In light of the 2002 sniper attacks and now the Virginia Tech shootings, should gun control be more strict?

Question

A movie theater near me actually has a "no weapons" sign, as if everyone brings one. Gun control may sound good, but is it enough? For example, if guns were banned, angry or violent people might resort to strangling, punching, or kicking their victims.--That was one reason I was against knife bans on airplanes.--How would gun supporters react? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltway_sniper_attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_on_re_eu/virgina_tech_world_view
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://www.fair.org/articles/gun-control.html

Answer 1

No, taking away a tool will not fix the problem. Problem resides in the individual. I can think of many things that can kill faster then any gun and kill far more people. Gun related deaths may have dropped in those countries but they don't tell you of the increase in deaths by other means. OK so a coward used a gun, if he did not have one what would he have used then? Arson, a vehicle or a bomb?

Answer 2

Here in the US our right to bear arms is part of our constitution. We want our guns. I want my guns. One tragic thing about the shootings is that the people in Virginia banned the campus police from carrying guns. They also outlawed guns for students. There are places here in the States that allows concealed carry of weapons. The people must pass a background check and training. Where it has been used it has cut crime. There is one county in the south that requires every household to have a gun. Their crime rate dropped dramatically. There will be a lot of people pushing for a gun ban. They will make a row and as much news as possible. The next President will probably be a Democrat and they want to ban guns. There are so many guns around and it is so entrenched that I do not know how they could ban them. The Pro Gun movement is so strong I don't know how the country would handle it. I think that they should enforce all the gun laws fully and have the strictest of possible penalties that are actually applied. I hate to see things like this happen. I do not see banning guns correcting this. He was a bad person.

Answer 3

There needs to be a more thoughtful approach to the issue than banning weapons which are guarranteed under the 2nd Ammendment. Here's a couple of ideas:

1) Campus Enforcement officers posted in every building of a college campus, with proper training and equipment for dealing with armed threats. In the event of a dorm the officer will become the acting RA. Officers shall be of appropriate gender for the area that they are stationed to work in.

How many lives could have been saved if an armed, female enforcement officer had responded to the first murder? (assuming it was a female dorm) The report would have been broadcasted across the campus police radio, as well as across local police radio, alerting all regional authorities to what was going on. There would never have been more than the one, if even that, dead. Primary deterrent to a crime is a visible officer, or knowledge of the officer being there. People are statistically and factually less likely to commit a crime in the presence of another person, not associated with them, whom is also armed.

1) Focus upon enforcement. More laws or harsher laws are not necessary. Harsher penalties will prove to be a secondary deterrent. The price of committing a crime such as this, and getting caught, will make one less likely to commit the crime. Violent criminals must know that their violence will have dire repurcussions upon them. If not, they will not care what the law says.

Answer 4

Think about it... if the laws on the books now haven't curtailed shooting, more laws won't either. One could argue that it's the shooter that kills. Tis true that Cho wouldn't have killed 32 people with a knife or a baseball bat or a chainsaw. The school knew he had a problem and there have been records to support that, and VT didn't take proper steps. In a way one could make a case that VT has some explaining to do. And I don't buy this "no sharing crap". The welfare of all students in any school and the public comes first.

Answer 5

I am not for gun control in any way shape or form. I guess you could call me a gun nut. I deplore these acts as much if not more than most, because it puts under fire a subject and Hobie I feel strongly about. But let me ask you this Don Imus offended many people with his words granted he killed no one but should certain words be illegal or phrases. Our constitution guarantees these rights for many reasons first freedom second for the ability to keep the Government in check. read the writings of the founding fathers and you will see that we have the right to keep firearms is mostly to protect ourselves from the possibility that our government could become tyrannical.

Answer 6

You assume that tightening gun laws would have stopped these attacks, but a nutbag like Cho doesn't care about laws. Otherwise, we could just make the laws against murder more strict and solve the problem.

We have strict gun laws already. Cho should not have been allowed to purchase the guns he bought under federal law because a court had already found him "mentally defective."

So, if you want to trumpet a cause, trumpet enforcement -- enforce the existing laws that are designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and psychos.

Answer 7

If you combine the populations of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Australia, you'll get a population roughly the size of the United States. We have 32,000 gun deaths every year. They have about 112. Do you think it's because Americans are more homicidal by nature? Or do you think it's because those guys have gun control laws?

Answer 8

No, everyone should be required to carry a gun.

Look for other questions like this one. You'll see a gadzillion have already been asked.

Answer 9

The state I live in permits concealed-carry with a permit.
I have a s/w .38 police special in the back of my skirt right now.
I carry it all the time. and yes--I have shot at an attacker.

That said... Guns or no guns is not the solution.
The solution is starting to teach your children at a young age how to control themselves and get along with others.

Answer 10

Restrictive gun laws accomplish one thing. The gurantee that only outlaws will have guns. I prefer to have the law abiding armed and the outlaws not. Has anyone got a law like that?

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