My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families...

...

Another tragic outcome courtesy of the federally-mandated "gun-free" zones which guarantee potential victims in the area won't have effective means to fight back. There's a reason these sickos shoot up schools instead of police stations. They know they won't be stopped before claiming victims.

I hope the perp suffered a horrible painful death before his journey to the fires of Hell.

Regardless, it looks like the "progressives" just got their first campaign issue. I predict a call for a new ban on all scary-looking guns and even more "gun free" zones in 3... 2...

Has Michael Moore announced his campaign to profit off this tragedy yet?

When you can do nothing to defend yourself,

When you can do nothing to defend your neighboor,

When you had the chance to stop this disturbed individual, but it was too difficult (or impossible) to obtain a weapon to defend yourself,

When you see people hiding in their dorms and classrooms with no hope of defense, and why?

Good, armed indivuduals could have made a difference.

I’m not suggesting there be guns allowed in dorms or in the classroom, and I’m not suggesting that there not be gun checks and balances on gun ownership, but policies should be put in place where good people CAN get a weapon legally for protection. I don’t know the gun laws in Virginia, but the bottom line is… someone should have been able to stop this guy. Someone should have been able to fight back. Someone should have done something with their legally registered weapon they were legally allowed to have. Many people’s lives could have been saved.

What about allowing professors to carry?
Students would probably be a bad idea just so noone overreacts to a bad test grade or a teacher being hard on them. 1 professor with a carry license could have stopped this...

At CSU in Colorado, you CAN legally have guns on campus and in the dorms, you just have to register them with campus police. I haven't taken advantage of this yet, but i might now.

Gun free zones may be a bad idea but they have no effect on mass-murder scenarios like this, people. I just proved that already here.

Brandon,
Professors carrying would have had little or no impact on this event since most of it took place in the dorms. And not allowing students to have guns on campus did nothing to prevent the schmuck from bringing one and killing a bunch of unarmed students.

There was a state bill introduced that would have allowed students and employees to carry on campus. It was killed a couple months ago..
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

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."

I hope Hincker realizes now the difference between feeling safe and being safe.

If a few of the students were able to carry, the death toll might have been

I hope Hincker realizes now the difference between feeling safe and being safe.

If a few of the students were able to carry, the death toll might have been

less than 10

(it cut off my last part)

I'm the first one to say that allowing college students to carry weapons is like giving the keys to your car to an 8 year old (no offense). A lot of these people can't get to class on time or turn in their assignments at all, so having a weapon is probably out of their responsibility zone.

That said why are there no REAL security people on this campus. We have police inside Middle and High Schools here in flyover country, why don't they have them in colleges. If these are real police/security people they need to have guns and be trained in
their use. Do they not have a evacuation system, or a lock down procedure. Since it was reported to have been 2 hours between attacks surely someone could have driven one of those little golf carts around to each building and lock the doors or even better someone in each building could be responsible to lock them.

Hindsight is always twenty/ twenty though. But surely people with more knowledge than me should know how to do this. If they don't somebody needs to learn, before this happens again.

The shooter is dead, so I'm sure he already knows what hell is going to be like. That doesn't make me feel any better.

//What about allowing professors to carry?//

I don't know how useful that would be. It seems as though many professors on our campuses seem to be liberal fools or suffer from the aftereffects of the '60's & 70's... or worse. One in particular (history teacher Richard Berthold/UNM) stated -the very same morning of 9/11- that "Anyone who would blow up the Pentagon would have my vote."

That doesn't seem like the type of "person" I want carrying a gun to class for fear of him shooting a student for voting Republican.

I fear that the death toll is going to rise as the hours pass in VA. The reports I saw said that were still 28-30 more people who were hospitalized from the attack. And I fear that this monster may have killed others before he even reached the campus, which is not uncommon for mass murderers.

We should all pray for the families and friends of the deceased & injured. Even for those whe were related to the perpetrator.

As for him, I'm certain he's getting his rewards as we speak.

"There's a reason these sickos shoot up schools instead of police stations."
Yeah, because they have an issue with people at the school rather than at a police station

@Ron

You're an idiot. You didn't "prove" anything. With that pathetic definition of "proof", I could write on my personal website that the moon is made of cheese, and probably receive national recognition.

Nice shameless link to your own site, douche.

Anyway. Gun control laws do absolutely nothing productive. Only honest people follow the law. Instead, gun control keeps weapons out of the hands of good people and allows criminals to proceed uninhibited. Granted, I can't "prove" anything, but I wonder if gun violence would actually decrease if Americans in general were more educated and familiar with firearms. Sadly, we'll probably never know.

If I had a child in college anywhere they would be able to defend themselves...period! And they would be taught to fight! My prayers and thoughts go out to the family of those killed...expect the prick that did this! I can't bring myself to think anything but bad tidings for him!

Professors with guns? I have yet to meet a professor conservative enough to want a gun, let alone possessed of enough back bone to fire one. The problem here is the attack was unpreventable. If the college had been armed the attack would have taken place at some park or mall. Politics be damned,these poor kids didn't have a chance. We pray for them anyways. Back to politics, the Dems are gonna distract the media and undermine Bush's agenda with talk of new gun laws now. I just sent my wife out back to dig a hole for the ol' Clinton-era duffel bag o'rifles.

Frank, I seem to remember either you or Durika keeping a gun in your room at CMU. Or am I totally hallucinating it?

he says he had a telescoping baton but doesn't think either of them kept a gun in their room.

now... our house? different story.

as to parks and malls, i am always packing anywhere that the Florida laws (or laws of the state in which i'm traveling) allow me to carry with my permit. and before i had my permit, i always had a gun in my car in a "separate closed compartment".

we have the castle doctrine here, and it applies to your car as well as your home, and we're no longer required to try to flee first. we can stay and fight. we can also be good Samaritans now.

i think Texas has the castle doctrine now, too, if i'm not mistaken. or maybe they got it first? i don't remember which. i try to keep up on my state and any state i may consider moving to.

I don't even know what to think. The shooter is dead (if there was only one shooter). Innocent lives were taken. It was an inexplicable act of evilness.

My prayers are beamed to the Great Beyond. :-(

I saw a sign at a restaurant today that said no guns were allowed on the premises. Unless there's some futuristic force field surrounding the eatery, then the sign isn't stopping criminals. If I carried, I'd like to take my gun just about anywhere. If some S.O.B. whipped out a firearm, I'd whip out mine. Criminals know that the gov't continues to lean out gun carriers, and it empowers them. *sigh*

I'm not sure if a gun-toting student/teacher would have stopped this, but it would have been nice to know that there might have been someone who tried to do something about it. Makes me sick.

I can't be in my kid's classroom.

And she can't take a weapon there to defend herself, even though she knows how.

Dear Lord.

And to think that Brady had it all figured out.

What a shame that we are urged to teach our children to be sheep in a predatory world...

Texas NOW has the castle doctorine, it goes into effect in September to the consternation of all the resident libs (yes, they're here also).

God rest the souls of those victims.

Ron Cole's argument is nonsense, i.e. one is better prepared to fend off an assault or a robbery, but not a terroristic mass murder.

DUMMY - this nut didn't rappel down the side of the building and come crashing through the window - HE WALKED THROUGH THE CLASSROOM DOOR. And then began shooting. And then he walked through ANOTHER classroom door.

Now tell me, how many would he have killed in that second classroom if he walked into say, a half-dozen pistols waiting for him? Not too many, I'd bet...

Where are we breeding these cowards that have gotten the idea that shooting unarmed people is something they need to do? We need to figure this one out and what is it with this time of year? I think there is more to this story than we know at this point!

//Where are we breeding these cowards that have gotten the idea that shooting unarmed people is something they need to do?//

Who knows? Why do we feel like we need to incarcerate & study the criminally stupid instead of eliminating them? Makes no sense to me why the bleeding hearts bleed more for the perp that the victims... these cowards look for the soft targets. Just like the Islamic murderer who blows himself up in front of a dayschool or marketplace; why make a point where someone just might stop you? Better to assault the innocent & unsuspecting.

It's what cowards do.

"Where are we breeding these people?" This one was bred in South Korea. Of course, they've learned that we are soft on protection in this country so it is safe to make history here. I'm afraid this isn't the end of it either. Some disgruntled dumb@ss will feel compelled to get the title of worst mass murder in America back to an American.

I think its really too soon after this tradagey to discuss gun control. I believe that we should be focused instead on praying for their families.

(It's sad though, that there are some in the anti-gun crowd who don't even want the police to have guns. Who would have stopped this person then?)

Blake, you could not merely write that the moon is made of green cheese, because you do not know enough words. The idea that I am an idiot is however highly amusing coming from the likes of you, who I can say based on your blog could not even bowl my IQ. Meanwhile, get a friend to find the part of my blog post -- oh, wow, I put a link to my OWN website into a post, how "idiotic" of me! -- where I suggested that gun control laws are good.

As for you, Bunker Boy (or should I say, as you have made me "Ron Cole," Bunker Bo), speak to Blake and maybe he will lend you his literate friend when he's done. Don't try to find one in a college, though; you evidently have never been near one. But here's a good project for when they let you out of the bunker: Find a college anywhere on earth where -- regardless of the legality of it -- people routinely bring firearms to class.

You tell 'em, Ron! What an awesome oppourtunity to make it about you!

"...College students are not cowboys or sharpshooters! What are you thinking? College students barely wear clothes and you want them packing heat and picking off crazed mass murderers? And professors? Give me a break!

I like the concept of “concealed carry” for streets… bars…. places where adults can get in trouble. (I’ve never touched a gun but I’m told they’re useful.) The empirical support for it as a policy is solid. But let’s not get ridiculous — implementing it here almost certainly would not have saved anyone today.*"//

Really? So if some barely clothed college kid actually had a gun -permit or not- the outcome would've been the same? Granted, they're not PhD's yet, but if JUST ONE of them had the choice between shooting back in defense or jumping out a second story window after seeing peers & teachers shot, they would have choosen the latter.

Yeah, right.

And bars?!? Oh, come on now.

//"Gun control doesn’t kill people. People kill people.//

Certainly. But gun control for the law abiding citizen ensures that when that critical step is by some asshole to kill indiscriminately, it will sometimes end like this.

//*Last clause added for clarity. I am not arguing for gun control. I am arguing against fantasy."//

Well, maybe. It's not as though anyone could mandate students must carry on campus, but what might've happened if a student had recognized an imminent threat at any point betweeen 7:00AM & 10:30am, and had the ability & presence of mind to do something about it? Sure, that might be fantasy, but for 32 dead & counting, there are no more fantasies, dreams or realities.

Alan, I didn't make about me. Your friends -- who can't disagree without calling someone an idiot, a dummy, etc. -- did.

Let's move on.

Really? So if some barely clothed college kid actually had a gun -permit or not- the outcome would've been the same?

Is there really no room for any but the most absolute position on an issue?

Ron-

You're assuming that this situation would be the same from one point to another, with or without policies. There is no absolute position in the VA scenario, save the end result that we now see. I just wanted to relate to you that one person might've changed the outcome of this scenario if he/she had a way to do so.

Gun control, especially relating to the Brady bill or any other measure, would have had no effect on that persons desire to do what he did; if he didn't buy the guns recently at a gun show, a dealership. or a thug on the street, that would not have deterred him from his "mission"; it could have been a bomb or a machette. But oddly enough, if a student had bought a gun for protection against, say, a bully or a mugger, he would be in jeopardy of legal ramifications for even having a firearm on campus, if he were caught posessing it.

Are you an idiot or a dummy? No. But what if you are wrong about your assumptions?

Then I am wrong! It happens every day -- just ask Mrs. Likelihood. I could be wrong here and I'm open to hearing about it. The comments here and in my post have been very illuminating, even for the dim among us, such as my own self.

Hey Ron - sorry I forgot your name five minutes after reading it.

That doesn't make me illiterate, though. Just makes you unremarkable.

Or it makes my name unremarkable, boy. But nothing is less remarkable than the Dutch courage born of craven anonymity.

y'all stop acting like children and monkeys flinging poo. people were murdered. show some respect to the dead. show some respect to the grieving families and friends. show some respect to the wounded and the witnesses to the crime--not being able to place myself in anyone's shoes, i actually believe the wounded and the witnesses are the ones who will suffer the most for the rest of their earthly lives. i'm venturing an educated guess as to who will suffer the most in the afterlife. but the men and women who were in those classrooms, who stared into his face, or didn't, those who walked out over pools of blood or were carried out alive while their classmates and professors and RAs were wheeled out on stretchers in bodybags? they're going to live with the remembrance of what they lived through and saw for the rest of their lives. i can't imagine. maybe it was something like war, except they did not go willingly and sign up, they had no weapons (let's not talk of desks and bringing textbooks to a gunfight), and when they tried to get away, they found they'd been locked inside the warzone.

for the record, Ron, i don't think you proved anything. i read your post right after you gave yourself a nice big plug in the comments and thought, "so where's this proof of which he speaks?"

the truth is, we'll never know how the outcome could have been different, because in this particular instance, the kids were in a "gun-free" zone, one in which only the lawbreakers can carry guns. you ask for examples that prove guns can make a difference in killing sprees? Appalachian School of Law, 2002. Pearl High School, 1997. different outcomes. imagine how much more quickly they could have stopped the killers had they been carrying on their persons.

that's not to say that had some of the 21- or 22-year-olds (or see, when i was in college, there were even people over 50 in my classes! *gasp*) been armed, or had any of the professors been armed, the outcome would have been any different in this spree killing. but you have not proven that the outcome would have stayed the same. i have an incredibly hard time believing it would have stayed the same. perhaps in the first classroom. but by classroom #2, people knew what was going on, and he likely would have been greeted by at least one gun. (and if the carrier were female, an accurate gun. just sayin'.) you tried to make the point that these are not cowboys and sharpshooters, but kids in baggy pants. what was the monster who committed the crimes? he was 23. a student like the rest of them. many of them have probably grown up shooting guns. shoot, i never fired a gun until 2.5 years ago. want to see a target from my 2nd time at the range? if you are deliberate and if you breathe right, concentrate, and have no emotion and don't think about the future kickback of the weapon? you can shoot like me. and yeah. by now, i can do that one-handed (with both my right hand and my left hand).

you obviously do not have a carry license. am i correct? by the time i took my carry class, i had already been to the range for target practice with Frank several times and tried several different weapons. one of the men who always works at the range taught the class and is an NRA-certified instructor. he talked to us about gun safety and the implications of shooting someone for well over 2 hours. he himself had been shot point blank many years earlier, and the first thing he did after recovering was arm himself. after the 2 hours of talking about the law, about what you can and can't do in and out of your house, and talking about split-second decisions, we talked about different types of guns. i already knew a lot of what he was telling us, but not all of it, and everyone in class, whether they did or did not already know what he was saying, was raptly attentive and asking questions. we gun carriers take it very seriously. and the teacher of my class enforced that tenfold--it's very empowering to carry a gun, you're taking your protection into your own hands and not leaving everything to chance, so don't take it lightly. respect the gun, respect your God-given right to carry it.

so anyone who would be in that class carrying the gun--any non-murderous thug, that is--wouldn't be treating his or her gun the same way he/she treats the Cliff's Notes to some crappy book by Toni Morrison.

i understand that you say you're not pro-gun-control. but the logic of your argument does not hold water with me.

but that was not the point of my post. the point of my post was perspective. i only put the thing in there about the gun control crowd because they were already gun-grabbing by the time i wrote my post, and my little extended entry was the best i could do to keep my head on straight. it's been on the verge of explosion all week now. if not for duct tape...

just back off with all the name calling--all of you--or i'll close comments (implying someone is stupid by saying they have obviously never been to college and don't know many words is perhaps more clever than calling someone an idiot, but it's no better, so maybe you should get off your moral high horse). yes, i'm a free-speecher, but IMAO is private property, and we do have a comments policy.

oh, and before someone goes with the fallback of "she doesn't even know where the shift key is" because he can't dispell my arguments, lemme just say it for you. i didn't capitalize "i", and i didn't capitalize the beginnings of sentences. there are obvious punctuation errors here, too. i'm aware of the problem.