I have a feeling that the tragedy that occurred today at VA Tech is going to lead to a reopening of the gun control debate in the United States. It took no time for gun control advocates to release statements blaming the gun for the violence. The president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Paul Helmke released this statement, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the Virginia Tech University community, and to the families of the victims of what appears to be one of the worst mass shootings in American history. Details are still forthcoming about what motivated the shooter in this case to act, and how he was able to arm himself. It is well known, however, how easy it is for an individual to get powerful weapons in our country.”
The Violence Policy Center released a statement too, “Mass shootings have come to define our nation. Today’s shooting at Virginia Tech — the largest mass shooting in U.S. history — is only the latest in a continuing series over the past two decades. These tragedies are the inevitable result of the ease with which the firepower necessary to slaughter dozens of innocents can be obtained. We allow virtually anyone the means to turn almost any venue into a battlefield. In the wake of these shootings, too many routinely search for any reason for the tragedy except for the most obvious — the easy access to increasingly lethal firearms that make mass killings possible.”
On the other side of the debate, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “As far as policy, the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly, bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting numbers — I don’t want to say numbers, because I know that they’re still trying to figure out how many people were wounded and possibly killed. But obviously, that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for. ”
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said, “We have to look at what happened here, but it doesn’t change my views on the Second Amendment, except to make sure that these kinds of weapons don’t fall into the hands of bad people. I do believe in the constitutional right that everyone has, in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, to carry a weapon. Obviously we have to keep guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens.”
The person who carried out this attack could have just as easily used a bomb as a gun. Because of the lack of campus security, this was a unique incident that should not be lumped in as part of the gun debate. I have always thought that if someone is intent on killing they will find a way. Removing all guns isn’t the answer, but I do think that we need to ask ourselves why does the U.S. have so many more violent incidents like this compared to the rest of the industrialized world. It isn’t an easy question to answer, and I don’t think the solution is as simple as taking away all the guns. I am far from what would be considered a “gun nut,” but to me it is clear banning guns, except assault weapons, isn’t the answer. I think our societal problem rests more in the hearts of the individuals that carry out such actions than in the instruments that they use to kill others.
Jason Easley is the editor of the politics zone at 411mania.com. His news column The Political Universe appears on Tuesdays and Fridays at www.411mania.com/politics
Jason can also be heard every Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pm (ET) as the host of The Political Universe Radio Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse
Loading ...
13 users commented in " The VA Tech shootings and gun control "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackA bomb? Do you really think that someone angry at his girlfriend is going to walk in to a dormitory, confront her, get angry and then detonate a bomb? And then walk over to another building on campus and walk through the building indescriminately blowing up bombs whenever he confronts someone? Does such a scinereo make sense?
Look at it as a threat assessment. Does it make sense for a person who might have been upset about a girlfriend to shoot 30 innocent people? No, it does not. The tool which he used to kill does not matter, in this case. The underlying reasons for why he did what he did are what matters. If he was intent on causing mass death, or taking out his anger on the world, does it really matter what he used to to do it?
Ask an Iraqi near you what gun control has done for them lately.
Of course, the tool that he used matters. Nowhere else in the western world would such a man be able to get hold of a hand gun and there is no way that he could have killed 30 people with any other readily available weapon. As one poster above says, the notion that an enraged lover is going to spend weeks constructing a bomb is simply absurd. You can babble on about motivation as long as you like, but the undeniable fact is that if the gun laws in VA were the same as those in, say, the United Kingdom then the vast majority of the students shot would be alive to today. It’s as simple as that.
this was a really bad inciddent how can some one just kill people for no reason and do it with out thinking
No one just kills for “no reason”, even if the victims are random, and especially “without thinking”. This individual had an agenda, and followed it.
Stricter gun laws and enforcement will not quell the violence. I look to Narcotics as an example, which have been heavily outlawed for decades - yet, drug trafficking and drug-related crimes are one of the biggest problems this country. Banning and regulating firearms would be no different. During the Automatic Weapons Ban which expired in ‘04, Automatic weapons were still prevailent in this country via the black market and underground activity. People like to think that it’s possible to prevent things like this by just beefing up security, and that these incidendes only happen at schools and universities. More people are killed in their places of work from firearms, yet no one’s saying every business needs higher security. You can’t monitor 300 million people (the U.S. population) 24/7. You also can’t take away our rights - which includes the right to bear arms. Eliminating that would be unconstitunial, and wouldn’t solve our problem. Blame our culture for this, not our constitituional rights.
If the government cannot enforce gun restrictions in the area of VT’s four square mile campus, what on earth makes you think it will be enforced in a four million square mile nation like America?
Had this event occured off-campus, in the thousands of safe public places in Virginia where law-abiding citizens can legally carry guns, then the vast majority of the students shot would be alive to today. It’s as simple as that.
The irony is that this tragedy was caused by the university crushing the rights of the students to own and bear arms.
If students were allowed carry permits by the university then not nearly as many people would have been killed.
It is the liberal anti-gun lobby that is responsible for this tradedy by limiting the right of the second ammendment.
I have seen the devastating effects that happen when guns are restricted as in South Africa where I used to live, the crime rate has gone through the roof.
I think you Americans must fight now even harder and protect your gun rights from the lunatic left.
Please don’t listen to the stupid British press, who have been brainwashed by years of anti-gun propaganda by the BBC.
Britons please mind your own business you have a runaway crime problem with hoodies and hooligan behaviour that would stop in a day with more liberal gun laws.
I live in London and it is a really crap place to live compared to the USA, I can’t wait to go back.
Japan has the toughest gun control laws in the world… Look at how well they worked in preventing the murder of the mayor of Nagasaki. Law abiding people obey laws, everyone else will find a way around them. For the past several years nearly 35 states have passed formal “right to carry concealed weapons laws”. More responsible citizens, trained in the lawful use of deadly force are carrying guns than ever before and crime is in recession.
no one will walk into a classroom full of armed students,why don’t we just deputize everyone.we all seem to think that if we have a badge it’s ok to have a gun. right?
Stop making bullets! I think that’s final solution. You can buy any kind of gun you wish but you only can buy one or two bullets for protection. Think about this, if you have a powerful gun but there is no bullets, your gun become useless.
I think that’s only solution!
While Jason has some notion of what he writes about gun related crime, he needs to expand on his analysis. Its rather vexing to half-ass compose an article just to pose the reader to fill in the blanks. That said, Jason is a fair writer.
Leave A Reply