school shootings and gun control?

Question

A disgruntled student at Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va., went on a shooting spree. Peter Odighizuwa tragically shot six people, killing Dean Anthony Sutin, Associate Professor Thomas Blackwell, and student Angela Dales.

Most news reports pointed out that the situation ended when several students "confronted," "tackled," or "intervened." However, Tracy Bridges, Ted Besen, Todd Ross, and Mikael Gross did not merely "confront" Odighizuwa. Bridges and Gross separately ran to their cars to get their handguns once the shooting began. Bridges approached Odighizuwa with Besen's and Ross' aid. Gross was close behind. According to Bridges, "I aimed my gun at him, and Peter tossed his gun down." Bridges, Besen, and Gross had previously received police or military training.

Unfortunately, the media did not point out that the "intervening" students were armed. A Lexis-Nexis search revealed 88 stories on the topic, of which only two mentioned that either Bridges or Gross were armed.

A Westnews search exposed worse results. It revealed 112 stories, of which only two mentioned the armed students.

With media bias like this, it is no wonder that people fail to see the benefits of gun ownership. This was a very public shooting with a lot of media coverage. Even here, reporters rarely presented the positive side of firearms. Instead, they preferred to default to the politically correct story portraying guns as something only the bad guy uses.

Of course, this media bias is not unprecedented. A more thorough Lexis-Nexis search by a Yale researcher revealed 687 articles on the school shooting in Pearl, Miss. Of those, only 19 mentioned that Assistant Principal Joel Myrick retrieved a gun from his car and stopped the shooters four-and-a-half minutes before police arrived.

My question is.....how will gun control help stop school shootings?

Answer 1

It won't...
What we need to do is teach family values. Parents need to spend MORE TIME WITH THEIR CHILDREN....
Stop the bulling in schools. Get kids active in sport which will teach them disciple and respect for others.
Control gangs in schools.
Try to be a mentor if you can....

Answer 2

I think that you need to get your facts straight, what about the school problems in Russia? Do you even watch the news there is terrible things happening everywhere!The problem is not the gun it is the person shooting it. No matter how much control they put on buying a gun there will always be someone to sell them illegally and there will always be some nutcase sicko that will shoot innocent victims. Life is taken so suddenly without warning.The Amish school shootings are totally a reminder of that. It has begun to feel that you are not safe anywhere.There is no wild west mentality there is a sick pervert or nutcase that wants attention or to get even with people that they are mad at or don't even know. We need to crack down on the securities of our schools and protect our children, family and neighbors. These things need serious help but we can't do that we need to protect ourselves and our lives.

Answer 3

Define the arguement for gun control first of all. If we can all be agreed that automatic weapons (machine guns) should not be in the general population then let us move on. Gun control of handguns, rifles, and shotguns is "reducto el absurdum"--reasoning of the absurd. As many have pointed out-gun control will have no effect on the "crazies" or "lowlifes" of the world obtaining firearms-those types of people have no care for the legality of a firearm purchase. All gun control will effectively do is push the price of illegal firearms higher and result in more home invasions to obtain them since they will have greater value. (The same thing happened with amphetamines in the 60's-a slightly abused low cost drug became very pricy and much abused because it became illegal--the drug control laws simply drove the market price up). The main issue is in a country with population of hundreds of millions--the police have no ability to protect the citizenry from the act of a madman. It simply is not possible. They can protect the survivors after the damage has been done. If guns weren't available anybody with any intelligence can find a way to commit mass murder unless society is so rigidly controlled that we all sit in white rooms and drink nothing but distilled water all day. There simply is not a way, all hand wringing aside, to prevent the act of such a madman. In fact, simple logic would dictate that normal qualified citizens, checked and trained in the use of firearms and carrying those weapons with a concealed weapons permit (the modern day equivalent of the militia as defined in the constitution) could have averted the worst of this mass homicide. Throw that mass murderer up against 5 or 10 armed decent men, and the resulting death toll would have been much smaller. This would not be popular, would not happen, but it is true enough.

Answer 4

You are right. When an individual has had training and has not had a felony conviction is allowed to carry a gun, he may use it responsibly for protection. This could include professors or teachers in schools.

I do understand people who favor gun control. It seems logical, sane, rational, reasonable, civilized. Those most blessed, fortunate people have not suffered personal loss by homicide. It seems sensible to get rid of guns and then poof no more violence.

Police and security guards can only provide a "sense" of security. They cannot provide virtual security. The objective of the police is to take control of the situation, keep people calm, stop panic, investigate and make reports.

The other issue that should be addressed in the school setting is anger. Those who cannot forgive others let anger build up inside them and the anger may turn to rage which ends in acting out a fantasy of revenge.

Answer 5

The bad guys prefer unarmed victims!!.
When seconds matter calling 911 and asking the bad guy to wait is not a viable option.

Better to have a gun and not need it than to need it and not have it!!!
**Police do not protect you from crime, they usually just investigate the crime after it happens.**

So you are against the private ownerships of gun! Do you believe in fire extinguishers? Why, you can always call the fire department!!


No Weapons Allowed
Criminals this is a defense free zone
All law abiding people have been disarmed for you

Answer 6

The only time gun control has been effective in reducing injury in schools was before the 60's or 70's when you brought your gun to school and learned to control it safely and accurately.
Back then, you didn't have sex ed and there was less teen pregnancy. Now, "because they'd use the tools they have anyway" there is more pregnancy & promiscuity.
Bring target practice and firearm safety back into the schools any there would be less school shootings.

Answer 7

My question is:
would you feel better if he had built a Tim McViegh style bomb and killed everyone in the building?

Anyone who thinks the government will protect them is a fool.

Our military is out making money for Bush and Cheyney meanwhile Mexican Drug gangs have halted work on the border fence with automatic weapons fire.

There were laws in place to prevent this guy from getting guns but he got them.

Answer 8

An important problem is the phrase "gun control". Gun control means different things to different people.

My definition of G.C. is keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and people with mental problems. Most liberals think G.C is taking guns away from law abiding citizens.

If the Democrats win the Presidency next election, they will be in control. Nothing will be able to stop them from disarming people who don't commit gun crimes.

How will these law-abiding folks defend themselves from the criminal element if the Democrats win in 2008?

Answer 9

I totally agree with you; HOWEVER, you need to ask a question, or you'll be considered violating Yahoo Answers guidelines because this will be considered a rant of your own political views. Next time, make your excellent point and also ask a provocative question. More people will listen.

Answer 10

I do not think we should have gun control.I mean we should be able to protect ourselves.Kids will get guns no matter what.There are "under ground" ways kids get guns.I believe parents should lock their guns tightly away.