Gun Control

After the Virginia Tech massacre, there has been a lot of grumbling from the media about the need for gun control. I think that this is a bad idea.

Cho Seung-hui obviously thought out his plans thoroughly. Had he not been able to get a gun because of gun control laws, he could have easily looked up how to make bombs (McVeigh), used box cutters (9/11), or find some other way of killing.

Virginia Tech has had a policy of having no guns allowed on campus. Had guns been allowed, it is very possible, especially in a state like Virginia where carrier permit’s are easy to get, that a student could have had a gun on them and been able to kill Seung-hui before so many people died.

It is well documented that areas that have banned guns have increased crime. Look at Washington D.C, New York City, the United Kingdom. In each of those places, guns are illegal. And because of that, robbers and murder’s can feel comfortable committing their crimes knowing that their victims are defenseless.

Say no to gun control.

I’m not saying that everyone out there should go out and buy a gun. That is obviously an informed decision that everyone has to make on their own. But a gun control rule in Virginia Tech may have been what led to so many murders.

Update at 8:56pm on 4/19/07:

My own university just sent out a security email to the entire school with links to various safety plans, procedures, and rules.  One of the links was the weapons policy (MS Word document).   In the policy, guns and other weapons such as nunchucks are prohibited.  However, pepper spray is allowed.