So, the last time I checked, it's illegal to shoot people. Right? I, like a lot of other people, am close to Virginia Tech, and I have family that is there...And now I see at least 4 stories on yahoo! talking about gun control, and how several countries, including Australia say that the reason this was done was because of his state of mind and access to weapons. I say b.s.. B.S., hear me! As someone pointed out on another thread (I haven't read past page 1 of the thread yet, please don't flame me for repeating something someone else has said), it is already illegal to carry a firearm on campus (if you are not militarty or police), but all that this silly law did was protect the gunman from people who would have taken him out before he could kill so many. Clearly, if you are inthe state of mind to go kill 30 people, then you aren't going to decide not to because it's illegal to carry a gun on campus. If some of the students had been armed (and not saying everyone, this is not a very militant place, but some people would have been), then they might have had the opportunity to stop this madman before his death toll got to be so high. I don't see how any more gun laws could have changed this, because even if you can't buy them legally, you can still buy them, some guy in the classified section of your local newspaper isn't going to call the State Police and check your authorization to own a gun before he sells you one, but if us law-abiding citizens can't get the guns that we need for protection, then the only people armed will be those crazed madmen running around shooting at us and our kids, and a lot of us are going to die while we wait on the police to figure out who this guy is and stop him. where a lot more of us would survive if we just dropped the guy after he bursts in the classroom and starts opening fire on other students. At least give us a fighting chance, I mean, really, I trust the police to do their jobs, but if they aren't there yet, then do we quote laws to the guy about how he shouldn't have that thing on campus until they show up? I'm sorry to rant, but this just hit kind of close to home for me, and it's silly to blame the guns for this guy going nuts and shooting people. Maybe I am wrong. Thoughts and comments, from both sides, are welcome.

 

I think that it would be okay if people could carry the guns, but I am sitting here imagining what would happen if a guy busted into a classroom and started shooting and then 5-10 people in the classroom started shooting back. I imagine there would be no thoughts of crossfire or any other gunfighting related things. People want to carry, but they don't want to go through all the training to handle the weapon and situations the right way.

 

the gun control people have no sanity. If someone has a conceal permit they should be able to carry. Period. If a guy wants to kill 32 people like he did, he will find a way to try the best he can to do it. But lead flying his way would have saved many lifes. If a burgler wonders if there is a gun in the house he is going to rob, he will think twice about going in. If he knows there is no gun in the house because of gun restriction laws, he is A LOT more likely to go in and take what he wants. The criminal probably has a gun to boot! A criminal won't do the waiting period thing to get a gun. Good post Pickup man

 

ya and as much as i love guns, when the cops go into to take control, they will not know who the aggressor is, its a touchy subject

 

Oh, now I don't think that we should just hand out permits to carry weapons to whoever has the cash, there should be some requirements that have to be met, but to ban them completely is not the answer (They WERE banned on campus, that didn't stop the shooter from bringing his in and opening fire on the other students). It obviously did not help the people who died at the hands of this madman, but if one of them had been armed and had the presence of mind to shoot back, it could have been prevented, at least lessened. I would sleep a lot better at night if my daughter were off at college and I knew she was armed and ready to use her weapon instead of running and hoping that she isn't next...I don't mean to strike a nerve with anyone, just stating my opinion...Debate is always welcomed, not flaming anyone, especially you, neuspeed5, you make a very valid point, "friendly fire" is always a hazard when you have people behind you shooting, but I feel as if the gunamn may not have even gone on his rampage if he knew that people there would shoot back at him...He knew guns were illegal to have on campus, that's why the coward brought one and opened fire on unarmed people...And it's easy to call him a criminal and a coward, but it doesn't save any lives at all, but one armed student may have saved some lives...Here's some of the numbers of people killed by guns in a few different countries...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070418/...rDpswIoo5bbBAF
I'm all for keeping the guns away from people who shouldn't have them, but there are already laws for that...Why not try enforcing those laws instead of making new ones that criminals won't follow? Not just anyone can legally buy
a firearm...But that doesn't stop criminals, they are going to get them one way or another.

 

I agree with you 100%. The criminals aren't going to obey the laws. If they want a gun, they're going to find a way to get that gun no matter how many gun control laws are in place. The only people getting hurt by the gun control laws are the lawful citizens that wont be allowed to defend themselves with their own weapons. But, I dont think we would ever get to the point where civilians would be allowed to carry concealed weapons in public places like banks, schools, etc. Too many things could go wrong with multiple people carrying guns around and an event like yesterday doesn't occour that often. I agree with Mr Squirrel too, though. The wrong person could be shot by cops among many other things that could go wrong in that situation. But, If a few of the students at VT had their own weapons, I dont think the death toll would have been so high, but like I said, we'll never get to the point where we can carry our own guns to school. Dont get me wrong though, I would love to carry mine in case something like that ever did happen...

 

I completely agree. As the song says: "Now they're trying to take my guns away, and that would be just fine - Take 'em away from the criminals first and I'll gladly give you mine"
Criminals will have their guns no matter what laws are passed. I am 19 years old, and in no way affiliated with any gangs, etc., but give me an hour and a couple phone calls and I could have an illegal gun delivered to my house for no more money than I have in my wallet right now. There is no practical way of stopping the flow of illegal guns. The people should have the right to protect themselves. Sometimes fighting fire with fire is the only way.

 

I believe in order to get a concealed permit you should have to take a "HANDS ON" course and pass it before you can carry. I took a firearms and safety course as a P.E. here at Auburn University and it was VERY informative. An ATF agent was our teacher he showed us different techniques about concealing and using the firearms. We shot at the sheriff's range a few times so we could get the feel and learn how to shot a pistol with accuracy and safety It bothers me that I have a concealed pistol permit but I cant carry it on me while on campus Why should I have to wait a couple of minutes for the cops to get their, when I could at least try to handle the situation and possibly save lives. I mean a situation like this!!! I would never pull my pistol unless I was meaning to use it, I have a .40 S&W hollow point in the chamber ready to go when needed

 

The reason Texas passed a concealed carry law was in direct response to the massacre at the Luby's restaurant in Killeen. There were several people there who had firearms left in their vehicles because it was illegal to carry one on their person. One was a lady who saw both of her elderly parents shot to death. She later ran for (and was elected to) the state senate largely on her strong belief in allowing concealed carry and was primarly responsible for getting the bill passed. Thank you also to George W. Bush for signing the law.
I'm also of the belief that anyone who legally carries a firearm must pass not only background checks, but also a certain minimum training - the more the better.
I can't help but think that one of the professors at VA Tech, or a TA, armed and trained, could have at least mitigated this tragedy with a couple of well placed rounds to the Korean.
The bottom line is that you are the only one who can protect yourself should the need arise, the police are only going to be there after the fact.

God bless the families of those who were killed and injured yesterday.

 

The last time that I went through the background check to purchase a handgun I had to fill out a questionare. At least one question addressed mental illness. This guy had been receiving treatment for depression by a physician and was taking prescription medication at the advice of this doctor. He applied for and purchased the 9mm and .22 semi automatic handguns from a local gun shop 31 days ago. Physicians should be required to report all persons in their care diagnosed with a mental illness, drug or alcohol dependency to a national data base that is crossed referenced when a firearm purchase is attempted.

Granted this would not solve every random shooting or even prevent determined homicidal-suicidal individuals from events like this, but in this case it would have most certainly made a difference.

 

x1000!!

 

So in theory you oppose gun control but, you support a national database on 'depression'?

 

There's no sense in the current gun control debate - as far as from the pro gun control side. The arguements that concealed carry permit holders may cause more harm than good because police will be confused as to who the real criminal is on the scene or the risk of an accidental discharge while carrying or the risk of criminal taking the gun from the legal carrier and using it for bad...well, those arguements are just plain silly. I would much rather take my chances of Jimbo's gun accidentally going off than being in a situation where we're all totally helpless and just stuck waiting for the police to arrive while we're all slaughtered. On campus, I think it would make sense to allow a reasonable amount of permits to be issued to faculty that volunteer to have a concealed weapon. I wouldn't allow students to have them. I see too many issues with that...among them, the maturity issue. Yes, there are very mature individuals among some students, but still...I think it would be too hard to weed out the kids that just want to be cool and carry a handgun for no good reason. I have no problem at all with the faculty carrying though.

Another thing...we should not allow legal alien residents to buy firearms. I would restrict purchases to legal US citizens. Anyone that has been here long enough to have become a legal CITIZEN, not a legal resident.

Having said that...the spouting off of the gun control people is sickening. It only took them a few minutes to latch onto this tragedy and start claiming it's a gun control issue. NO, you idiots!...it's a PEOPLE problem! People murder, guns don't. Maybe if we had kids that were raised to respect life and respect other people in general, we wouldn't have such a problem. If guns were the problem, why don't we have millions of murders every year in this country from firearms?...because there are after all millions of firearms in the hands of thousands upon thousands of citizens. This is a people/society problem, plain and simple. If we can't raise our youth properly, at least we should have laws and punishment that will deter people from commiting crimes with firearms...or at least make them think twice. I'm talking harsh penalties...for one thing, execution within 24 months for anyone 100% guilty of 1st degree murder (no "iffy" evidence used to convict - must be DNA evidence or eye witnesses to prove for sure we got the right person). And what about whacking off the weiner of anyone 100% guilty of rape?...I'm for that. I figure if you are worthless enough to rape someone (especially a child), you don't ever deserve the thrill of sexual pleasure ever again. Commit the crime again and it's execution time because we have no need for people in our society that only seek to cause pain and suffering among the innocent people in our society. It may sound harsh to some...but I'm personally SICK of criminals ruining so many people's lives. It's time we ruin the CRIMINAL'S life. And no panty-waist lethal injection B.S. Bring back ole sparky - the chair. Strap them in and flip the switch. I'm sick of criminals. Maybe that's just me?

 

This one left me scratching my head....baby elephants & ivory, de-stabilized land in Appalachia killing babies, etc, etc....huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cSuidxE8os

 

Had they not made the campus one of those BS gun free zones someone with a CC permit would have dropped that POS and people would have seen why CC permits are a good thing. Instead, 32 innocents were killed and now its gonna be nothing but how bad guns are, and another round of useless gun law debate to punish the law abiding.