I can't believe how stupid these people can be....
Some letters to the Editor today....
Nothing could be done about crisis
On April 16 a male student caused a disturbance on the campus of Virginia Tech University by fatally shooting 33 people, including himself, as he exercised his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That was reminiscent of a generation or so ago, when a sniper atop a tower on the University of Texas campus, also exercising his constitutional right to keep and bear arms, picked off 16 people in the plaza below.
We all remember the little incident at Columbine High School, where a couple of boys decreased their class's census by about a dozen, and the one-room Pennsylvania schoolhouse where a gentleman wiped out five little Amish kids.
We cannot expect our congressmen to face the ire of the small percentage of their constituents who fiercely defend their right to maintain private arsenals. That's not why they came to Washington, D.C. We also can't expect them to give up their annual stipend from the National Rifle Association, so important to their re-election.
We can stay tuned to CNN, to exercise our right to be entertained by their coverage of the next big shoot-out, perhaps another record.
John Pfrommer
Lafayette
_____________________
Time to legislate national gun policy
The past week's event in Virginia clearly emphasizes the need for a national gun control policy. A computerized nationwide database, a delay period between application and licensed possession, and a strict review policy would clearly have filtered out this individual.
Such a system would not violate any sane person's Second Amendment right. It would not infringe on the recreation of hunters or target shooters, nor would it even inhibit self-defense, were that one's motive for gun ownership.
But it could have prevented this awful act.
Bill Arthur
West Lafayette
And then we have those that set them straight...
Gun control doesn't work to protect
The reason why gun control is being ignored by both parties is that, historically, gun control schemes don't work. The 1994 assault weapons ban had no measurable effect on crime according to the Department of Justice.
One-gun-a-month laws didn't stop the Virginia Tech shooting. Waiting periods don't impact crime. One of the unintended consequences have been the killing of women who are involved in divorce proceedings, had personal protection orders taken out against their husbands and were waiting for government permission to buy a gun.
Nobody calls for car or beer control when a drunk driver plows into a group of school kids.
A tragedy like Virginia Tech illustrates the shortcomings of gun control. The school has a no guns policy that prohibits students or faculty who have a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon from doing so, yet just one armed teacher or student might have cut this assault short. This is the flaw of gun control: Unless you could magically remove guns from the hands of everyone, then taking guns from the law abiding gives criminals the upper hand.
The best gun control is to hit your target. Become proficient with a firearm and get a carry permit. Don't be so eager to let your right to self-defense be taken away. As the old saying goes, you don't really ever need a gun until you need it, and then you need it more than anything in the world.
Stuart Chisholm
Roseville, Mich., formerly Greater Lafayette
__________________________
Gun control failed law-abiding citizens
The terrible incident at Virginia Tech is another example of the dismal failure of gun control. Virginia's General Assembly quashed a bill that would have allowed licensed, qualified students and employees the right to carry firearms on campus for personal protection. In June 2006, Virginia Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy that reaffirmed the school's ban on firearms.
Gun control had the same results it always does. It deprived law-abiding citizens of the right of self-defense while assuring the gunman's safety and success.
Students and employees obeyed the ban and left their defensive firearms at home while a criminal set on murder didn't have to worry about anyone shooting back. Virginia Tech traded real safety for a false sense of security. If citizens had been allowed to possess firearms on campus this incident could have turned out differently. When Charles Whitman went off in Austin, Texas, armed citizens assisted police in keeping him at bay.
The incident wasn't even over and there were already calls for more gun bans. People without all the facts are trying to use a tragic, emotionally charged incident to advance their agenda.
Eric A. Cox
New Richmond
______________________
Gun laws hinder against murderers
The recent incident at Virginia Tech was extremely tragic. We express our deepest condolences to the victims' and their families.
Unfortunately, this incident is a by-product of laws passed by state and federal lawmakers. We are truly angered that the constitutional freedoms guaranteed to us can be bent to such warped ends and suggest changes in the laws governing the carrying of concealed weaponry. In the 35 states with permits to carry, there are designated places where carrying is not allowed, two being schools and campuses.
These laws are very unjust because they create situations where large numbers of vulnerable people are placed with no adequate means of self-defense. This makes them, sadly, easy targets for any psychopath with a gun.
The expansion of concealed-carry laws will not arm every student in high schools and universities. Most concealed-carry laws require the individual permitted to be 21 years old. No student in a high school would be armed, only permitted teachers. On a collegiate campus, those potentially armed would include mainly seniors, graduate students, and instructors (thus making guns in dorms a non-issue).
Expansion of concealed-carry laws would help hinder murders of this type and provide a means of defense currently unavailable.
Christopher Dehen and Phil McLaury
West Lafayette
Some very vaild arguments for the pro-gun team. Makes me proud. Ashamed of the others though.
They can be read at this site...
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/OPINION/704210308/1144/OPINION
Nothing could be done about crisis
On April 16 a male student caused a disturbance on the campus of Virginia Tech University by fatally shooting 33 people, including himself, as he exercised his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That was reminiscent of a generation or so ago, when a sniper atop a tower on the University of Texas campus, also exercising his constitutional right to keep and bear arms, picked off 16 people in the plaza below.
We all remember the little incident at Columbine High School, where a couple of boys decreased their class's census by about a dozen, and the one-room Pennsylvania schoolhouse where a gentleman wiped out five little Amish kids.
We cannot expect our congressmen to face the ire of the small percentage of their constituents who fiercely defend their right to maintain private arsenals. That's not why they came to Washington, D.C. We also can't expect them to give up their annual stipend from the National Rifle Association, so important to their re-election.
We can stay tuned to CNN, to exercise our right to be entertained by their coverage of the next big shoot-out, perhaps another record.
John Pfrommer
Lafayette
_____________________
Time to legislate national gun policy
The past week's event in Virginia clearly emphasizes the need for a national gun control policy. A computerized nationwide database, a delay period between application and licensed possession, and a strict review policy would clearly have filtered out this individual.
Such a system would not violate any sane person's Second Amendment right. It would not infringe on the recreation of hunters or target shooters, nor would it even inhibit self-defense, were that one's motive for gun ownership.
But it could have prevented this awful act.
Bill Arthur
West Lafayette
And then we have those that set them straight...
Gun control doesn't work to protect
The reason why gun control is being ignored by both parties is that, historically, gun control schemes don't work. The 1994 assault weapons ban had no measurable effect on crime according to the Department of Justice.
One-gun-a-month laws didn't stop the Virginia Tech shooting. Waiting periods don't impact crime. One of the unintended consequences have been the killing of women who are involved in divorce proceedings, had personal protection orders taken out against their husbands and were waiting for government permission to buy a gun.
Nobody calls for car or beer control when a drunk driver plows into a group of school kids.
A tragedy like Virginia Tech illustrates the shortcomings of gun control. The school has a no guns policy that prohibits students or faculty who have a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon from doing so, yet just one armed teacher or student might have cut this assault short. This is the flaw of gun control: Unless you could magically remove guns from the hands of everyone, then taking guns from the law abiding gives criminals the upper hand.
The best gun control is to hit your target. Become proficient with a firearm and get a carry permit. Don't be so eager to let your right to self-defense be taken away. As the old saying goes, you don't really ever need a gun until you need it, and then you need it more than anything in the world.
Stuart Chisholm
Roseville, Mich., formerly Greater Lafayette
__________________________
Gun control failed law-abiding citizens
The terrible incident at Virginia Tech is another example of the dismal failure of gun control. Virginia's General Assembly quashed a bill that would have allowed licensed, qualified students and employees the right to carry firearms on campus for personal protection. In June 2006, Virginia Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy that reaffirmed the school's ban on firearms.
Gun control had the same results it always does. It deprived law-abiding citizens of the right of self-defense while assuring the gunman's safety and success.
Students and employees obeyed the ban and left their defensive firearms at home while a criminal set on murder didn't have to worry about anyone shooting back. Virginia Tech traded real safety for a false sense of security. If citizens had been allowed to possess firearms on campus this incident could have turned out differently. When Charles Whitman went off in Austin, Texas, armed citizens assisted police in keeping him at bay.
The incident wasn't even over and there were already calls for more gun bans. People without all the facts are trying to use a tragic, emotionally charged incident to advance their agenda.
Eric A. Cox
New Richmond
______________________
Gun laws hinder against murderers
The recent incident at Virginia Tech was extremely tragic. We express our deepest condolences to the victims' and their families.
Unfortunately, this incident is a by-product of laws passed by state and federal lawmakers. We are truly angered that the constitutional freedoms guaranteed to us can be bent to such warped ends and suggest changes in the laws governing the carrying of concealed weaponry. In the 35 states with permits to carry, there are designated places where carrying is not allowed, two being schools and campuses.
These laws are very unjust because they create situations where large numbers of vulnerable people are placed with no adequate means of self-defense. This makes them, sadly, easy targets for any psychopath with a gun.
The expansion of concealed-carry laws will not arm every student in high schools and universities. Most concealed-carry laws require the individual permitted to be 21 years old. No student in a high school would be armed, only permitted teachers. On a collegiate campus, those potentially armed would include mainly seniors, graduate students, and instructors (thus making guns in dorms a non-issue).
Expansion of concealed-carry laws would help hinder murders of this type and provide a means of defense currently unavailable.
Christopher Dehen and Phil McLaury
West Lafayette
Some very vaild arguments for the pro-gun team. Makes me proud. Ashamed of the others though.
They can be read at this site...
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/OPINION/704210308/1144/OPINION
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quote:Originally posted by cubslover
Some letters to the Editor today....
Nothing could be done about crisis
On April 16 a male student caused a disturbance on the campus of Virginia Tech University by fatally shooting 33 people, including himself, as he exercised his constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That was reminiscent of a generation or so ago, when a sniper atop a tower on the University of Texas campus, also exercising his constitutional right to keep and bear arms, picked off 16 people in the plaza below.
We all remember the little incident at Columbine High School, where a couple of boys decreased their class's census by about a dozen, and the one-room Pennsylvania schoolhouse where a gentleman wiped out five little Amish kids.
We cannot expect our congressmen to face the ire of the small percentage of their constituents who fiercely defend their right to maintain private arsenals. That's not why they came to Washington, D.C. We also can't expect them to give up their annual stipend from the National Rifle Association, so important to their re-election.
We can stay tuned to CNN, to exercise our right to be entertained by their coverage of the next big shoot-out, perhaps another record.
John Pfrommer
Lafayette
_____________________
These type people are dense.
Show me where there is a constitutional right to murder people.
these people are so dense they can not differentiate between lawfull gun ownership and a murderer.0 -
... believe it. 0 -
I spent the whole week talking with editors about the VA tech story. It pushed all the rest of the news out of the paper.
I had a discussion about how many of each type of letter to the editor we should print. Just because you get a bunch of letters bashing gun ownership doesnt mean most people feel that way. The pro-gun people were naturally afraid to publicly support guns or have their names printed in the paper. I argued for printing one pro-gun letter for each anti-gun letter. My suggestion was not followed.
With all the guns in this country, if guns caused people to go out and shoot other people, we'd have a lot more massacres on our hands.
The fact that so many people own guns and that an almost imeasurably small number of them go on such rampages is pretty good evidence that guns do not cause people to go on rampages.0 -
+
D.0 -
quote:Originally posted by hughbetcha
The fact that so many people own guns and that an almost imeasurably small number of them go on such rampages is pretty good evidence that guns do not cause people to go on rampages.
Thats a Fact.0
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