Shooting at Virginia Tech leaves 20+ dead. ⇒
16 April 2007, early afternoon
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
16 April 2007, early afternoon
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
I just don’t understand how a guy manages to fatally shoot over twenty people before he’s stopped.
by Ben on April 16 2007, 2:14 pm #
I’m sure the talking heads on Fox will say its because the students and professors weren’t all armed with semi-automatic rifles.
by ramanan on April 16 2007, 2:42 pm #
Another thing that’s interesting is that they didn’t close the school after the first shooting. I mean, they close schools when it snows too much, but not for a shooting?
by ramanan on April 16 2007, 3:41 pm #
They said already said it on CBC. They were talking about how gun control wasn’t mentioned by anyone in the US (e.g. President Bush, the speeches in Congress, etc.) and went on to mention how Vermont lets you buy an assault rifle with no permit and you’re allowed to carry a concealed weapon, etc. But the college has a rule of no guns on campus, so it is expected that the “gun lobby” will counter any claims of gun control by blaming the lack of guns as problem. (In fairness, they went on to add that Canada’s gun control laws haven’t stopped shooting rampages here).
by Ryan on April 16 2007, 10:35 pm #
I’m not so sure gun control would help. It’s hard to say I suppose, but it obviously couldn’t make things worse. This may just be the James Baldwin I’ve been reading talking, but I think America is just fucked up.
by ramanan on April 17 2007, 10:30 am #
In this case, probably not.
To get a passport, it takes over 8 weeks (I’m still waiting), two forms of id, a medical doctor to vouch for my forms, two other references, a two-year history of my residency, as well as a two-year history my employment/education, etc.
The background check to get a gun in Virgina, sounds less than that for a passport:
John Markell said Cho was very low-key when he purchased the Glock and 50 rounds of ammunition with a credit card in an “unremarkable” purchase. Cho presented three forms of identification and did not say why he wanted the gun, Markell said. State police conducted an instant background check that probably took about a minute, the store owner said. [CNN]
Why it is harder to get what I need to go on vacation than it is for a nutcase to buy a gun? Would a more thorough background check stop all the nutcases – no, but if you stopped just one nutcase, wouldn’t it be worth it?
by Ryan on April 17 2007, 11:36 pm #
U.S. Rules Made Killer Ineligible to Purchase Gun [NY Times]
Under federal law, the Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho should have been prohibited from buying a gun after a Virginia court declared him to be a danger to himself in late 2005 and sent him for psychiatric treatment, a state official and several legal experts said Friday.
So much for the “background check”. :-(
by Ryan on April 21 2007, 10:56 pm #