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Well WOW! What an amazing thread. took me a long time, and I STILL have yet to finish every post. MOST people on this thread know that I am pro-gun ownership. Now that it is clear to everyone my basic stance, here is my take on some of what has been said here:
As far as students being allowed to carry on campus:
1: I disagree that they should be allowed. It is difficult enough to go around campus worrying about studying for exams and socializing, than to add "who is carrying a piece".
2: From the news articles I have read, MOST of those students that were killed were under the age of 21. Now correct me if I am wrong, but my research showed that HANDGUNS are not allowed for purchase in Virginia until the age of 21. So it is a moot point to consider what MIGHT have happened, or NOT happened, if students were allowed to carry on campus.
As far as faculty carrying on campus: Personally, I don't see it as a bad idea, considering what HAS happened in the past. However I DO agree that if you ARE going to allow faculty to carry, then they should ALL be given extensive background checks, and go through a POLICE sanctioned gun training class on how to use it, and WHEN to use it.
History has shown that in the states where concealed wepons permits have been enacted, that crimes against INDIVIDUALS has decreased over time. Now OBVIOUSLY this doesn't include such a HORRIFIC situation as that at Virginia Tech. There will ALWAYS be anomolies in life. We can't begin to predict human bahavior or emotions when under stress; and lets face it, there are not many things more stressful than highschool and college. It is terrible what has happened, and there is nothing that we can do now to go back and change things, but lets cool down before we start taking action too soon. Face it, after September 11th, we jumped the gun pretty quick, and see where THAT led us? (Don't go jumping me about the war or anything...if ANYONE can attest to how I feel about the war, support of/or the actual fact that we are there in the first place it is Willravel, whom I have ENJOYED many discussions of our difference of opinions in threads of that subject!)
Now as to the 2nd amendment: I love how some people are trying to give their opinion on what it menas, so here is mine...
"A well regulated militia, being necessary for the preservation of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"
Maybe the grammar is a little off, but I read it thusly: "A well regulated militia, being necessary for the preservation of a free state" (because we may NEED at some point in the future, a militia), "the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"(the right of individual gun ownership, will not be taken away)
I do not read it as a FULL sentence, meaning that only those needed for a militia will be allowed to own/carry guns, but as a WHOLE statement.
As a thread jack here:
Am I the only one who thinks that maybe the reason the United States has never actually been invaded by a foreign nation, is because they are worried about the fact that every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the USA has a half dozen or more guns in their own home? I mean face it, when Germany invaded France, do you think it MIGHT have been tougher if everyone in France had a couple of guns in their home? I mean face it, if we were invaded say at Miami, how long do you think it would take to get an actual FULL military presense to defend it?...but If say 50% of the people there had firearms of their own...then BANG! there is our Militia, per the constitution!...
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"It is not that I have failed, but that I have found 10,000 ways that it DOESN'T work!" --Thomas Edison
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