A shooting at a Virginia Tech dorm Monday left has left 22 32 33 people dead (including the shooter) and at least 28 wounded. [ Live video feed ]
It should be noted that Virginia Tech has an anti-gun policy that creates an "ideal killing ground for criminals" by disarming all teachers, faculty, and students from being able to defend themselves with a state licensed concealed firearm.
See also More Guns, Safer Schools by Ninos Malek and Times Dispatch.
So what should we do to prevent this from happening again?
- We should pass a law that makes it illegal to shoot someone.
- We should pass a law that a person cannot possess a firearm while in the commission of a crime.
- We should pass a law that a person who’s committed a violent crime in the past (dometic violence or a felony, for example) cannot carry or even own a firearm (then let’s take away their right to vote so they can’t try and get this law repealed).
- We should pass a law that a person cannot conceal a firearm unless they’ve gone through a bunch of training and background checks, and has submitted their fingerprints and photograph for documentation.
- We should also establish an elite group of people that enforce these laws that we can call any time night or day to come and apprehend anyone that doesn’t obey these laws.
- We should set up secure buildings surrounded by fences topped with razor wire where we can lock up people who don’t obey these laws.
That won’t work
We’ve already got all those laws and very simply, they don’t work!Something must be done about “violence” of all kinds, not just violence involving the use of guns. A violent crime committed with a firearm is no more or less tragic that a violent crime committed with a knife, tire iron, bat, or even fists.
We need to eliminate violent individuals from our neighborhoods; tell them we don’t want them here, they’re not welcome.- Create an environment that is potentially hazardous to anyone willing to commit a violent crime
- Create an online database (just like the sex offender’s registry) that lists ALL violent crimes committed (including the location of the crime and the residence of the criminal).
- Pass “Castle Doctrine” legislation to protect law-abiding citizens from retaliation should a criminal force them to defend them self, their family, and/or their property.
- Repeal “Duty to Retreat” laws that effectively empower the violent criminal by forcing the law-abiding victim to “run away.” (These are also known as “The Criminal’s Safe Workplace” guarantee.)
- In short, since the police aren’t required by law to protect individual citizens, give the individual citizens the tools to do it themselves!
