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What Does the Massacre Mean for Gun Control?
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by Brian A Kennedy | April 17, 2007 at 07:38 am
272 views | 10 Recommendations | 2 comments
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Were the horrific events of April 16 a sign that guns are too easy to obtain, or too difficult? Would stricter firearms laws have meant that Cho Seung-Hui wouldn't have been able to obtain the pistols he used to kill 32 people? Or did the ban on handguns on the Va. Tech campus render the students helpless? Pundits on both sides of the Second Amendment debate are lining up and preparing to do battle. Post your thoughts in the Comments section below.
The murders on the Virginia Tech campus, the worst such rampage in our history, might have been mitigated if just one member of the faculty or a student had the means to return fire.
I have owned guns for decades. On rare occasions, I have had to "show" one of my guns to people with bad intentions. Not surprisingly, they changed their plans to take my money and do me some harm. The Virginia Tech murders confirm the value of empowering ordinary citizens to carry a concealed weapon.
For their part, the European media seems to have their minds made up about the subject:
With
a view to Monday's deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, European
newspapers are blaming the lack of gun control measures in the United
States and implying that Charlton Heston is indirectly responsible for
the scope of the killings.
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nyctreeman
Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 07:53 on April 17th, 2007
Unlike in the movies, bullets tend to travel near or faster than the speed of sound, therefore one cannot dodge them. Even getting shot in the arm can send someone into shock, and, unless the combatants are trained soldiers, the one who starts shooting will have and maintain the advantage. I don't believe that, if another student were armed, he or she would necessarily be able to bring the weapon to bear effectively in such a situation: I'm relatively experienced with handguns, and even a still target is hind of hard to hit: a moving target, even more so, and one that is shooting back, ... well.
at 08:04 on April 17th, 2007
Brian A Kennedy, we need to watch this aspect of the story as it develops. I would encourage all NP members to explore the role of guns in American society beyond the normal polarity of the debate.