I was actually at the rec center working out when I saw this on one of the rec center TVs. I didnt realize how serious it was until I read some articles online a couple minutes ago. I seriously cant believe there would be someone crazy enough to shoot innocent students in class. One article I was reading was this article. At the bottom of the article, they discuss two group's viewpoints - the people against guns, and the people for the guns. The people for the guns say its better if everyone is allowed to own a gun so they can protect themselves from gun-wielding madmen. The people against the guns say its better if guns are more strictly controlled so they dont end up in the hands of madmen.
My first thought when I read the comment by the Gun owners of America was "what, now we're gonna fight guns with guns?" That just sounds very..immature. Theyre using this as an excuse to make guns look better, when in reality, theyre making it sound like we should have our own little wars with madmen who walk in with guns. I dont see how protecting ourselves with guns is going to help solve the issue. Madmen with guns are totally unpredictable. These Gun owners of America are treating this massacre like we are hunting deer (the deer as in the madman) or something. What theyre forgetting is that deer dont have guns and we see them before they see us. The madmen come in with one motive - to kill. And they have suprise on their side. Now tell me - how are you supposed to protect yourself with a gun when youre already dead? Im sorry, but what they just said is laughable. Yes, if someone else in the room has a gun, they can stop the massacre, but by then theres going to be at least 10 people dead. And in this case, the guy who killed people obviously didnt care whether he ended up dying or not. So i really dont think hes going to care if someone points a gun at him and tells him to stop shooting or else. Hes just going to shoot whoever opposes him.
Of course, there is always the chance that another student with a gun can shoot the madman's hand or injure him in some way that he would be unable to hurt anyone, but what are the chances of a student, with a gun, who has good enough aim, to be sitting in that class room on that day in that state at that time.
So please, tell me what you think about this. Should America have stricter gun laws, or more relaxed ones? I would also like to hear your opinions on the massacre.
This is such a sad incident, and I really hope it never has to happen again. Those people that were killed obviously had a bright future ahead of them since they were attending college, and some professors were even killed. This also really affects the seniors graduating from high school this year since I'm sure there were many students looking at Virginia Tech as their first choice college.