UPDATE III: A year or so ago, the Virginia Assembly considered and shot down (no pun intended) a bill that would have allowed concealed carry on college campuses.
A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.
House Bill 1572 didn’t get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.
The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill’s defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.
Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”
So much for feeling safe now. That’s the problem with “feelings” – they don’t do anything to solve life’s real problems. For that, we need logic. All the “feelings” in the world won’t bring back a single one of yesterday’s dead.
UPDATE II: President Bush weighs in with unhelpful rhetoric, “Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community,” he added. Just take the word schools and insert home, or church, or grocery market. If we were approaching this problem rationally, the President would be calling for legislation to back up the second amendment. He would be encouraging citizens to arm themselves and to take defensive weapons courses. The only that that can stop a madman with a gun is a rational man with a faster gun. But we’re too focused on nappy headed hos to talk about that, aren’t we?
UPDATE: As is usual in these situations, the numbers of killed and injured are being reported differently. Now I’m seeing 31 dead and 28 injured.
As a society, we do quite a bit to discourage our citizens from carrying guns. Maybe I should rephrase that. As a society, we do a lot to discourage our law abiding citizens from carrying guns. Short of incarceration, there really isn’t anything we can do discourage criminals, because they don’t follow the laws we make.
Our societal ignorance on this matter is sometimes ironic, and perhaps haunting. In 2005, this story was published about Virginia Tech and guns.
University officials confirmed that, earlier this semester, campus police approached a student found to be carrying a concealed handgun to class. The unnamed student was not charged with any crimes because he holds a state-issued permit allowing him to carry a concealed gun. But the student could face disciplinary action from the university for violating its policy prohibiting “unauthorized possession, storage or control” of firearms on campus.
Virginia Tech’s completely useless gun ban, which only promotes ignorance and fear, did not help today, when a mentally unbalanced person or people killed 22 and injured at least 21 at the school.
I wonder what would have happened if the student with the concealed carry permit had been there to shoot back at the murderers. Don’t worry, you’ll probably never be face to face with a crazed gunmen. It probably won’t happen to you. If it ever does, I hope the cops get there before your body has chilled to room temperature.
OK, I gotta get back to my pistol range now. You guys go ahead and get back to complaining about how evil guns are and what a tragedy today’s incident is. In the mean time, take a moment to re-read this quote:
Police say there were two separate shooting incidents – at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a student dormitory, and Norris Hall, an engineering building.
The incidents were about two hours apart. Police say they believe there was one gunman and that he is dead.
This is what happens when you encourage a society to become weak and fearful to the point that most of its members have no idea how to react to danger or life threatening situations. As we continue to become more and more specialized, we become more and more dependent on each other to survive. When you ban guns for law abiding citizens and rely on a small specialized class of people to protect everyone else, then don’t be surprised when they can only protect some of us some of the time.
The worst school shooting in US history won’t be the last school shooting in US history, or the deadliest. It was completely avoidable, and it happened for sociological reasons. Maybe we’re all on the path to an enlightened society where no one ever hurts anyone else, but I’ll keep my guns for now, thanks.