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• Tuesday, April 17, 2007 04:20 AM

  Not about guns, about enforcement

  Anonymous --

  The articles I read in various outlets had nothing about a pickup truck. In fact, most accounts of the press conference said that VT security officials believed local cops, who said the guy had left the campus and maybe the state. VT security were trying to question a witness to the first shooting while the second massacre was happening in Norris. Even if that were true-- instead of legal ass-covering -- why not evacuate the campus while they're roaring around trying to find the pickup, trying to find the killer who is on the loose?

  Most of the stories I read had officials in the press conference admitting they mistakenly believed that the guy had taken off, and not pursuing the issue past that. That includes the articles from the AP, Wash Post, New York Times, CS Monitor, and AJC. Security was the problem here.

  I don't think gun control is the issue, frankly. The kid was acting illegally by any definition, and should we be changing national laws and giving up individual rights to prevent that? Stricter gun laws somehow never stop crazy people and criminals from obtaining guns, in this or any other country. There has never been a country that successfully eliminated the black market in weapons.

  Besides, saying this incident means we need more gun control is like saying we should reconsider freedom of the press because of Jayson Blair or Stephen Glass. The issue is not the law. The issue is why no one had their eyes open and enforced it adequately.

  I've been commenting a lot, but someone I was once close to is affected by all this and I am completely shocked and appalled by so many aspects of it that could have been prevented.

  —bibinewyork Read bibinewyork's other letters
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