‘I Want to Clear My Name’

Wayne has a cool sight- too bad he wasn’t in the classroom at the time he could have saved alot of students.

I dont think any students should carry any fire arms on campus thats how alot of problems get started anyway people of all races or sex should just learn how to get along we all live in the world together why not make the best of it.

The gun free zone just played into the criminals plans. Nobody could defend themself, just what that spineless creep wanted. Too bad the powers that be put all the students at risk. Please let everyone defend themselves. The criminals will not attack if they know their victims might fight back. The police can not be everywhere to protect us, we need to protect ourselves. Criminals are afraid of citizens who can protect themselves. Criminals are emboldened when they think they have the upper hand. Innocent people are hurt by our knee-jerk laws.

“Give us a break Brian!! Are you SERIOUSLY suggesting college kids be allowed to carry concealed firearms on campus?” -David
They’re NOT kids, they’re adults. With the right to self protection!
Todays awful tragedy is the result of people like yourself imposing your fears upon others who possess more personal responsibility than you will ever attain.

if 18 and 20 somethings can’t be trusted with firearms than they shouldn’t be allowed to purchase explosive materials like gasoline
according to some a car tank full of gas is the equiv of three stick of dynamite
ban compulsory government schools
keep the guns

I’m going to have to agree with David on this. I’m currently a college student myself and I’ve seen enough drunk brawls that could have ended so much worse than they did if firearms were involved. Personally, I don’t want to live in a world where people are encouraged to carry guns for their own safety, I don’t think I would even have the courage to shoot someone if I had to. It would make a very frightening dog-eat-dog world. Giving everyone a gun would just make it that much more tempting for those cracking under the pressure to use it.

The comments suggesting there would be a blood bath after the implementation of liberalized concealed carry policies on college grounds are no different than the fears expressed by many leading up to the liberalization of state concealed carry laws nation-wide. No such blood bath materialized. Increasing access to firearms for law abiding gun owners simply does not increase gun crime. Perhaps, tho, it could have prevented some today.

In the wild west, in the time of the shoot ‘em ups and outlaws, and posse lynch ‘em justice, the first thing a town did to quell the lawlessless was make the men hang up their guns. Took strong, brave lawmen to make them do it, but they did.
As soon as that happened, towns became cities and civilization flourished.
Now the solution to all our problem is to regress back to those days of unsafety? Geniuses.

Sarina – you are absolutely correct.
Mr. Silbermann, while I understand your concern it is absolutely unsubstantiated. Over 128,000 Virginians have conceal carry permits and they are all law abiding citizens. I dont imagine that you will find that CCW holders are the same people getting into “drunkin brawls” as drinking while carry a firearm is expressly forbidden, and as we have already addressed CCW holders are law abiding citizens and go out of their way to adhere to the law rather than break it.

Eric,
Unfortunately, I dont believe it is that simple. A lock on the door might have helped individuals in the classroom, but like the majority of universities, there are any number of public areas (including quad’s and such) where students not currently in class congregate. In addition, University professors are not responsible for the safety of each individual student.

guns don’t kill people…people kill people…ban people..it’s for the children

aquart, Hollywood movies are not a good historical source. The murder rate was much lower in the “wild west days”. Also, if people were armed there would be fewer senseless bar fights, because peolpe would be afraid to start a confrontation. A polite society is an armed society.

I think that colleges should make a plan of action that students could follow in case this situation occurs again just like what the high schools did after Columbine. High schools have a lock-down procedure they follow once an alarm is set off to alert the school of a shooting. That could possible be one of the solutions to events like these.

I agree. Clearly, the answer to these gun shootings is more guns. Let’s have em in bars. Let’s have em at the DMV. Let’s put them in divorce courts and in movie theatres. Let’s have em in churches too. i know I would feel so much safer if I had a weapon at the ball game.

As a college student, I would hate to think that the kid next to me could be carrying a concealed weapon. The thought that at any minute, someone could start firing in lecture is terrifying.

Actually, there have been shootings at police stations. As for all the if they had been armed crap, would they have been able to hit the gunman without injuring others, would htey make sure they weren’t mistaken for another gunman, would their bullets pierce a bulletproof vest?

It is ridiculous to claim that students with gun will guarntee the safety of campus.
Think about this ” can a killer with a knife kill 30 person faster than with a full-loaded pistol?”
where the gun goes, where the tragedy goes.
Good guy doesn’t get more safety from gun, bad guy does hurt more
person with gun!!!!

I am a ’99 graduate from Virginia Tech, I also live 6 miles from Campus. I believe 100% that if the students who had valid concealed weapon permits, this story might have a different ending.
Criminals, thugs and monsters such as the one today, prefer unarmed victims. This is why I have been a concealed permit holder now for 9 years.
God bless the Hokies……

Poor guy!!! He’s done nothing wrong, but now gets all these trouble. He can sue the initial news reports libel if he want to.
Another source said the shooter was a F1 student. Which is not likely because F1 students in recent 2 years must give their fingerprints, which the police cannot find with this shooter.
Also, the name “Wayne Chiang” is just not a F1 student. Nor can a F1 student afford to collect guns.

What are you talking about, Pete?
Gun control, whenever implimented, has almost universally led to an increase, not a decrease, in violent crime.
The government cannot protect everyone on an individual level. Frankly, you’re an idiot if you “feel sorry for us” who have more sense than to want to be made defenseless.

There’s is no stopping something like this. More guns, less guns, this sorta tragedy happens and is practically impossible to prevent. Some call this shooter a criminal, and as there are still few details about him/her, I’m not so sure. I would suggest that the shooter is sick/unbalanced, emotionally disturbed, etc. When someone is willing to kill themselves, what can you do. Just ask the Israelis.

This is so very unfortunate, and yet the gun control advocates were jumping on this as early as the 1pm White House briefing. Don’t they realize their insane policies led in part to the massacre today?!
Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Nobody has a right to defend themselves today, just as they no longer have a right to take care of themselves without government intervention.

I’m not anti gun-control, I think it should be strict, but allow people to get guns. The licenses (Especially for concealed) should be difficult to get, thorough background cehck, some sort of ‘proof’ that you wont use it illegally, but it shouldn’t stop anyone from having a gun ecept those who it would be dangerous for us if they did. Gun licenses for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, as long as a fair system judges them as safe.
Remember, it’s easy to make molotovs and flamethroweers and light cannons. Make guns a crime, criminals will still have guns.
In a society where you may have to back up your words with your life, manners are good.

I’m not sure gun control is necessarily the answer, though the number of rounds in a clip could certainly be reduced. What sounds like the greater problem here is the security response. It would seem that the University’s entire security apparatus was inadequate.

I’ve read all of the comments everyones posted, some are really good ideas, some…must have been lacking braincells to post them, like the comment about “there’d be less bar fights if everyone carried guns” yeah lets give drunks that are ready to fight guns, thats a brilliant idea, someone else said that just locking the door could have helped and someone responded with its not that simple, you’re absolutely right its not that simple BUT it could have helped a great deal if the door was locked and a campus police officer “wherever they were” was going by at the time and seen someone trying to get in that wasnt supposed to be there that could have stopped it right there so is locked doors a bad idea? uh no neither would be metal detectors and better/more campus police officers but thats all my opinion

Strange. Everyone was following the multitude of gun control laws on the books…. except for the mass murderer.
Yeah, 5 more regulations would have stopped him. That’s using your head,

Obviously, the fact that it is illegal to carry a weapon on campus did not deter this criminal.
What we need is another law, making it illegal to ignore the first law.
If that doesn’t work, then we can pass another law enforcing the second law. Right?
Get real, folks. Laws do not PREVENT crime. Laws merely PUNISH crime AFTER it has occurred.
Worse yet, when law-ABIDING folks are disarmed BY law, they become easy prey for the sociopaths that infest every society. Sociopaths do not obey laws.
By creating a nation of sheep, we are promoting a population of wolves. Where there is prey, there will be predators. It’s a simple law of nature.

First off for the news media outlets that portrayed Chiang as the murder of the 32 college students should be held liable for the damage it has caused to his reputation. Secondly for the people on this board who “doesn’t want to live in a society where we need to have firearms to protect ourselves” Get with reality folks our society is violent. There are few people in our society with any kind of morals and also lack common decency. Regardless if guns where banned we would still have murdering thugs who do not give 2 cents about human life nor their own life. Liberal’s would like you believe that if guns were gone then all of this country’s crime would disappear, think about this for a second why is there no outcry to limit what we see on television or listen too on the radio. You don’t think that young kids listening to music about the glorification of selling drugs, stealing, and pimping hoes has no effect on our society? We our a product of our society. Until the left wing and liberals wake up and smell the roses on the real down fall of our society we will have to suffer with an ill attempt to portray gun owners as “evil”. Why people cannot see the underlying causes for these actions dumbfounds me.

“As soon as that happened, towns became cities and civilization flourished.
Now the solution to all our problem is to regress back to those days of unsafety? Geniuses.”
Suggest you check the murder rate in Washington, DC where guns are currently banned. Then compare it to Texas or Vermont, where gun control is nearly non-existent.

gun free zones within imaginary lines make no sense to me. like some guy with nothing to lose who is cnsiderin ending his own life is gonna surrender his weapons at an invisible unguarded line because theres a rule about it on some paper somewhere… it works almost as good as a metal detector, right? not for criminals it doesnt but law abiding gun owners like myself certainly do follow this idiotic law. and who do u want to have the guns… answer no one and ill laugh at you

Sure. Lockdown was just what they did.
Effectively locking the gunman in with his victims while the cops with rifles and bullet resistant vests stood outside and hid behind trees.
And all the while, you could hear the “pop pop” of the gunman ending another pair of lives.
Just goes to show ya, y’all are responsible for your own safety. By the time that the cops finally breach the building, the point may be moot.

“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.”" 2006
in a perfect world we wouldn’t need abortion or guns. until then lets deal with reality. freedom does come with costs but its better than the alternative

almost every school shooting since the ’90s has been stopped by a citizen who retrieved his fire arm and proceeded to end the carnage. the idea that you can stop the madness by limiting guns is absurd. the “mad” will always find a way and the law abiding will be the victims. the founders gave us a tool to protect ourselves from human madness. madness wins where that tool is denied, EVERYTIME. “there are too many guns!” No; yesterday in Virginia there was one too few.

The US has one of the most liberal gun laws in the world. In countries with much more strict gun laws these types of incidents tend to happen far more seldom. It is easy math. Guns should be more controlled.

If we banned guns NO one would have guns. Drugs are illegal and it ain’t like you can buy them on EVERY corner in every town in this graet country.

Honestly, there is very little anyone can do to stop this kind of violence. I do think that we need to have concealed weapons allowed on campuses to people legally able to carry them, but I think that it’ll only get worse in the short term. Regardless of steps that we take to defend ourselves, we should expect copycats. The media is treating the death toll like a score. 33:1. Someone is going to want to compete.

Um… I don’t want to weigh in on one side or the other about the whole gun control thing, but as far as the truth about shootings in the “wild west” goes.. There may have been fewer shootings back then, but that’s only because there were much much fewer people. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I am still 99% certain that the per capita gun fatality rate in “wild west” was much higher than it is now. Even in Baltimore.

Apparently it’s only ok for 18-20 year olds to have guns if they are fighting in war.

Bring the university to court. Make them answerable to their lack of response. The school is as guilty as the gunman. Of all their self-righteous talk about care for students, it’s nothing more than empty talk.

Americans need to think why there is more gun violence in the U.S.A than even the third world – with all its social problems. A gun never solved anything, or protected anyone. Its safer with no guns than with guns.

“A polite socity is an armed society” may be the most ignorant comment I have ever heard. I find it interesting that someone should mention England above becuase if one looks at the mruder rates in Europe then they would notice that they are drastically lower than in the United States. Why is this one might ask? Well it is because in Europe common citizens do not have to right to bear arms. Therefore, no guns = less murder. I agree with the person above who said it is America`s fault. We need to change the culture of violence that has developed in this country.

How can you say that an armed society is a polite society. Pete, you obviously don’t know a thing about society. LA or any US gangs – armed, Al Sadr’s militia – armed, Sudanese rebels – armed, Ethiopian’s – armed, Chechen rebels – armed, Japanese – not armed. Where can you find more peace in that group? Our country’s forefathers did not envision the gross negligence of today’s broken American society when they drafted the Bill of Rights.

“I am a firm believer that if Virginia tech students were allowed to conceal carry this situation could have ended sooner.”
How the hell are you gonna make sure you shoot at the correct shooter, when every other student is also carrying a firearm?
“Hey, look – a student with a gun, it must be the badguy. Shoot him!” “Oh, another student with a gun. Better shoot him too, to be on the safe side….”
Monthy Pyton couldnt have made it better, if it just werent so tragic.
Condolances to the family and friends of the victims.

If you can blame guns for killing people, then you can blame your pencil for spelling mistakes-Larry the Cable Guy

I live in Texas. We have a conceal carry law that came into affect after that nutso shot 23 people dead in a Luby’s restaurant near Waco back in the late ’90s. I believe that if everyone, like in the old west, carried a firearm on them — and could do it without going through a conceal carry course, which just makes firearm dealers rich and gives the govt. your information, of course — crime would plummet. But, in this day and age, you can’t carry protection if you obey the laws and we all know that criminals don’t obey any laws so the result is murders, rapes, killings, robberies, etc., on innocent people. I kinda think the govt. likes it like this because that keeps the police in jobs, the courts & judges in jobs, the lawyers in jobs, the prison industrial complex in jobs, etc. It’s really an economic issue that results in innocents dying or being horribly wounded, etc. So thank your lawmakers for making laws criminals pay no mind to but make innocents incapable of protecting themselves. It’s all a joke. Hey, people, just carry and f the laws. It’s your life and not the states’. They could care less if you get mowed down by some lowlife drug-fuelled maniac. If you don’t carry, regardless of the law, some perp will have the upper hand on you and you’ll die and he’ll most likely get away to do the same to some other innocent who obeys the law.

So College Students are children who are too immature to carry a firearm to defend themselves?
I do believe these are the same stock we choose from to send over to Iraq with massive firepower at heir disposal. No argument.

FACT: Deaths by auto accident far exceed those by guns: SOLUTION: Ban autos.
FACT: Deaths by alcohol-related diseases far exceed those by guns: SOLUTION: Ban alcohol.
FACT: Death by AIDs far exceeds deaths by guns. SOLUTION: Ban sex.
Don’t you see? Banning is stupid. Education, responsibility and a society that can defend itself in all manner of emergencies is the only answer.

Why couldn’t 30 people in a classroom all throw their desks at him and rush him to take him down? That’s alot of the problem in this world everything thinks guns make it better. Guns just make killing easier. No one fights one on one anymore they have to gang up on someone or go get a gun, we’ve lost all our bravery, honesty, integrity and honor.

i think he shouldnt be able to have all those weapons because if he dicides to go on a ramppage then he can do that cause he has the items to do so and that many weapons should not be aloud on campus really none cause it a learning enviroment not a training class for gunman

I am outraged and saddened by this tragedy. Suffice it to say that NO civilian has ANY need to carry a semi-automatic weapon. And VT obviously needed a lock-down procedure. I understand that they believed that they had the dorm situation under control, but there should have been some sort of protocol. Authorities should have been called in and the classrooms should have had a mandatory lockdown. Who knows for sure, but my heart goes out to the students and faculty at VT, along with their friends and family. We are all thinking of you at the University of Florida campus.

I went to school in New Haven durring the crack violence crazed late 80s and early 90s. I rode my bike through bad neighborhoods to get to class every day. I had a state issued Concealed Carry permit and carried into class regularly.
Remember, I was not the problem. And YES. If some of those kids had been armed, this would have ended much sooner.
By the way, there is no law that I can find preventing Va tech students from carrying.
Don

Conceal Carry works, Gun control doesnt. These “Kids” are the same age I was when I went to Desert Storm. Olden, Great idea. Go into lockdown and set off a very high siren or alert. Better scared than dead.

In all honesty? In a seecond floor classroom with only one exit, the classroom door, what can the college really do? They thought the danger was gone… what’s to say they don’t keep the college closed down a day, a week, a MONTH to make sure the shooter doesn’t come back?
Everything would stay closed and nobody would ever go outside to avoid any minute chance of danger. The school thought the threat was gone.
And if you’re in a classroom and somebody starts firing off rounds, you’re a sitting duck. I’m really surprised that with scores of students and one gunman there was ZERO opportunity to fight back? He never turned his back or looked away? We’re talking semi-automatic pistols, not minimachine guns. He HIT what, 60 people? He’d have to reload and be an incredible shot. I mean, at that point, forget heroics, you’re fighting life or death.

It’s ironic that Wayne would get death threats, considering, if he were the shooter, he’d be DEAD, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

This poor kid. When is this country going to stop racial profiling? I understand the police stopped him in the best interest of the students safety. There was mass chaos and confusion and they were using what little info they had. He was promptly cleared of any wrong doing and released. Why isn’t that good enough? Some google-freak has it all figured out?
“Gun control” keeps guns out of the hands of people who need to be able to defend themselves. Could the outcome have been different if a professor or student had been carrying a concealed weapon? These terrorists are looking for targets where they know they can best succeed in their plans. There are plenty of places where guns are understandably not allowed such as government buildings. These places are also guarded by heavily armed security personel in case of a similar occurance. The same protection should be provided to our children if we insist on such limitations. We used to think making airplanes a “gun free zone” was a good idea and would keep everyone safe. Now we know better and have armed pilots. When are we going to apply the same logic to our schools?

How many people have been killed on school campuses in the last 10 years involving guns/knifes/fists?
Compare that to the death toll of highway accidents, NOT involving impaired drivers. Accidents far outstrips the bloody activity on campuses.
TONS of laws for both issues..so NEW laws not really the answer, to stop them from happening. The liberal answer is to deprive the majority more of their freedom/rights, like the right to bare arms…The only thing at this time that we need to do is bury the dead,and pray for the survivors.

Wow. There sure seems to be a lot of activists pushing their agenda for arming the masses on this site.
While I disagree that arming society is the way to go, I do see your point.
Criminals will always find a way, regardless of a law, or lack of equipment, to act “criminally”. If someone wants to hurt others bad enough, it will probably happen.
I believe that limiting the ability of “possible” criminals to acquire weapons is the best option but… the fact is it may just not work.
This coward got off far to easily and I can only hope that he is in a horrible place now.
My heart is filled with sadness and remorse for all the victims and their families.
There are no words I could possibly say that would ease the suffering and anguish I am certain they are experiencing. I am just so sorry this happened.

Although it is difficult to lockdown a 2600 acre campus with over 25,000 students and 100 buildings, it can be done in an emergency. The campus gates should’ve been locked and faculty and commuters sent home when they arrived. The dorms should’ve been in lockdown until the gunman was apprehended. Any students (obviously not armed and dangerous) out wandering the campus at 7:30 in the morning should’ve been rounded up by security and sent back to their dorm. Had these measures been taken the massacre in the classrooms could’ve been avoided.

The only college students that would be eligible to carry concealed would be adults, over the age of 21, that have passed a federal background check… I am 100% in favor of responsible VA adults being able to defend their lives anywhere in the state. The college campus isn’t a mystical border in which responsibility is thrown to the wayside.

I think that the VA Tech President handled this situation very poorly, because of the fact that the incident that happened in the dorms was two hours prior to this huge tragedy. That campus could have been locked down, and he chose not to do that. 30 more people could be alive today…but because of his lack of action….families and friends are mourning a huge loss today…..

Columbine was a big shock but this is just sad. There is no reason why 32 people should be dead right now. I’m mad, mad because of what happened and mad because of the response. Every high school and college no matter what the size needs to have a EAS (emergency alert system). We have a horn blaring in our cities and counties every first saturday. why don’t we have one on our colleges? I truly believe that if VT had a EAS, more would’ve survived.

Sorry, but the problem here is handguns. The manner in which they are produced and sold needs to be re-evaluated. A handgun should never be manufactured until it has an owner waiting for it. They are not cars or candy bars and for all of you yelling on here about how ‘this wouldn’t have happened if other students were armed’ I have to respond with the following: NO, this wouldn’t have happened if the nutjob who did the shooting had not been able to purchase a 9mm handgun and all the ammo he wanted. Lack of being armed did not kill these students, a crazed killer with a handgun did. Get over your love of guns and focus on people for a change…

When anything (alcohol, drug, weapon) is involved in tragic or purely newsworthy event, the U.S. goverment’s historical response is to limit the average citizen’s access to the thing. Most times, this reaction is unreasonable (we have crowded prisons with marijuana offenders because of racism and we replaced drunk driviing 18 year olds with binge-drinking 18 years olds dying in a different way because of alcohol). Why? Because the government thinks that the initiative to educate is not cost effective. It is easier to simply tell people that they can no longer do or use something. And we have allowed this by totally given up responsibility for our actions, essentially saying, “Oh please Congress, tell me what I am too stupid to do so I know not to do.”
The average citizen doesn’t commit these horrible crimes, so limiting the average citizens doesn’t stop the problem… Where there is a will there is a way.

“A polite society is an armed society.”
Like Baghdad, Belfast, and Beirut??

Actually, Robbie, there was a recent shooting at a police station in Northern Virginia. I guess gun on gun isn’t the answer either. Maybe guns don’t kill people but stupid people with guns sure do. How about we just keep the stupid ones from getting them?

Since 9/11, I’ve thought the Citizen with a CCW is our first line of defense against the type of person who came out yesterday.
The Killer broke all kinds of laws while killing those poor souls in a “Gun Free Zone”.
Box cutters were used to kill three thousand .
Would 1 CCW holder stopped that.
Would 1 CCW holder at VT made a differance ?
I think . Yes.

I aggree with the lockdown procedure. I beleive some of the colleges definately would have to put a P.A system to connect to ALL buildings.

Concealed carry would have made matters worse…. if 1 out of 10 have guns on them, then 10 people in a class of 100 pull guns out… chaotic scene. More guards in the buildings after a first shooting would have helped some.

Those poor UNARMED students.
AND professors (guess we couldn’t trust them to be armed either?).
Ask yourself why this would have ended much more quickly in Israel.

Just a comment from a Danish guy.
I think it’s safe to say that America probably has one of the highest death statistics in the world. If i’m correct american laws allow anyone to own a gun. The more guns thats out there the easier it gets for the criminals to get the guns. I dont suppose a criminal would visit a gun store to by the weapon he would later use in a crime. Its my firm belief that its the laws that allow people to own guns that’s wrong. And the argument that with a gun you are able to protect yourself dosen’t really convince me – if there were no guns in the first place this kind of thing wouldn’t happen – look at other contries and tell me how often (compared to the US) you see these things happen in other contries – i for one can’t even remember any

Will you ever learn americans?

My heart goes out to the fallen, and the survivors of this tragedy, and the families and friends who are mourning their loss.
I understand there must be a lot of difficult emotions, however to displace this difficult emotions onto people simply because they happen also to be Asian American will only compound the tragedy.
Let’s work on taking care of the survivors and the families, understand why mass killings and gun violence by men keep happening in the United States, and not give in again to that traditional American pattern of racist-xenophobic hysteria.

17 and 18 year olds are serving with our Armed Forces in Iraq. Children younger than that are being recruited by Al Queda as suicide bombers. Ages in this type of situation are irrelevant. It is the maturity of the person that decides whether or not a handgun, automobile or gallon of gasoline is used as an offensive weapon.

If I’m not mistaken, this whole mentality of “we need to allow more people access to guns for protection so they could have shot this guy down” is similar to why we started collecting nuclear weapons during the cold war. I believe we have the right to bear arms but people are crazy if they believe everyone being allowed to carry guns everywhere would solve problems like this.
I don’t want to believe it but it’s true what wonder said. It’s pretty hard to kill 30 people with a knife.

You know what is ironic? In S. Korea it is illegal for citizens to own guns. I lived in Seoul as a teenager and it is a pretty safe place. I don’t know what the country is like now – this was in the mid 80′s. But just think, he couldn’t have done this in his home country or at the very least it would have been a lot more difficult.

All of you are commenting on if there should or should not be a ban on guns. Yet no one is mentioning about some prevention that should start in middle school & carry thru into high school that would help students better cope with problems & situations that would cause an over-bearing amount of stress in one’s life. Don’t you think that teaching better coping skills would help prevent situations like this one from occurring? We all need to help troubled students early on so that they don’t become that destructive bomb going off like this!

The problem is, no one knows how to really predict a maniacal eruption. No matter what we do there will always be a way to get the drop on unsuspecting innocents and everyone will left will be searching for who did the wrong thing in letting this type of tragedy unfold. Fact is, the way we find entertainment and dirty pleasure in this world IS a major cause of these things (think Christians and lions in Rome). People get off on agony and destruction and others get rich off of it. You don’t think hours of accessible violence and negativity impact the minds of the down and out into going out with a murderous bang? You are what you eat, and the same goes for the human spirit. Just look at nearly every news page regarding this event- there’s a list of other tragic shooting events and the names of the glorious murderer right there with it. Immortalized like a champion.

Will you gun control nuts please give me a break with the KIDS WITH GUNS crap.. Hey one want to guess the average age of the troops in IRAQ carrying guys. If one other person besides the shooter in that building had a weapon we could be talking about alot less dead students today. The GUN FREE areas only insure that law abiding people are allowed to be defenseless targets to those that break those laws. There are enough sick people out there that the take the example of walking into a shopping mall or School and start shooting that its only a matter of time before some Al Qaeda cell gets the idea how easy it would be to hit four or five schools or shopping malls in a day. Alot less man power and cash require then the 9/11 hits.

Can you guys PLEASE at least wait for these kids to have funerals before you start twisting their tragedy into fodder for your personal political agenda.
I knew the gun argument would be coming, but I thought people might have at least had the decency to wait until the bodies of the dead were cold. People are dead, can’t you let their families mourn before you start using this tragedy as nothing more than a tool to push your agenda??

Having armed students would have resulted in one thing: more casualties. I really hope this insane lack of logic doesn’t become the norm.
Wayne, be smarter. If anything this should help you understand how uncool guns are.

The liberals will have a field day using this tragedy to push more gun control laws…perhaps we should look at a tightening of VISA’S (oh my God! So politically incorrect!)as well…

Well, we’ve heard from the NRA loud & clear. Too bad the shooter found it so easy to arm. As long as firearms are easily accessible, this kind of thing will continue to occur.
It’s also easy to second guess the VT admin. Give them a break.

There seems to be another common thread among all these school shootings. The ubiquitous “Black Coat”, in particular, the “Black Trench Coat”.
Without the black coat, killers couldn’t conceal their weapons or transport their ammo in the “magazine pockets”. Surely these dangerous garments should be controlled better. Let’s register the coats, license the wearers, and get them out of the schools!!
It’s for the children.

Hey Dolphin,
You asked, “Tell me what practical use one can argue for having an automatic or semi-automatic weapon?”
My answer:
Semi-auto weapons are SUPERB DEFENSIVE tools, as long as the state doesn’t prevent you from possesing or using it IN DEFENSE.
Don’t be a sheep.

The problem with this country is not Guns. The right to Bear Arms is in the constitution. The REASON we have shootings in our schools is plain and simple. WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SECURITY PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN. What should be done, is security guards should be placed at every entrance and door, metal detectors installed , and doors that open only from the inside, security cameras that are monitored, by real people, 24 hours a day, every day.
And our laws should be alot sticter for anyone caught with a weapon: at school at any age for any reason.
YES IT DOES COST A LOT OF MONEY, but if we would put our foot down and make these policitican pay for a cab ride instead of riding around in limos that we pay for and quit taking expensive vacations, and pay for their own plane tickets and quit giving themselves raises of giganic proportions and quit living in houses we pay for and buy their own Damn house and quit living off our tax dollars, we would have the money that we need and that it would take to protect our children. This does not mean, the President, or Vice President or certain members of our government that have to be protected. But, there are a lot of politicians living off our tax dollars instead of paying their own way. If we took that money and put it into our schools, maybe we might not be able to put a stop to all the violence, however we could protect our children a Hell of lot better than what we are doing.

I would like to just say how sorry I am to all the people affected by this. Also I do not agree or disagree with having weapons on Campus but as was said if someone else maybe a teacher had a fire arm it could have been ended sooner. For the people saying that these college students are to young to carry a firearm then it seems to me these “teenagers” should not have to give thier lives up to go to IRAQ. They are only teenagers.

It is legal for a resident alien (which is what this guy was) to purchase a gun in the United States. He has to wait longer than a citizen to get approval. It is just a excuse to blame guns. Bombs, cars, trucks, etc. can alll be used as weapons. Look out law abiding citizens the gun grabbers are coming!!! Look back through the history of school shootings in the United States and just about all of them were stopped by a citizen that had a gun! The states were Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas where the students were stopped before they had a chance to reload!

Cars kill more ppl than guns
Alcohol kills more ppl than guns
Tobacco kills more ppl than guns
I guess we should ban all those things…for the children.
You are unbelievable. Never let the facts get in the way of headlines or propaganda. Maybe some of you gun grabbers should do some research. The ’94 AWB did nothing and actually saw an increase in crime. America actually has a small number of homicides/suicides due to guns compared to most countries. Ask Australia or England how their gun laws are working out? They’re shitting bricks over their right now b/c they’re finding out it isn’t working. We have over 200,000 gun laws in this nation yet the criminals still get the guns, still committ the murders, STILL BREAK THE LAWS!
There is no possible way to get rid of every gun in the USA and there is no possible way to keep every gun out of the USA…hell we can’t even keep illegals out and now the same people who are screaming more gun control…are allowing the illegals to stay in this country…btw 34 Americans are killed every day because of illegals.

IT IS NOT GUNS! Guns are not our problem. The right to bear arms is in the constitution. The REAL problem is SECURITY and we do not have enough.
Put security Guards at every door and entrance to every school. Put in metal dectors and security cameras monitored by real people, every day 24 hours a day. Install doors that only open from the inside.
YES, IT DOES COST A LOT OF MONEY.
If we put our foot down and made these fat politicians pay for their own plane tickets, their own homes, pay for cab fare instead of riding in limos that we pay for, and took this money and PUT THIS MONEY into our schools and Universities we could do a HELL OF LOT BETTER JOB OF PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN.
This is a dangerous world that we live in. Protect our children at any cost nessacery.

It is with great sadness the tragedy that we have just witnessed. Our deepest compassion go out to everyone involved and also to everyone in the great state of VA. Our prayers are with all of the victims and their families and friends and students of this great college.. I have read many points for and against gun control in this country and have to agree that it only protects the criminals and this is wrong…
I also note that many things have happened in this country since “God” was taken out of our schools, and “Christ” out of Christmas, and now many state and federal buildings are removing anything that has to do with religion..After watching the DVD that I purchased titled “ACLU: At War with America” and also reading the book by Newt Gingert “Discovering God in America,” one has to wonder what would America be like if the “Lord” was put first and formost in this country like it was founded upon by our Forefathers…What next and where to from here?????

Perhaps, this kid is displaying the obvious warning signs of being the next school shooter and in hindsight, we should have known.

GUN BAN will not, and does not work. 9/11 terrorists fired how many shots? Enough said!!!

Damn right Wayne. Guns for all would solve it all. I dont think this idiot would have hurt as many people as he did if the students or professors were armed. We have the right to keep and bare arms to protect ourselves from nutjobs like the one who shot those kids at V tech. He’s dead now though so whatever.

Of course we should be allowed to keep and bear arms. If people did their duty to know how to use them, this would have ended far more quickly and with far fewer deaths.
People who don’t think you can defend yourself with a gun don’t make a very convincing case – all you need to do is shoot into the air to scare someone off most of the time.
Criminals break the law no matter what. If good people don’t have the same firepower the bad people do, I don’t see how thats ever a positive thing. Yes, guns can accidentally hurt people – so can knives and cars. We don’t outlaw them for a reason.

Allowing people to carry concealed weapons isn’t going to solve the issue at hand. How about parent’s raising their children better??!!
We sit and try to come up with rules and laws to control certain actions but in reality it all boils down to parents teaching children right from wrong and being there for them.

The Second Amendment should have been erased a long time ago: America can’t be ruled by laws written when the west coast was still a Western desert!
This is amazing that some people use this horrible drama to promote guns and self-justice. Come on, guys, we’re not living in a western anymore! Let’s be civilized: this drama should encourage the governement to fight against the culture of violence and the near “free for all” guns ideology.
How many Columbine before we admit guns should be prohibited? How many studies to repeat – again and again – that we are LESS safe with a gun in our hand than without?
Guns kill in America three times more people than 9.11. Three times more.
People in the NRA say “Give a gun to every children so they can protect themselves” and you agree? This is madness. If you do this, you’ll have 10 Columbine a year.

Key inquiry here folks: did gun-dazzled Asian facebook guy who is alive and well know Cho?

Hey I Would Just Like TO Say My Heart Go’s Out To All The Victums Of VT You Will Truely Be Missed And Im Praying For Everyone Even The Gunmans Family!! And To The YOung Gentelmen Who Is Being Accused Of Being The Gunman Im Praying For You And I Hope You Get YOur Name Cleared!! God Bless..
R.I.P Ryan Clark YOu Will BE Truely Missed!!!

people, let’s look at cold hard facts:
in virginia, there are people trained and licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
getting a concealed carry license is MUCH harder than just buying a gun. You need to be trained, you must shoot a qualifying score. You must be of good moral character, and you open yourself up to a background check. (almost the same thing as your average police officer)
a school rule DEMANDED that the students disarm themselves. That school rule made certain that the students would not be able to defend themselves…
Then school ALSO failed to protect their students. They didn’t even cancel classes until after the SECOND shooting started to happen…
does anyone see any logic in the actions of the school, police, etc? Is it really that much to ask that people, trained and licenced by the state, be allowed to carry their weapons where massacres like this seem to always happen?

Just for the record, in England there are 80-200 gun deaths per year, while we in America have 80 a day, the vast majority coming from homicides. As for our already stringent gun laws, What we have are designed to be ineffective, and the NRA makes sure even these small attempts at public safety are not followed.

This psycho Cho purchased the guns legally – State of Virginia laws allow that each and every one of the students and faculty killed could also have purchased a gun and carried it to class – just like this psycho (they would have had to ignore the Va Tech rules against guns on campus just like Cho did). Does that mean one of the students or faculty would have been able to beat Cho to a “quickdraw” or otherwise use their weapon to defend themselves and fellow students? Who knows?! But they didn’t -so maybe, just maybe we should rethink gun laws and screen for psychos, screen for criminals, not allow resident legal aliens to own guns, limit the number of guns and/or types of guns owned (like limiting the number of guns the other Va Tech gun dealer/collector owns). Maybe, just maybe if there were fewer guns to be legally purchased, there would be fewer guns that could be stolen by criminals and fewer of those guns used by other criminals and psychos in crimes. Hmmm if the psycho only had the two knives available in his backpack – instead of two guns, two knives and extra ammo – do you think he would have been able to kill as many people?

Those are some nice weapons! HK knows how to build ‘em. I love how the media uses this tragedy to condemn law-abiding gun owners. We are the ones who could have stopped this individual; saved lives… unbelievable.

Wow, I feel really bad for this kid. That’s GOTTA’ suck! I say…move. Quickly. To another state.

I would favor the approach used by the airlines. Encourage eligible staff to qualify and train. Include incidents like this in disaster preparedness drills. Do it so the student body knows it is happening – include them in the drills. Is the fear that they may want to go someplace that “feels” safer? Will someone please explain what evolutionary advantage an ostrich gains by burying its head in the sand.

I would favor the approach used by the airlines. Encourage eligible staff to qualify and train. Include incidents like this in disaster preparedness drills. Do it so the student body knows it is happening – include them in the drills. Does the administration fear that prospective students may want to go someplace that “feels” safer? Will someone please explain what evolutionary advantage an ostrich gains by burying its head in the sand?

Nicolas, how is it more “civilized” to ensure that victims cannot defend themselves? How is the scene that happened here, with a group of people lined up against a wall and murdered civilized? Anything approaching “civilization” would mean a scenario where this was stopped before it got to that point. If schools required teachers to be properly trained and armed, these things would never happen. And if you don’t like the 2nd Amendment, then ask your congressman to introduce an amendment to repeal it. Until that happens, it is the will of the people and the law of the land.

Nicolas,
Why do you assume someone is suggesting to “arm everyone”? Obviously gun owners that have CCW permits are serious about it and take the time to properly practice with the gun and are law abiding citizens. Your assumption that guns will be somehow indescriminately handed out to every immature, drunken college bar-brawler is flawed and foolish. Your wish to deny ME my right to defend myself and those around me is even more foolish. You can go through your life hoping police will magically appear in time to protect you should you find yourself staring down the barrel of a gun, but don’t force that on me. The right to protect my own life is the most basic right I can even imagine.

Nicolas Huber,
Physican’s kill over 120,000 people a year by accident.
Should we kick out all the physician’s in the US?
Drugs and suicides account for more than 2 out of every 3 gun deaths in the USA.
The best way to prevent gun deaths is to treat depression and other mental illness, teach children not to sell or use illegal drugs, treat drug addiction, and have police concentrate on enforcing drug laws.
NOT CREATE MORE GUN LAWS.

I firmly believe carrying firearms and using it on anyone remotely suspicious should be mandatory for every American citizen!

Maybe, just maybe, the answer is less guns and not more. Sure if a student in that class had a gun the damage may have been limited. But if the shooter didn’t have a gun to begin with I’m guessing we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I know a lot of people who are fond of the saying “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” But guns make it a lot easier for people to kill and the fact that people with mental instability such as the shooter in question have such easy access to them is frightening.

To say that guns kill people is to say that pencils cause spelling errors and spoons are the reason people are fat. It isn’t the guns that are killing people it is the people who are pulling the trigger. People should not be stripped of their Constitutional rights just because there are some people out there that are mentally unstable. The majority of gun owners use their weapons responsibly and it is those small few that use them maliciously that cause guns to have a bad reputation. I can see where people come from in regards to banning guns. However, is it really fair to those that enjoy shooting for recreational purposes to have their rights taken away because there are people out there that do not use their weapons in a responsible manner?

One thing that is quite interesting is the medias spin on this whole case. If the killer happened to be white (he would be a spoiled kid from the suburbs). If the shooter was black (he would be a thug). Or if he was of Arabic descent he would be a terrorist.
And for the Asian kid pictured with the numerous different weapons he most definitely should not have his name cleared. And he is most certainly a suspect.

I can’t believe that some of you have actually written that we should all learn to get along.
That is very utopian and wonderful but its idiotic.
If Mr. Chiang had been there armed then he could have helped. If they all were armed then the dhooter would probably hace failed.
Only in America do we place blame on inanimate objects and at the same time underestimate peoples ability to do the right thing.
Get a gun, learn to use it, be sensible.
Jim

We need to address the problem, not the fear. The problem is the legalization of guns. PERIOD. Fear creates fear – it’s that simple. The answer is to STRIP EVERYONE OF THEIR GUNS, and the fear diminishes. Just imagine how trigger-happy people would be, the instant they felt threatened ? Just go to Iraq to have that experience. Answer this: would you feel safe in a country with no guns, or one that allows your neighbors to conceal one?

John Rossi said….To suggest giving college students the right to carry concealed weapons on campus is really a horrible idea. Im leaving for school in the fall, and with the amount of drinking that goes on at college campuses these days, drunken shootings would undoubtedly rise, and i would just not feel safe.
All the people I know who take an interest in firearms and learn to responsibly use and handle them either have quit drinking or lock up their firearms if they intend on drinking at home. They never go out drinking with firearms.

I like mustard on my Biscuits…

I’m a school teacher and whenever something like this happens, it’s nerve wracking. I wonder, why didn’t a group of them try to distract him and jump him, taking over his weapon? I don’t know what I’d do in a situation like this, but I’d like to think that I’d try to do something. If you’re gonna die, die fighting for yours and others lives. Also, I’ve known a few troubled, moody kids, who never smile and always look angry. I bet this killer was the same way when he was young. We need to pray and seek the Lord and turn from our wicked ways and the Lord will bless our land, He will intervene. I’m so sorry for all these families and friends of these victims. Remember the shooter’s family is grieving too.
pgbd

Gosh, thats one of those moments Im happy not to live in a country where every stupid can buy a gun next door and slaughter his mates when hes got problems with his girl friend.
Anyway, i wanna express my deepest condolences for what happened there.
Greetz from Germany

You must be kidding me. I do not feel bad for you at all Wayne. Of COURSE people thought that you had something to do with this whole tragedy – did you really think they wouldn’t with your effigy to firearms on your facebook site? Your quotes scream that you indeed are a ticking timebomb who needs to get a new hobby. Posting religious hatred and racial slurs on a public forum?? You brought this negative media on yourself and you deserve it.

It all starts from the heart. The heart of man is wicked and evil and full of jealousy, anger, murder, adultery,perversion, …You name them all!.
To change the behaviour is to first change the heart, not gun controls. How to change the heart, do you really want to know? I’ve the solution.

The horror that unfolded yesterday could have been on any campus, almost anywhere in the world.
A lone gunman entered an area he knew was devoid of guns. After apparently killing two people at West AJ, he waited over two hours to begin his methodical massacre and suicide in Norris Hall. Without rewriting the American bill of rights, you have to come to the conclusion that there is nothing to be done to prevent this from happening again and again.
I will venture a guess that this killer had no previous criminal record that would suggest this was likely to occur.

You’re all crazy! More guns just expands the opportunity for this kind of situation. We all know college-age kids aren’t the most responsible.
If they could all pack heat, every college kid who gets depressed, dumped, feels like an outsider will have the ability to kill dozens of people in an act against the social network he blames for his state of mind. Every fight or argument would have potential for homicide.
In japan, guns are illegal. Only criminals and cops have guns. Some in America would say that’s the worst-case scenario.
And yet, in a nation of 130 million, there were less than 60 gun deaths last year.
The wild west is not the ideal societal model for civilization.
Maybe you all should try to *gasp* evolve a bit.

I’m sorry he was mistaken for the shooter. I hope he understands that not all of us jump to conclusions and react with our emotions.
I agree with Dave’s post “If you mention to someone that you are thinking of carrying a gun, you are likely to be told that it will make you less safe because the attacker will simply take it away and use it against you.
If that’s so easy to do, why didn’t any of the students do that to the attacker — i.e., take his gun away and use it against him????”
And I also agree with the concept of an armed society being a polite society. Those mentioned above as being ‘violent’ are indeed, but against specific targets. If you study those groups’ cultures you’d find violence among those groups, for example Al Qaeda vs Al Qaeda or Hamas vs Hamas, would be almost non existent. The knowledge that other’s around you have the means and the will to take your life makes you think very carefully about what societal rules you break.
Watching the coverage and hearing the accounts of what students heard (It sounded like a hammer) and how prepared the Eagle Scout was has renewed my determination that my two sons will grow up knowing basic emergency procedures AND know how to handle a gun.
Will I have guns in the house? Most likely not but ignorance breeds fear and that leads to mistakes and even prejudice.
Why be scared of a gun if it’s not in the hands of a killer? Find a shooting range, learn how to use one, what one sounds like. Knowledge is power.

“I guess our shooter didn’t think very highly of the law, or school policy. Students did however, and their noble obedience to it made a gunman’s life much easier. You never hear of mass shootings at gun stores, or police stations. Funny, that.
Posted by: Subnet | Apr 17, 2007 12:16:17 AM”
I guess you never heard of the Chantilly VA police station shooting last year? It does happen and people do die.
Re: Making gun licenses easy to get but concealed weapons permits harder to get: Would you feel safer if every student carried a handgun non-concealed as in a holster? We’ll replace firearms for cell phones in those belt holsters. Just a thought…

I say we all get a state-issued weapon and then… Since the government cannot keep guns out of crazy’s hands we might as well join’em! I’m all for guns. I have lived with them since I was a knee-baby and know that a gun and bullet will not harm anyone without a kook to pull the trigger.
Example, during 9/11 the airplanes became weapons of mass destruction. We would have been better off giving the terrorists firearms.
You people who know nothing about firearms and fear the “unknown” have dictated your fears onto free-society long enough. And you are still scratching your heads wondering what we should do about the criminal element in the US today.

I still own an anarchists cookbook…go ahead, ban guns, Im an intelligent law abiding person who bought it for historical value knowing the book would soon be banned everywhere, but how many idiots didnt take heed to the books warning… and are sitting in chemistry labs at this very moment with access to things that could make guns look like chids toys…dont make the mistake of thinking ANYONE can protect you, aside from yourself, and if someone does, be grateful… It is each individuals responsibility to take care of themselves and their own, those of you who support gun bans will be the first to *die out* as emotional weakness is greater than physical, and nature proves to us every time…only the strong survive. Bravo Wayne and others like him! Be safe brothers and sisters, and dont let the bastards get ya down. Personal choices are the only thing left for America to fight for, and all of you yahoos out there fighting to get our personal choices taken away, should move out of my country, and see how safe you feel elsewhere.

An armed society is a scared, pathetic society where everyone fears and suspects his or her neighbor. Yuck. How unChristian.

If someone else there had a gun they could have stopped this maniac…. I believe it’s in the constitution that we as americans have the right to bear arms

Ronan, your saying all americans were to blame here? if the gun wasn’t allowed to be bought in a store it would have been bough somewhere else

Terry B-Where do you get your statistics? Cite some sources.
FACT: “the major surveys completed in the past 20 years or more provides no evidence of any relationship between the total number of legally held firearms in society and the rate of armed crime.”
Source: Colin Greenwood “Minutes of Evidence”, Select committee on Northen Ireland Affairs, January 29, 2003

Let’s remember that the shooter was a legal gun owner. He bought two guns legally.

Sorry gun owners no gun will add inches to your dick. The sooner you realize that the safer we all will be.

Two issues.
Anyone who cites “what has happened in Britain and Australia” as proof of some kind that their gun laws have made them more dangerous than the United States is dead wrong.There’s enough invented “factoids” around as it is without NRA propagandists adding falsehoods. It’s not the place to argue about gun control or not, but we ought to stick to a reasonable approximation of facts.
Britain and Australia did impose severe restrictions on firearms in stages after large scale massacres, e.g. Dunblane, Hungerford and most notably Port Arthur, Tasmania (Australia.
In the UK (not including N.Ireland), only 57,000 people were affected by the ban. The weapons that were already illegal are still illegal. Only .1 percent of all of the UK’s population owned firearms before the ban. So there weren’t many affected. There is no demonstrated connection between the ban and any increase (or decrease.
Britain’s murders by firearms has not risen about double digits for a decade. There are a rising number of firearm — and the penalties are stiff and enforced. The British chose in the wake of two mass gun murders to impose restrictions because of public apprehension that existing laws were not being enforced appropriately, i.e. the police had failed to screen two mass murderers who had been permitted for weapons.
Britain and Australia have murder rates that are only a fraction of that in the United States. There is concern about escalating gun violence but total UK gun deaths are tiny, and have not risen above double digits in the past decade. Some object to the ban, but there is strong public sentiment after two mass murders, one in a school.
There were only 766 murders reported as homicides in England and Wales in the 2005/06 statistical year.Of those, 52 were victims of the London train bombings. Leaving them out for consistency, the UK (in England and Wales) have a murder rate of about 1.5 per 100,000. The US during the same period was about 5.5. England and Wales (the standard largest UK statistical area) had 839 murders in the 2004/2005 year. There were 766 in 06/06.
The state of Texas alone had 1,407 murders in 2005 and for seven straight years (1988-1994) had more than 2,000 murders each year.The murder rate in Texas
People shouldn’t talk about what they don’t know.We don’t have a model to offer for others –or the other way around. Except that we have way too many murders and widespread gunownership hasn’t lowered the number.

Where are the comments regarding the Appalachan Law School shooting in 2002. That’s the one where students disarmed the gunman using their own firearms.. I forgot, that’s not the image the media wants to broadcast.

Timmothy Mcvae killed 164 people and he did not even use a gun on any of them. Terrorists putting bombs on commercial jets have killed hundreds, maybe thousands. I guarantee you that if I ever wanted to commit mass murder of innocent people, the death toll could easily exceed 33 cubed, but I would never do such a cowardly despicable thing. But I would defend my right to defend myself and my family, from maniacs like this VT. nutcase, and my right to poses the means to do so.
I can already see the Kevlar lettermans jackets and sweaters booming on EBAY.
I really, in all this deplore the news parasites scavenging a buck off of this unfortunate tragedy.

you should be checked yourself joy, because your rhetorics and conclusions are scary to say the least, that was how people like cho started.. life is not black and white.

I cannot beleive half the comments on this site. Take a page out of our book. We had a mass murder occur in Tasmania who killed 35 people. Our Government banned the sal of ANY automatic firearms from that point on and you need to obtain a gun licence to even buy an air rifle here now. We have not had any more mass killings since this time. I know its your 2nd amendment and all, fine but do you seriously need to own a fully automatic firearm with a telescopic site and quick load magazines. Isnts a 303 enough for you. You should only even need that if you are a farmer.
I guess you could come back and safe its for your own protection, well if none of you had any guns, none of you could get shot by one could you.
Sheer craziness, I cant beleive the mentality of the majority of you all.

You have no idea in what kind of sick society you live in your US of A. Each time you defend your rights to have and carry guns, you allow things like this to happen.
Here in Europe I don’t know anyone who ownes a gun/rifle/whatever. And if people do, for sure I don’t want to be in any way close to them.
If you just simply would forbid them, it’ll be then very difficult to shoot someone.
No only the owner shoot the gun, the gun itself shoots also

Since nobody has stated them yet, I would like to inform the public of a few rules I teach my daughters when handling firearms.
1. Treat EVERY weapon as if it was loaded.
2. Do not point the weapon at anyone unless you are willing to have them die.
3. Identify your target.
4. Identify what is behind the target.
5. Do not put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to fire.
6. Never trust your safety.
What I haven’t told my young ones yet are the implications of these rules.
I1. If you never trust your safety, there is no excuse for an accidental discharge.
I2. If someone points a weapon at you, self defence by equal force is not only justified, but prudent.
I3. A realistic looking gun can get you killed by a prudent police officer.
I4. The best of shooters can be bested by a lucky shot.
I5. Assume that everone carries a weapon and be polite.
I6. These rules only apply to sane people.
Now about the weapons the insane murder used and how the continuation of Clintons gun ban would not have mattered. Choe used a .22cal and a 9×19. The .22 out of a full sized frame is an ideal tool for learning basic markmanship. There is very little recoil. Don’t let the small size fool you. A .22LR high velocity round has more energy than a baseball bat swung by Barry Bonds. I am not aware of any manufacturer other than Calico that makes a (pistol)magazine capacity higher than 10. My Hammerli competiton pistol only holds 5 rounds. My Hammerli, an Olymic class pistol, would have been contraban if it held 10 rounds. Why? Because the magazine is in front of the trigger. The wording of Clinton’s gun ban was intended to make the TEK 9 illegal. A specific gun that looks more menacing than it’s utility. The more you know about guns, the more absurd Clinton’s gun becomes.
Most 9mm handguns in a full sized frame originally used 15 round mags. Yes, there is an inherent advantage to higher capacity mags, you only have to reload once for 15 rounds vs 3 times for a .45cal. Who wouldn’t the advantage. Mind you this is an advantage that become very important IF someone is shooting back. The time it takes a practiced marksman to change a magazine is less than two seconds for a handgun and about 3 seconds in rifles. High cap mags important to Cops and soldiers, not so important to a calm but insame gunner.
For the anti-gunners who still oppose high cap mags thinking that low cap mags could have saved one life: Would one fewer death have made the rampage any less of a tragedy?

Quote
“Where are the comments regarding the Appalachan Law School shooting in 2002. That’s the one where students disarmed the gunman using their own firearms.. I forgot, that’s not the image the media wants to broadcast.”
I have also check the Wiki entry for The App Law School students, lol get a grip: from Wiki:
At the first sound of gunfire, fellow students Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross, unbeknownst to each other, ran to their vehicles to fetch their personally owned firearms.[5] Gross, a police officer with the Grifton Police Department in his home state of North Carolina, retrieved a bulletproof vest and a 9 mm pistol.
The “student” was an off duty policeman attending law school!

Because of VA’s lax gun laws, the actual shooter was able to walk out of a gun shop with his weapon within 15 minutes. There’s not even a waiting period. New York police report that VA is the number one source of guns used for violent crimes committed in New York. And even if another student was carrying a concealed weapon (to even the score, as it were), there still would have been a tremendous loss of life.
That being said, the shooter was a deeply disturbed individual who would have found a way to kill even if he couldn’t get his hands on a gun. A gun is an inanimate object, a tool used by the one wielding it for whatever purpose s/he intends. There are arguments that can be made on both sides of the gun control debate. But ultimately, what happened at Virginia Tech has nothing to do with the gun control or the lack thereof — it has to do with the depravity of mankind.
You guys just illustrate my point. 30+ people died, and you people use it as an excuse to attack one another savagely about your views on gun control. This isn’t a time for political posturing, you morons. It’s a time to mourn for the loss of all those families…their loss is our loss. I guarantee that they aren’t thinking about the reason or foolishness of gun laws right now. They are thinking about the loss that will now forever cloud their lives.
You disgust me.

OK AFTER READING THAT I NEED TO REPOST BOY I CANT TYPE
IF EVERYONE HAD A GUN NO ONE WOULD THINK OF GOING ON A SHOOTING SPREE THEY WOULD GET SHOT IN A SECOND THERES A REASON WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BARE ARMS FIRST THEY TAKE AWAY FREE SPEACH AND NOW THEY WANT TO TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHT TO DEFEND OURS SELFS WHATS NEXT WHATS THIS COUNTRY COMEING TO BUT WE WILL ALWAYS PAY TAXES NEVER TAKE THAT RIGHT AWAY

@ Jay
There is no point in your comment… Oh, and your Caps Lock button needs oil.
@ inVA
Of course, you mustn’t think of those foolish laws. It isn’t the blame of those sweet guns. Isn’t it.

I think guns will end it sooner, period. Why? for those who mention “mass confusion when the police comes”, “lots of crossfire” and “no idea who is who’, do you really think dozens of law abiding CC students firing at the SAME target can possibly miss so bad, even till the police arrives and they will still be shooting at the same turtle? chances are, that one guy would be gone in seconds. And honestly I don’t think any of them will fail to at least exercise sensible caution at fire at the right time. I would. And these are licensed pple who are capable of shooting properly after checks I believe.
The only issue really is it wont work if for example a student takes advantage and takes out another student he hates in the chaos and claim misfire and so on. But seriously, in a time where you worry about your own life against a mad shooter, would you do that? Altruistic good, especially in the fear of one’s own life, will shine through.

i think what he did is sick,crazy and out of this world. I think that he must have been a very disturbed meantly ill person who decided to commit suicide and proberly thought to himself “well if nobody likes or cares about me to help me get through my problems, then im going to make them pay and put them through what i have been feeling nearly all my life!” i just think that he diserved every bit of what he got.But my heart goes out to all the people who had to suffer because of this syco! And there familys.God bless all of you.
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How many news stories about unstable, imbalanced, psychotic individuals, who shoot their fellow students, spouses, co-workers, etc. do we have to hear before this country realizes that the general public should not have access to guns??? There is no way to screen gun buyers for mental illness. If you stand behind liberal gun laws, then you should take the blame for these tragedies. The mentally disturbed individuals who killed innocent people at Virginia Tech, Columbine and how many dozen other schools, fast-food restaurants, office buildings, etc. never should have held a gun.
It’s 2007. We’re not in the wild wild west anymore. Get guns off the streets and you won’t need a concealed weapon to “protect” yourself from the looney-toons.
Crime rates will go down, prisons populations will decrease, and consequently YOUR TAX BILL WILL BE LOWER!!! If nothing else moves your cold Republican heart, maybe that will.

Most of the killing in Baghdad is down by suicide bombers. When they are discovered soon enough, they are shot dead or disarmed. An armed society as referenced here speks of guns, not bombs. This comparison is not reasonable.

The Constitution of the United States is not a buffet where you can pick and choose what you want and ignore the rest. Our country was founded on these principals and if you don’t like them, go somewhere else. We won’t miss you… I’ve noticed quite a few people here chiming in with completely made up “facts” that have no basis in truth. (IE: get tougher gun laws and crime will go down. It’s just not true- this has been PROVEN time after time.) For anyone who’s mind remains open to truth, I suggest going to: http://www.gunfacts.info
For the rest of you, I know facts won’t change your minds, so let’s just agree to disagree…

I have never read a commentary like this before and have believed I understood this country. I realize now how wrong I was.
What so many of you are proposing is frightening beyond imagination. Guns, guns and more guns? No wonder we have no peace in this world. When are we going to wake up? After we’ve all be nuked off the planet? Too little, too late.

Not guns for just anyone- responsible adults who have taken the time to train and passed all governmental requirements. You are all acting like we want to hand guns out free at the supermarket, and that’s just not the case. Irresponsible people aren’t issued CCWs. How dare you anti-gun people try to deny me my right to protect me and my children (or your children for that matter.) Fight it all you want- guns exist and they’re not going away. Don’t worry, though. Despite your irrational fear and protests, we holders of CCWs will still defend your children for you. You’re welcome.

It is probable that if students on campus were allowed to carry guns the situation would have been diffused sooner. However, it is also probable that in the given scenario more shootings would have happened with all those guns around campuses.

You know whether you are on the side of gun control or guns for all, it doesn’t matter . . . the problem was identified and not dealt with effectively way before the tragedy of April 16th. It is too bad that our laws prevent law enforcement and others to take pro-active steps when individuals who appear to be as angry and “scary” as Cho are brought to their attention. No we had to wait until he murdered 32 innocent people . . . This crime could have been stopped way before it came to its sad conclusion on Monday. The debate I would like to see focuses on the stopping a crime before it happens so no one legally or illegally has to raise a gun.

We wouldn’t be needing this article if the gunman were white. Mr. Chiang was singled out because the media reported on race before the University was ready to. Why is the media basing information on internet postings? Shame on you,you created the lynching mob and then now that the authorities have to get involved because the poor guy is getting death threats, realize the consequences of your actions?
And enough with the debate about gun control. Let people grieve in peace.

Remember the recent Salt Lake City shooting? The shooter was stopped because a bystander had a concealed weapon. Granted he was an off-duty police officer, the fact remains he was exercising his right to carry a concealed weapon. That resulted in limiting the loss of life and bringing the crisis to a swift end.
All the signs of trouble were very apparent but the restraints placed on limiting one’s activities put in place by secular progressives prevented action aginst the poor man. Pre-emptive intervention would have averted this horrible disaster.

Yes, the bystander in the Salt Lake City shooting was an off duty police officer, which is a big difference from an average citizen who carries a gun.
He knew how to handle himself in this situation.
Do conceal/carry classes teach you how to protect yourself in this situation? No.
There is no guarantee anyone with a gun could have helped in this situation. No guarantee at all.

On a side note,the per capita gun crime rate in the wild west was higher than current national per capita gun crime rate.
And in countries where gun control was enacted nationwide, gun crimes are virtually nonexistent.
Additionally, D.C. has a problem because it is 5 minute drive across the Wilson Bridge to Virginia, which has no gun laws essentially. Anyone pointing to D.C. as a sign of failed gun control is being, at best, grossly disingenuous.
That said, if the English government decides to oppress its people, the English are screwed. That will never happen here.
If we want to have guns and protect our freedoms, we’ll keep paying this price. There’s no clean win here, something that both the gun control and anti-gun control advocates keep trying to sell us on. At least keep the debate honest. Neither side will result in an ideal situation. It isn’t an ideal world. The question is: which slightly sucky situation do you want to live with? And is there a middle ground?

this is not really a debate as neither side is going to change their minds no matter what is said. I think the real issue is the children and how we are raising them. In this day and age, the most important thing we can teach them is to be prepared for the unexpected. 9/11, Katrina, Virginia Tech- what they all have in common is that they’ve shown that your world can change in the blink of an eye and you have to be ready for anything, so when the unexpected happens they don’t become one of the casualties or if they do they at least go down swinging. I know you want to protect your children from violence and disaster, but it is foolish to try to protect them by leaving them ignorant.

I don’t think that fire guns should be alound on campus, or in any school/university ground, by any student, only police…
Now, imagine if one of Chiang’s friends, or any “crazy” person would get hold of his guns…
we don’t want for another tragedy to happen again…
He should keep kis collection back home!

Its a tragedie, true , but things like tis could have been taken care of long ago. The people who think they actually have a right to bear arms and use automatic rifles to shoot deer are the cause of all of this… The best tye of gun control is the prohibition of them, who let these little people think they have a right to carry weapons, policemen even in european countries don’t carry weapons…The USA clearly can not prevent or prepare its people enought for this “right”, and spends more type on thinking how to carry it out in “safer” way, than trying to stop it.

For those who think people couldn’t be prepared and trusted enough and shouldn’t be given the rights to carry guns, all you see is the reflection of yourselves and, yes, you couldn’t and shouldn’t.
It is true not everyone is suitable, able and willing. For those who are, those who took the time to learn and practice, their rights shall not be violated.

Looks like a modified USC. It’s an expensive weapon, not likely to be used by criminals. Good find; it’s hard to find nowadays. He’s just a collector of guns. Believe me, it’s a very expensive hobby.

I had lived in some Asian countires Korea, Taiwan, Japan for 10 years before. As far as I know it’s illegal to own a guy for citizens in those countries unless you are a policeman or military personnel. I have never heard of any students kill classmates, teachers at school or any crazy persons shot people randomly at mall, restaurents during those years. The gun related crimes there are more related to gangsters fights or shoot out between cops and gangsters. Of course they have crazy persons out there too but they use knife as their only weapon and to me their societies are pretty safe even at night. Do you think using a knife as a weapon can kill 32 lives in a few minutes? I don’t know how many countries in the world allowed his citizens to own a guy? I do believe the fewer guys we have for citizens the safer place it will be.

Yes, I am sooooo sure that during the sniper attack at UT circa 1966, someone with a CCW permit could’ve shot back at him.
Question is why was he able to purchase a handgun so easily?

It’s time to stop doing what we are told to and start doing what is right. Stand up for your rights.

As long as this world spins round, there will always be bad. Nothing can make it all peace like we want. I dont think the problum is were not doing enough, i think it just were doing it wrong. And as far as people with mental illness goes, If they have it Theres not always people there to help. And If you have a mental illness your not gonna want to get help bacause in your mind theres nothing wrong, its everyong else. And people bullying and stuff SURE doesnt help the problum. And everyone does it. EVERYONE.

Good people with guns make the world safe from bad people with guns. One responsible firearms owner and CCW holder in the right place at the right time could have saved many lives at tech.
Molon Labe

OMG will these people ever get it right it is a magazine not a clip. A clip is what an M1 garand uses and passing legislation on high capacity magazines wont help.

I think it would great to pass out the pistols in this discussion because some of these posters think we should not have the right or power to defend ourselves. Can I call on some of you anti-gun nuts for help when my house is broken into?

Banning guns isn’t going to make this kind of thing go away. People who believe that kind of silliness are the same kind of people that believed banning alcohol would stop people from drinking in the prohibition. No, all it did was give rise to more organized crime. It is the same kind of mentality that banning drugs is going to keep people from doing them, despite the fact that they have been consumed since before the dawn of human civilization. No, all banning guns is going to do is 1) take firearms out of the hands of law abiding and responsible citizens and 2) open up a new market for organized and other gang related crime. They build guns in prison, so it isn’t as though guns are going to just magically disappear off the face of the earth if we ban them. We ban them, then only criminals are going to have them.
The problem is not guns, it is a combination of many things, including poverty, the media, and racial tensions. All which can be solved through education, not prohibition.

First let me write that I am sorry for the families that have lost loved ones in this tragedy. The blame for this incident lived and died with Cho and his actions. It wasn’t the law’s fault, it wasn’t the gun’s fault, it wasn’t his parents fault, and it wasn’t the victim’s fault. It was Cho’s fault; he chose to take an evil path, period.
Second, I find it reprehensible that a few posters used this issue and forums to simply bad mouth the U.S. and Americans. If that’s your agenda your words are nothing more than venom and need to be ignored.
I’m not for free gun ownership; I’m for responsible gun ownership. Most legal gun owners in America are responsible. We are people who, if anything, respect the rights and lives of others. You also have the right to choose not to carry or own firearms and I’m fine with that. If you lack the comfort, capacity or responsibility to own a firearm then I respect your decision not to own. I wish people exercised as much consideration when reproducing as they do about owning a gun.
You might notice, however, that anti-gun ownership supporters are less tolerant of those that choose to own guns legally. They demand that the government disarm us, with force if necessary. They are very respectful of our constitutional rights. Not.

You know how the Media is when it comes to unfolding stories. They scramble to get the dirt and release it before the compitition. It’s all about the ratings you know. American’s suck this stuff up. It’s like a movie or something. I find it sickening.
In my opinion the media is part of the problem. 32 people killed in the worst school massacre in U.S. History. Drama you know! It’s like who’s going to be the next to break this new record and gain notoriety. The killers name and face have been plastered all over tv news stations for days. It’s like he’s a celebrity. If not for the memorial videos on YouTube we wouldn’t even be able to put a face to the victims.
This is a perfect example of why you “Never believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see”.

I am sorry for misunderstandings and false accusations and the stress that if may have caused you, Richard. I am praying for you as I am all of us who have been affected by this terrible tragic day in the history of our country.
I am a grandmother of 31 children and I have appreciated being able to read this blotter, there are so many exciting things about Internet technology.. it helps me to be more informed about how people are thinking today.
Although I am not for everyone having a gun with them everyday, I am concerned for my grand children’s safety, and I would like to know that they are protected against such dreadful acts as we have witnessed this week.

Two words are left out of the discussion of the Second Amendment-WELL REGULATED. Yes, our forefathers wanted well regulated firearms. The Gun Lobby has been the master of spin, and the current administration with weak minded legislators just follow along with no guts or common sense.
The Bush Administration for all its talk about keeping us safe has done exactly the opposite. When they came into office there was a limit to the size of the magazines (ten shots per magazine). That limit was done away with in allowing the Assault Weapon ban to expire in September 2004. The size of the magazine would have made a HUGE difference in the Virginia Tech shooting. Also, during this administration they have made it very difficult for law enforcement groups to trace crime guns– They will not allow local police departments to get information from the ATF to trace illegal guns-Go figure??
It is impossible to stop all gun shootings, but we can prevent many deaths and injuries with the following legislation that reasonable law abiding people should agree to:
1. Require rigorous background checks on all firearm sales including some mental health checks.
2. Limit the size of all magazines to 10 shots.
3. Require families with children and teens to lock weapons and ammunition.
4. Severely punish and fine gun shops and individuals that knowingly supply crime guns.
Remember WELL REGULATED

The administrators of this board repeatedly remove any posts that do not go along with their agenda. I guess we know their view on the First Amendment as well. This post WILL be deleted as have the last three saying the same thing. such censorship… such a shame…

Want a sobering look at how unlimited access to guns can affect a society? Go watch the film “City of God.”
Regarding Virginia Tech, imagine that all the students are allowed to carry guns, then imagine that you are a professor. Which students would you give a failing grade?

Mr. Chiang is being victimized simply because he is a gun collector. It is sad when someone can be harassed openly simply because he is engaged in a legal activity that others fear. If he were to be harassed because he is Asian, these same people would come to his aid.
I understand the fear of guns; I understand that some folks want nothing to do with them. However, that is their choice. By choosing to not defend yourself, you are expecting someone else to do it for you. The military is doing it for you now and the police do it when they can.
However, the police are a reactive force by nature. They do not “arrive just in time” to prevent the crime. They receive a call of “shots fired” and then they depart for the scene. By then the first shot and several others have shot you and yours. The police will arrive just in time to write a report, zip up the body bag and notify those that love you that you are dead. The school will have a candlelight ceremony, your friends and family will pack up your things have a funeral and someone else will move into your dorm room.
Please realize that no normal individual wants to kill another. These people are not normal. And no amount of legislation will keep them from doing harm to others. It is already illegal to shoot and kill someone. This fact did not keep the shooter from killing students. Restricting guns on campus only keeps law abiding people from bringing them.
If a person has a CHP permit, he has been licensed by the state to carry a handgun everywhere in the state, with a few exceptions. It is the law. If you don’t like it, lobby for a change in the legislation. I support your right to do so. CHP holders apply for permits because they want to comply with the law but wish to defend themselves in an emergency. That is their choice. Not allowing CHP holders to carry on campus simply disarms CHP holders. They are now just as defenseless as you. The difference is that the CHP holder is forced to be defenseless by the campus administrators not legislation. They use a loophole in the law to pretend they have the right to do this which they do not. CHP holders carrying on campus are not subject to any significant legal repercussions. The school can impose academic penalties including expulsions. So, the school, a state funded school is imposing on the student’s rights, illegally.
I find it criminally offensive that if I am legally licensed by the state to carry a gun and I get shot on campus because I was obeying the law and could not defend myself no administrator or anti-gunner will take responsibility for disarming me. For all those who feel that guns should be illegal on campus as well as administrators: If I die because of a shooting on campus, don’t have any ceremonies, don’t light a candle, don’t even come to my funeral. Get a second job and send money to my wife and child for the mortgage. Console them daily, teach my baby to read and ride a bike and help with here homework. Spend time and with all my friends and family because I will be gone. Do this because you will be completely and wholly responsible.