I am so shocked by what has happened at Virginia Tech. It's horrible. It's a tragedy of proportions that I cannot understand, it has irreparably affected the lives of every single person on that campus, every family who has a child there, every family member and friend who lost someone there.
America, when are we going to learn?
I know all you Southern boys are going to leave hate comments on my blog for saying this, and y'all know I'm as good a Southern Republican Christian woman as might be found around here, but I'm saying it.
We need tighter gun control laws in America.
I know, I know. The Second Amendment! We have the right to bear arms! And true that is, but, just like our First Amendment freedom of speech, that right is not unlimited. We can't walk into a crowded theater and yell "Fire!!" It's illegal. It's time to limit guns as well. Specifically, I'm talking about handguns. Boys, keep your shotguns and your hunting rifles. But the primary weapon of choice in most crimes involving firearms is a handgun. A Glock 9-mm and a Walther .22-caliber handgun were used by the troubled boy in the Virginia Tech shooting. What if he had never had access to those guns?
In Britain, handguns are 100% outlawed. Their Olympic pistol-shooting team has to practice outside the country. However, rifles and shotguns and other things like that are allowed with a permit. There are three types of permits: personal protection, target and skeet-shooting, and hunting. You have to meet specific qualifications for the personal protection permit. With a population of 18 million, Great Britain had something like 84 crimes involving guns last year. Compare that to New York City, population around 7 million, around 850 murders involving guns.
If the US banned handguns, would crime rates drop tomorrow? No. In fact, it would be a huge hassle for every gunowner in the country, as well as a hassle and cost to the US government. But would it be worth it if 20 years from now, our violent crimes involving guns had decreased? Absolutely.
Also, as a sidenote. In the news they're now reporting that in 2005, Cho Seung-Hui was accused of stalking two girls and reported to the police. The police then got a judge to issue a detention order. As a result, Cho voluntarily checked in to a mental hospital for about 2 days. My question: how does a judge's detention order issued for the police not show up in a background check for purchase of a handgun? That just makes it all the more apparent to me that even the mild system we have in place for gun regulation isn't working. As a further sidenote, Congress is crazy because seriously, the ten year semi-automatic weapon ban that just expired really and truly needs to be continued. Check out this link
http://www.slate.com/id/2164373/nav/tap1/ for an editorial on legislation concerning gun control.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Blacksburg, Virginia, and all the families affected by this tragedy. And also, I pray for the Seung-Hui family - that boy's parents and sister must feel so horrible right now. I hope that something positive can emerge from this tragedy to help the rest of the country become safer and hopefully prevent future tragedies like this one.