In the wake of the Va.Tech. massacre, the hysterical rhetoric over the gun-control issue has reached critical mass...on both sides.
For the record, I am a strident 2nd ammendment advocate. There is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that if even one responsible student was in possession of a firearm, that he/she could have stopped the carnage. I believe that it is unconstitutional for ANY government(local, state, or federal) to legislate away the right of an individual to protect himself or others against harm. I believe the idiotic notion of "gun-free-zones" is just that...idiotic. Look at most of the shootings in recent history, they all happened in gun free zones. Ever wonder why? Because the killers knew that they would meet little or no resistance. The nauseatingly feel-good term "gun-free-zone" is nothing more than an advertisement that says "Here is a fresh supply of defenseless victims--have your way with them". I believe that every school should designate at least one, if not allow all, teacher to be the first responder in the case of violence against the school. That person should carry a firearm and have been trained in it's use and safety. I realize that shootings like this are extraordinarily rare, but tell the parents of the victims of Va.Tech. that there is safety in a gun-free-zone. My step-son just turned 19. If he told me he wanted to carry a gun in his backpack to class at college, I would support it 100% provided he obtained it legally and took a thorough safety class. Nobody should be forced by the power of the State to be a helpless victim.
I know this is an emotional issue but I would like to hear from some readers about their ideas.
5 comments:
If all Americans carried guns we would extirpate ourselves in a few years.
see comment on the related article.
You couldn't be more wrong Martin. If law-abiding citizens gave up their guns, as the VT students and faculty were forced to do, the homocidal criminals would extirpate us in a few years.
martin is right. You cannot arm the student body and not expect a bloodbath to ensue. Inevitably, there will be a fraternity party where a kid with a gun gets drunk and angry and starts shooting the place up. It's the law of unintended consequences.
I think a better notification and warning system should be in place. So with a single announcement, every person on campus knows what to do. Military bases, which are similar to college campuses, have loud speakers which deliver announcements to everybody, inside and out. Why can't colleges have something similar?
Ed's idea of allowing everybody to carry a gun is asinine.
Murders with firearms by country:
Germany: 384
Canada: 165
Spain: 97
Portugal: 84
United Kingdom: 62
Australia: 59
United States: 8,259
(Source: Nationmaster.com)
We could say: See, these numbers show why we Americans need guns to protect us!
Or we could ask: If guns are the best protection, how come there's so few murders with firearrms in the other civilized countries - where the population almost have no guns to protect them with at all?
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