I wish to express my deepest sympathy for all of those affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. It is hard to fathom how such an incident might occur, but it is a reality we must all deal with. As this tragic event cannot be changed, we must change policies so it cannot happen again. The best way to assure this does not happen again is to lift firearm restrictions at colleges across the United States.
I realize that this is a heated debate, so I tread carefully, willing to hear opposing views. Currently, most colleges across the U.S. have “no gun” policies in place to protect students. As we can see, this rule is terribly fl awed. If someone wants a gun, they are going to get a gun. Do you think that the VT murderer thought for one second, “I’d like to kill him, but damn, I’m not allowed to have a gun!” No, he didn’t. Law-abiding citizens of this country and campus wish to have guns for protection. If just one of those students had a gun, the tragedy would have played out very differently. Administration on our campus assures us of our safety because we have security guards at the dorms. There are two problems here. One is the shooter (from what I understand) was a resident of the dorm he went on his initial shooting in. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Seung-Hui lived in another dorm.] He would go right pass security. Let’s say though he was not a resident of the dorm hall he was trying to enter, he would simply shoot the guards, without worry, because they do not have guns.
By enabling law-abiding students to carry weapons, this tragedy would have played out very differently. I hope the administration of VCU and other campuses around the country take notice and change their flawed firearms policies.
-Aaron Ledwith