Letters to the Editor
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Yay for Guns...
Chief: Gunman kills at least 21 at Virginia Tech
-- (CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 21 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the worst school shooting incident in U.S. history.
"Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said during a news conference in Blacksburg.
Police believe there was only one gunman, Flinchum said.
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university President Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified." (Map of Blacksburg)
The shootings mark the deadliest school shooting incident in U.S. history, topping attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966.
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If you need to ask...
Jeez. If you need to ask the worst advice columnist on the Internet, in an online publication which is extravagantly opposed to gun rights, whether or not to buy a gun, you probably shouldn't. You lack common sense.
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Yay for Guns (once again)
Did I say 21! I meant:
BLACKSBURG, Va. — At least 32 people are confirmed dead and at least another 21 are wounded after a shooting at Virginia Tech University Monday morning, law enforcement officials told FOX News.
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Higher Education Is Ambushed
There are two things that have loomed over higher education in the last decade; they've circled, even occasionally dipped, but never fully rested to feed and destroy the staid, slow-moving creatures/institutions.
Those two things are winged menaces that have already had their way with the K-12 system. Every single entity in K-12 has seen its confidence torn, it's budgets decimated, it's morale dampened. No one escaped some moderate measure of complete and utter reconsideration and reinvention. Eventually the awful specialness of the flying beasts left, and things transitioned to just become status quo, with administrations and teachers and citizens mumbling, "it's the way it is now" under breath.
The creatures returned to the air and began an ominous track high above higher education. It wasn't a matter of if, but when.
One was No Child Left Behind. It is still in the air.
The other, Columbine.
Today, higher education has seen it's Columbine. This will change life for college campuses as we know it. The slow behemoths will be run down easily. They do not have the same nimble, if weak, bodies of the public K-12 system in America. And if they do not change fast enough, someone may choose to step in and help them change.
It will be like bait for the last looming creature.
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We like fire
AFAIK humans are the only animals who are fascinated by fire. Where other animals would avoid it, we can sit and stare into it, watching it burn the wood. Something there is wierd, magical, hypnotic.
As a species this bizarre attraction to danger has given us an incredible edge - we build fire, we use energy, we take dangerous things and use their power. This allows us to do things which our species never would have accomplished otherwise - we shape our environment, we drill deep into the ground, extract ore and forge steel, we fly through the air in gigantic machines.
This attraction is what makes guns fascinating, too. Owning a gun doesn't suddenly make you a violent person, you can go to the shooting range and just have fun. It's useless and just playing with a toy, sure. However the same holds for waterskiing.
The fascination you feel is deep inside you, it's common, and it's no big deal. Maybe it would be helpful to realize that and demystify guns a little.
Personally I choose to spend my money on other things. Doesn't make me think I'm better than 99% of gun owners nor does it stop me from realizing that some people shouldn't own gun.
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Why at age 21?
As far as I know, you only have to be 18 to buy rifles in Georgia.
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a contentious issue
To my fellow liberals/progressives/lefty democrats...I urge you examine your feelings regarding guns and gun ownership. Are they based on rational and informed opinions, or are they a product of fear and/or lack of familiarity?
I've had many liberals friends who decried civilian gun ownership. After I took them to the shooting range, however, their views changed dramatically, and in many cases they eventually purchased guns of their own.
The argument I hear most often is that guns have one purpose, i.e. killing. Ostensibly this is true, but the issue is not quite so black and white. Guns can also prevent you from being killed, and in that purpose they can serve quite well, even without ever being fired.
For example, I have two friends who live in a low income area of Denver. Break-ins are frequent, and drug related crime is a fact of every day life. About two years ago, there was a home invasion across the street, and my friends (two ex-hippies with three children who run a landscaping business) decided to buy a gun for home defense. They keep the gun (a 9mm pistol) in a locked safe in their bedroom, and they sleep soundly knowing that they have a means of protecting themselves should they or the lives of their children be threatened.
My girlfriend is another example of someone who's ideas about gun ownership have changed since she became familiar with them. Ever since I've known her, she's been the type of person who, about once a year, decides she needs to take a road trip by herself, usually to somewhere remote and relatively unpopulated. She's been doing this ever since she was a teenager, so she's met alot of other women who travel by themselves, and she would often ask them how they dealt with the fear of being alone in the wilderness. You can probably guess where I'm going with this, but its true. Every single one of the women she talked to said they stopped being afraid when they started keeping a gun with them while traveling.
And finally, I'd like to take issue with the idea that "when you've got a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail". I'm sorry, but its simply not true. I own several firearms, and I hope to god that I never have to fire one at another human being, but if I had to, I would. The world is filled with sick, violent, screwed up people who wouldn't think twice about taking your life or the life of your loved ones, and that's not likely to change anytime soon.
So, do yourself a favor and stop by a gun shop. Ask some questions, and maybe even head down to a range, even if its only once. That way, you'll know that whatever your opinion on this issue, it'll be based on clear and rational logic instead of fear and ignorance.