Usual Suspects: We Need More Guns
Like everyone I’m horrified and saddened by the shootings at Virginia Tech. I’m also profoundly depressed because nothing ever changes when it comes to guns in America. Last night I looked at some conservative sites to see what they were saying about the tragedy. I quickly discovered that among many right-wingers, there is a consensus that had Virginia Tech students been allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus, there wouldn’t be so much blood on the ground. “Virginia Tech. is a ‘gun free’ zone guaranteeing that the psychotic killer had the only gun,” said one handgun proponent. Another site bemoaned the defeat in the Virginia legislature of a bill it to allow students to pack a gun.
Isn’t that a fine idea? Let’s allow high-spirited post-adolescent young people who often are under the influence to carry deadly weapons at institutions of higher learning. Oh yeah, that will make campuses safer for everyone. What are these “gun rights advocates,” i.e. gun nuts, thinking? Are they thinking at all? This is what is so depressing - that millions of Americans’ distorted interpretation of the Second Amendment trumps every other societal value along with common sense.