survivor, used his body as a shield to block the door and give his students time to escape out the windows. He used his body because it was the only weapon that he had. The bad guys are always going to have guns. Maybe it is time to make sure that the good guys do too. Instead of being squeemish about guns, we need to be adamant about our right and responsibility to protect ourselves and others from maniacs and evil-doers.

[klingon69]

irishbitch1;
The fear is from experience with this government. Remember the gun-grab fiascos during the 90s with Billary?
How about two guns, same typ[e, make and caliber, one with a custom stock was banned, but one with a factory stock was ok.
We have plenty of gun laws now, but POOR enforcement of them. And rarely (despite this occurance) does the perpetrator(sp) acquire the guns legally. Besides, it's not that hard to develop and construct a firearm, Gangs in New York City used to build "zipguns" during the 50s and 60s, in one of the most anti-gun place in America.

[realpatriot1]

The slippery slope argument is a fear, not a fact. as is true with all classes of laws, there are good and bad gun laws. If there are people out there who want to limit guns to single shot of no greater than .22 caliber they are an extreme minority even among so-called gun control advocates.

You don't have to be against gun ownership to support some gun laws as opposed to gun anarchy. Will criminals always be able to get guns?Absolutely. Can we make it harder for unstable people to get lots of guns and ammo? I believe so.

Is the best defense for private citizens who want to be to be armed? Sure. Registering guns shouldn't be any more onerous for law abiding citizens than registering a car. Because a car is also a dangerous item we expect that a certain level of responsibility goes along with the right to drive.

Virginia law didn't prevent law abiding citizens or the crazed killer from arming themselves. How does having a background check prevent the good guys or the hunters from getting guns? It doesn't.

[klingon69]

obviously we are not.
However, the use of a expletive to describe me has shown the maturity or should I say the lack of it on your part. Return to your little "nanny" state, and let REAL people get back to what is important.
Bye Now

[greg3444]

These unfortunate Virginia Tech murders prove the opposite of what the foolish gun control advocates want us to believe. These type of tragic shootings are encouraged by the perpetrators knowing that the good law abiding citizens for the most part have been disarmed. They know they can safely walk around for quite a long period of time having their way with innocent people knowing the police will not arrive until they are finished. Gun control disarms the wrong people. Gun control disarms the good guys! Unfortunatly evil persons will always be able to get guns. Our only defense is to have a defense! The good guys need to be armed Period! It is suicidal to think otherwise. If only one or two NRA trained professors or students had been armed there would not be 32 families planning funerals now. Please don't let the fools continue to make us even more vulnerable to this type of insanity. We just can't have only the evilguys armed. Thank you for reading this.
Greg / Bluffdale, Utah

[dphaffner]

Buy a gun ! kill a queer! Only way to go

[mcmustang2]

Ban all guns! (Good luck.)

http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel120501.shtml

[mcmustang2]

BAN ALL GUNS! (Good luck.)

http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel120501.shtml