Comments on: Guns And The Virginia Tech Massacre

[alwaysangels]

Well personally, I believe that someone should have done something about this guy. I mean c'mon this dude sets his own dorm room on fire, and writes very disturbing stories. So, back then couldn't someone see that this guy needed some help? Other than that I just want to say that my prayers are with all the VT students and families. GO HOKIES!

[nmtrey]

I agree with the overwhelming support in the comments on this article regarding arming faculty, students, and the general population. Robert Heinlein said, "An armed society is a polite society". I add to this that an armed society is a safe society. One or two armed students or teachers could have prevented the vast majority of the deaths in yesterday's massacre.
As it is obviously not possible to ensure (insure?) that people are prevented from taking weapons into educational facilities, we must strive to get as many weapons into the hands of the peaceable population as we can. This is the only practical way to prevent such tragedies with any degree of frequency.

[walkersocce1]

Dear Katie,

Thank you for correcting the name of my alma mater. Virginia Tech is very dear to me. I am watching your live coverage from Blacksburg, and you are giving the school the dignity it deserves during its time of sorrow.

Sincerely yours,
Mary Kay R, Youngdale

[gray2hairs]

To the person who posted "Of course you don't allow military grade or concealed weapons" would you take the time to attend a firearms class please. It will help you understand the reason your statement bothers me. First, I would hate to be limited to the pathetic weapons we provide to our troups, 9mm for example, and concealled carry is not a threat to society as every state that has enabled CC has seen a drop in crime. You have a good head and understand the problem now just get some more facts and you will be much more effective.

[gray2hairs]

Unbelievable...this horrible shooting is just proof that there is NO WAY the police and campus security can protect anyone. Taht job is for each individual and that means they MUST be allowed to have guns for protection from crazies like this shooter.

Yet, with all of the evidence that gun-control causes increased violence people somehow think one more law would have stopped this. In a way they are right, but the law would be to let people arm themselves.

[boonerock]

Gun control advocates should look at our "War on Drugs" as an example of how effective the government would be in keeping guns off the streets if strcit gun control laws are put into effect. In these horrific occurances the shooters are on a suicide mission. They WILL find the means to inflict harm on helpess people.

[angus1365]

From Wikipedia Web site: "When Odighizuwa (gunman in the 2002 Appalachian School of Law shooting) exited the building where the shooting took place, he was approached by two students with personal firearms. At the first sound of gunfire, fellow students Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross (an off-duty police officer)[4], unbeknownst to the other, had run to their vehicles to grab their personal firearms (with Bridges pulling his .357-caliber Magnum pistol from beneath the driver's seat of his Chevy Tahoe). As Bridges later told the Richmond Times Dispatch, he was prepared to shoot to kill.

Bridges and Gross approached Odighizuwa from different angles, with Bridges yelling at Odighizuwa to drop his gun. Odighizuwa then dropped his firearm and was subdued by a third student, Ted Besen, who was unarmed."

This accounting was not widely reported by the press because it demonstrated that firearms in the possession of law abiding citizens can curtail carnage in a college shooting (doesn't fit into the liberal thought process). More gun control only emboldens the criminal who will get a gun if he wants one (just as did the shooter in the VT massacre - he got an illegal gun illegally). Does the drug addict have problems getting the illegal substances he desires? No - so don't advocate the removal of guns - encourage the safe handling of guns by upstanding citizens.

[gopchuck]

Once again we are looking to blame everything but the problem. There have been laws in the books since the beginning about murder, but they don't always work. Gun control laws only affect those that follow the law. If you are willing to take a life, what is one more law going to do to stop you. If we got rid of all guns, there are still plenty of ways to kill another person. There were plenty of wars before there were firearms. How about we actually start holding people accountable for their actions and not give them excuses.

[ckbrownla-2009]

I also believe that the gunman would not have killed as many as he did if there were legally armed students and teachers on the campus at the time of the attack.

More gun control is not the answer. I could not agree more. Let us consider England at this day and time. There is total handgun control there but has the incident of fatalities by handgun dropped to zero, what a ridiculous concept. As has been quoted time and again, still true, %u201CWhen guns are outlawed, Outlaws will have all the guns!%u201D.

Just a thought to pass along.

[geekybryan]

Unbelievable... You make the assumption that improved gun laws would somehow have changed the availability of guns by criminals. Ask yourself this question. Has making marijuana an illegal substance slowed or even effected the amount of use in the United States? If it has, the number has been so insignificant it%u2019s not even worth considering.

Passing a law that would prevent people from having a gun on or near a college would not have stopped or even slowed this person. The only way to prevent something like this is to do one of two things:

1. Have metal detectors and searches at every entrance to every facility.
2. Allow anyone without a violent criminal background that wants to have concealed weapons.

What you have to begin to understand is that bad people will always do bad things. The only way to prevent these things is to create a police state or to allow average citizens defend themselves. As technology improves, having a police state becomes easier and easier. You must ask yourself if you want that given the nature of men and the verifiable abuses of power we%u2019ve seen with simple technology.