Whether Students Carrying Their Own Guns Could Have Prevented Massacre

[Lona.C. 16]

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More than a year ago, Virginia Tech was at the center of a debate over whether students should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on its campus. The gun advocates lost that debate.

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Major Shootings on American College Campuses

It's not like EVERY student on campus would have a gun. But certainly a few competent gun carriers could have helped.

Previous thread on the subject with damning quotes

The typical minimum age requirement (21) for CCW would exclude lots of the “younger” college students. I'm sure a LEO would love to arrest and have an 18-20 yr old college student incarcerated for breaking the law by illegal concealed possession.

The LE you talk of did nothing for 32 people at VT.

I'm only suggesting legal carry.

I agree the LE did nothing. Too little and too late.

The comment about CCW and age was just a bit of info so others would know there are limitations and consequences on legal and/or illegal CCW . Also, there are already lots of limitations on legal CCW in VA. Meaning ... VA has lots of rules that must be adhered to for legal carry and for use of deadly force.

sorry forgot to add , anyhow my thinking is what difference would it have made if students where to carry guns too,

I mean he was a student and went on a crazy rampage, who’s there to say if other students where aloud guns it wouldn’t have been even worst and more could have been killed ,what kind of school image will that send to students as well as parents knowing there are guns aloud at the school

I mean when we go to work do we really look over our shoulders and worry about if your co-worker is going to shoot you ? NO! we go to do what we have to do and what’s right for our own comfort in the future

what about those victims I believe a kid should have the right to attend school without having to carry a weapon thinking he/she might get shut ,

I have 2 kids who are of age and attend school I wouldn’t feel save knowing my kid has to attend a school carrying a gun on a daily basis to be able to fulfill there dream carrier ,

I feel bad for the student who’s life’s where taken so violently.

As for the shooter I have no comment.

As for the legal rights about legal aliens being able to buy a gun , well I don’t know how it is in the states about being legal alien ( not yet ,but will soon ) but I am a legal alien in Canada and here we do have all the rights a Canadian citizen does , accept to vote ( which is no big loose in my book )

[Nagishkaw 510]

Oh yeah, that's what we need....more guns in the schools. I know that would make me feel amazingly secure. Last I heard they weren't giving a battery of psychological tests to people who apply for permits to carry guns. I personally know 3 people who have been shot on a campus, and I am only 26 years-old. One is too many.

Would an armed student have been able to pick off the killer at VT? Maybe. Not one of us can say for sure. All I know is I would not feel safe if I knew other students were carrying guns. I would not know the type of training they've had, etc. It would freak me the hell out. I don't want things to go back to the Wild West. Ha.

guns tamed the wild west

along with smallpox blankets

...and broken treaties.

[russ 1]

Deterrence doesn't mean jackshit when a person is thoroughly deranged. There's great arguments for concealed carry, but the idea that Cho would have been deterred by the thought that maybe someone had a gun when he was on a suicide-by-cop spree isn't one of them. The spree didn't happen at VATech because it was a safe zone; it happened because if you're a student who wants to kill a lot of students, you go to a place with a lot of students.

I would respectfully disagree. Deranged people usually plan extensively for their crimes. They will always target the most vulnerable people. Sadly, they will cause harm even without firearms.

If we were serious as a society about keeping guns out of schools, we would have metal detectors at all buildings, search all cars entering the area, and hire more law enforcement to see that these protections are not circumvented. The same way other "gun free" areas do.

Airports, courthouses, sporting events and government buildings also prohibit firearms. They provide adequete security to ensure firearms are not brought there. Schools should have the same standard, which largely, they do not.

To be honest, I don't like guns. I had never seen or fired one before the military. I do own and occasionally carry them legally. I just checked with the statistics from the State of Florida. About 1.2 million concealed carrry licenses have been issued in the last 20 years here. 159 have been revoked for crimes (not necessarily violent or involving guns). That is about 8 a year. We have about 60,000 violent crimes a year in this state. Raising the standard to buy handguns to be equal to carry them seems like a reasonable thing to me.

As a pilot, I need training periodically. So do doctors. Gun owners (and cops!) should need more training, more frequently.

I am also a student here in Florida. We actually are allowed to have concealed weapons here. (If we are licensed, and a student, we can carry mace/tear gas, tazers, or any other non-lethal weapon). I am seriously considering carrying a tazer with me in the future to class.