In the wake of the worst shooting in U.S. history at Virginia Tech, the hysterical media are predictably pointing fingers of blame in every direction except the shooter's. Astonishingly, Va.Tech. parents are already calling for the President's firing. Why? What could he have done? In between grief counseling sessions, everyone's demanding to know why something wasn't done sooner to stop the killing. My wife sagely pointed out this morning that in our 24-hour news cycle, the anchors have not one shred of fact to report so they rely on conjecture, rumor, hind-sight, and Monday-morning-quarterbacking. All of which lead to irrationally blaming people who deserve none. Everyone will demand answers that make them feel better. I demand of them: In a free society, what could have been done by any authority that would have prevented or stopped the slaughter?
The talking-head security "experts", politicians, weepy-eyed reporters, understandably hysterical parents, and news anchors will all mistakenly point the finger at two convenient things: Va.Tech administration for not locking down the campus sooner, and at the general availability of firearms.
If even one student in the area was in posession of a lawful conceal/carry firearm, most of these killings could have been prevented. It wasn't our armed culture that permitted these killings, it was our stupid belief that disarming ourselves makes us safe.
7 comments:
I knew you would have something pro-gun to say about this Ed. Look at American culture across the board. It promotes constantly the idea that violence is a way of dealing with issues. The average American 12 year old has witnessed in the neighborhood of 10,000 murders on TV. Not to mention video games. When desensitization like that is part of life, I'm surprised we don't see more of these killings. I will concede the point that Hollywood, the biggest anti-gun advocates, are by far the guiltiest of promoting guns. But arming every citizen, expecially students, with a weapon won't solve anything. It will just advance the idea that guns are a natural part of our existence and a useful tool for conflict resolution. I would rather have an unarmed citizenry and take my chances with the occasional massacre, than have everyone walking around with pistol holsters on their hips.
"It wasn't our armed culture that permitted these killings, it was our stupid belief that disarming ourselves makes us safe."
Why is that? We all know guns don't kill people?
It is that, precisely because guns don't kill people. But they do allow people to protect themselves againt others with guns...that is if we are smart enough as a society to allow law-abiding citizens to carry them.
My point was that liberals will be quick to point to America's violent gun culture as a reason to resurrect draconian gun laws. Ironically, it's that disarming of the American people that specifically makes them less, not more, safe.
The Eurotrash weenies are blaming Charlton Heston. The anti-2nd amendment nazis are blaming guns. The far left Bush haters are blaming Bush. And of course insufferable, quasi-therapist Dr. Phil is blaming--wait for it--video games.
Shockingly, nobody is blaming the crazed, psychopathic murderer for slaughtering 32 sadly unarmed kids. OMG-I have never seen so many people refuse to state the obvious.
Maybe, just maybe, the good that comes from this is that it forces the country to have an honest debate about guns and their usefullness for personal defense in the hands of law-abiding citizens. If you rely on law enforcement, a reactionary force at best, to save you from the occasional psychopath, you are an idiot.
If teachers and/or students had been allowed to have concealed weapons in Blacksburg, there's a good chance one of them would have been in position to stop this massacre.
I ask you anti-gun idiots one question: If your child was in one of those classrooms about to be executed, would you have wanted one student out of 30 in that room to have a gun with a chance to save your child's life? Or would you sacrifice your child to maintain your stupid anti-gun position?
Ed, I knew perfectly what you meant the first time...
I heard this morning that a girl in one of the targeted classrooms actually had a gun in her purse during the shooting but was too freightened to use it. What a waste!
Let's cover this for the record. In no uncertain terms should any blame be placed on the VT administration or the local/campus police. Two different cases happened, and until provably linked was there a clearer understanding for the arm-chair judging/policing to occur. The first shooting took place around 7am. It was in a dorm on campus. Within a few minutes, the police were on the scene and after careful examination and with witness corroboration, it was determined that this shooting was a domestic case and that the shooter had left campus. Police proceeded under that assumption and followed leads to the boyfriend's apartment and then pursued the perp elsewhere. We now know differently, that this was not correct.
The second shooting took place at a campus classroom building some 2 hours later. Was it randomly selected? Was the shooter targeting a teacher, a student? Who knows? Regardless, as quickly as the incident happened, the police and the VT administration reacted. The campus was secured as best as possible. The admin/police tried to act and protect the balance of the 25K students enrolled. An email was distributed, I am sure that each school was contacted and "locked down" for safety. Questions arise and remain. How can all students enrolled at any campus be accounted for? Especially those living off campus. What about students in transit in vehicles, on bikes, and on foot. Does it become a requirement to have a microchip implanted within each student for an alert message? I know this is a prepostorous argument, and it is intended that way, because there is absolutely no forseeable way to acount for and deal with this type of a peolple mass. It is constantly moving and adjusting. People spend the night elsewhere, go home, vacate to the lake, etc. It seems impossible to coordinate and manage. I'm not saying not to try, but it just is an extremely daunting task.
I just hope that these media types stop blaming the above mentioned groups and start focusing on the true issue - What was wrong with this young man? How did this get to this point without his friends realizing something was wrong? Did he have friends and are they still alive?
I am convinced that even with a short advance notice, it would be virtually impossible to elimate this from any major college campus. The layout of buildings etc. is overwhelming. How many Asian students attend VT? I'll bet he wasn't the only one. You see it is tough to pinpoint and define, or worse yet control. This must start elsewhere. This is not an amendment issue, it is not a gun issue, it is not a police issue. It is merely a situation where some guy went whacko and there was nothing to prevent it or to acknowledge that it would happen. Tragic as this situation is, it seems to have been unavoidable. All that could have been done was. Lives were lost, again, tragic, but I see know way for this to have been prevented.
I grieve for the families who lost loved ones. I grieve with the VT family that lost friends and classmates, etc. I hope that all of this will some day make sense, but right now it doesn't.
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