Would Guns have stopped VT?

[Slow Children At Play]

I'd be interested to see the violent crime comparison b/t Britain (no guns) and the U.S.

Regardless, I think guns (on school grounds) should be left with those who are trained to use them properly.  I own a gun and have undergone training and whatnot, but I sure as hell wouldn't want it around my college campus.  Too many goofy and unpredictable things happen.  Also, I'm not sure I'd really trust my philosophy professor to defend me in a gun battle with some crazed intruder--I'd rather have the cops.

[_____________________]

Also, I'm not sure I'd really trust my philosophy professor to defend me in a gun battle with some crazed intruder--I'd rather have the cops.

which would be awesome if there was a cop around.  but i'd rather my philosophy professor give it a shot than be killed in the 15-30 minutes it takes for the police to respond.

i realize this is an incredibly rare situation, and in the case of VT so unfortunate and tragic.  people can go round and round and think of what could have been done differently and we'll never know if any of it would have made a difference. 

the bottom line, i don't feel comfortable in a situation in which the only people who have the potential to be armed, are those who are willing to break the law to do so.

[Slow Children At Play]

I agree with you there, but I think, given the extreme rarity of the situation, one has to take into account the fact that more guns on campus would most likely lead to more gun-related mishaps (be they accidents, whatever).  I would think if you weighed the two against each other (profs with guns v. VTech-like situation), the prudent approach would be to keep the status quo with regard to weapons in schools, and perhaps adding a few trained security guards with weapons.

[Freak]

I'm just not sure of the wisdom of adding guns to the already tumultuous setting that is a college campus.  Students are partying, drinking, fooling around, not to mention oftentimes emotionally unstable.  Even for those trained and responsible, the larger student population has to be taken into consideration.  Stupid antics become a whole lot more grave when firearms are involved; and as a recent college grad, I can attest that campuses are full of stupid antics.

Well I must defer to you on this one. My undergrad experience involved mostly night classes with older adults. I never lived in a dorm.

But I attest that I know many people who own guns and they're all responsible with them.

[Gopherit]

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[Slow Children At Play]

Imagine the chaos that would've occured had five students stood up to confront the gunman in the classroom. They start shooting, students mistake other students for the gunman, shoot eachother, the police storm in, mistake the students with guns for the suspect, shoot them, etc. There's a reason police wear uniforms and there's a reason they're allowed to carry guns. They're trained to be able to do so, and it's their responsibility to protect citizens. I don't need to be surrounded by a bunch of untrained, questionably compotent, vigilante heros.

My thoughts, exactly.

[Freak]

Imagine the chaos that would've occurred had five students stood up to confront the gunman in the classroom. They start shooting, students mistake other students for the gunman, shoot each other, the police storm in, mistake the students with guns for the suspect, shoot them, etc. There's a reason police wear uniforms and there's a reason they're allowed to carry guns. They're trained to be able to do so, and it's their responsibility to protect citizens.

I don't need to be surrounded by a bunch of untrained, questionably competent, vigilante heroes.

Didn't happen in 2002...

[Last King of Edinburgh]

I'd be interested to see the violent crime comparison b/t Britain (no guns) and the U.S.

Regardless, I think guns (on school grounds) should be left with those who are trained to use them properly.  I own a gun and have undergone training and whatnot, but I sure as hell wouldn't want it around my college campus.  Too many goofy and unpredictable things happen.  Also, I'm not sure I'd really trust my philosophy professor to defend me in a gun battle with some crazed intruder--I'd rather have the cops.

I grew up in Edinburgh and while I must say that I do not have any serious stats to butress my point, I must say that gun crimes in the US is much more frequent than what we have in the United Kingdom.  Growing up though mate, one thing we had to deal with was stabbing. The stats are much higher for us in the UK than it is here in the United States. It was always easy to hear that a classmate or neighbor had been knifed much more than that person had been shot. Just wasnt the case. The gun laws are really enforced, and I grew up with that thus my sorta pro gun control stance. Is it better to be knifed or shot? They are both horrendous but its always easier to stick to a familiar tune. I just wish the laws could be a little stricter.

[«ě»]

Depends if they know gun safety, only those that do have any business owning a gun.

In this society, I would like to have a gun handy - even unloaded it deters violence.

It really doesn't, point a gun at a criminal (assuming you want it for self defence) just makes it more likely that you will get shot (unless you shoot first, but quite a lot of people tend to freeze up in situations like that).

[Gopherit]

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