Gun bill gets shot down by panel

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

So ironic I would like the students to be able to defend themselves.

HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill's defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, would not comment Monday because he was not part of the subcommittee that discussed the bill.

Most universities in Virginia require students and employees, other than police, to check their guns with police or campus security upon entering campus. The legislation was designed to prohibit public universities from making "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit ... from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun."

The legislation allowed for exceptions for participants in athletic events, storage of guns in residence halls and military training programs.

Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Some gun owners questioned the university's authority, while the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police came out against the presence of guns on campus.

In June, Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy reiterating its ban on students or employees carrying guns and prohibiting visitors from bringing them into campus facilities.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

[DeadPoolX 9]

Hmmm... as someone who is almost always in favor of a citizen's right to own firearms, I have to say I don't really like the idea of college students "packing heat." Maybe this is a generalization, but most college students I've known aren't very responsible and are quite often pretty airheaded, all of which is ironic considering college is a place of "higher learning."

But then too many of them are interested in "staying up late, partying, getting drunk and experimenting with drugs." Given that combination, I'm glad college students aren't armed. The last thing we need is a stoned and drunk 19 year-old fresh from an all-night party waving around a gun to show his friends just how cool he is.

[Niels Bohr 72]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

Big glue traps would work wonders.

[Nagishkaw 510]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Nagishkaw

[DeadPoolX 9]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

Setting traps are illegal -- at least they are in the state of Texas, anyway. I don't know about other states, but I can't imagine they're legal in the other 49 either. So traps are out of the picture.

[almaty 19]

i agree..i think it is a bad idea to have handguns on campus

[Scott & Lai 12]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

How do you trap or ambush a flying bullet?

[Nagishkaw 510]

This was tried before, too. It didn't work.

[Niels Bohr 72]

There are other means of defense instead of guns. Traps? Or, set up an ambush? Using guns to control other gun owners is the irony.

How do you trap or ambush a flying bullet?

Do you trap and ambush bullets? Or, do you trap and ambush people? You can choose the first option. I'll choose the second one.

Edited April 16, 2007 by consolemaster

[Alex+R 0]

Ahhhhh! Can you give it at least a day before politicizing this??

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I just wish the students had the right to defend themselves. The shooter knew 100% that everyone was unarmed. The campus police proved useless. Not even notifying anyone for 2 hours about the first shooting is a crime in itself.

[slim 1,523]

Just one concealed carry authorized person could've saved countless lives today.

The drunk, partying, up-all-night frat boys that happen to bring a gun to school with them so they can feel safe and cool are not the same as the kid from the cornfield that has the CCH and is "packing heat" at his math class. Concealed carry is not a "freebie" to wantonly shoot whenever and wherever one desires, it is however, proof that someone has been trained on how and when to fire their weapon.

A gunman on a random shooting spree is a good example of when CCH would be "good" for society. Even one little 19-year-old girl with a small 5-shot pistol would've evened the odds a little for many of those students. When the police CAN'T respond, CCH at least balances the survival rates somewhat.

And just in a side note..... do you think any of these students can now identify with what it's like to try to go to school in Baghdad?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I just wish the students had the right to defend themselves. The shooter knew 100% that everyone was unarmed. The campus police proved useless. Not even notifying anyone for 2 hours about the first shooting is a crime in itself.

Given the fact that in this case (as in other of this type) that the gunman took his own life at the scene makes me doubt that it would have been much of a deterrent. After all, we're not talking about "normal" psychology here.

Clearly there is an ugly side to the availability of firearms in this country, but I'm not about to suggest that this and other such incidents are caused solely by the availability of firearms. Obviously there are other factors at work here.

[Ban Hammer 13,293]

Just one concealed carry authorized person could've saved countless lives today.

exactly. but instead, like sheep, some on here will bleat "guns.....baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad"