The Unfortunate Irony of "Gun Control"

By now, most of the world has heard about the tragedy of a mass shooting at Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia, this morning. I won't re-iterate the known details here, any media outlet will have their report and spin on the tragedy.

But an interesting debate is about to begin, about this:

Gun bill gets shot down by panel: HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.
By Greg Esposito Tuesday, January 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly.

House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.

The bill was proposed by Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, on behalf of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. Gilbert was unavailable Monday and spokesman Gary Frink would not comment on the bill's defeat other than to say the issue was dead for this General Assembly session.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, would not comment Monday because he was not part of the subcommittee that discussed the bill.

Most universities in Virginia require students and employees, other than police, to check their guns with police or campus security upon entering campus. The legislation was designed to prohibit public universities from making "rules or regulations limiting or abridging the ability of a student who possesses a valid concealed handgun permit ... from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun."

The legislation allowed for exceptions for participants in athletic events, storage of guns in residence halls and military training programs.

Last spring a Virginia Tech student was disciplined for bringing a handgun to class, despite having a concealed handgun permit. Some gun owners questioned the university's authority, while the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police came out against the presence of guns on campus.

In June, Tech's governing board approved a violence prevention policy reiterating its ban on students or employees carrying guns and prohibiting visitors from bringing them into campus facilities.

States which have enacted concealed-carry permit legislation have seen a reduction in confrontational crime. Virginia issues concealed-carry permits, but Virginia Tech chose to fight this particular statute for the campus.

It cannot be known for a certainty, but had some students, or teachers, been armed this day, this tragedy might have come to a quicker end with fewer deaths. Locking down students in these events is not showing to be a complete, perhaps not even desirable, solution. Murderers seem to be able to proceed at their leisure with a captive victim pool. Pro-active self-defence would seem to be preferable to passive compliance.

The state cannot protect everyone from harm. Police agencies exist to investigate and bring to justice the evil-doers. 911 is a crap-shoot at best, and 30 cops standing outside the building do little to end the tragedies within.