Gentlemen,
I was called in to substitute teach at a local college prep school at the last minute yesterday morning. Apparently, someone sent a threatening email to faculty, students and administrators the previous evening, with reference to the shootings at VA Tech. I only found out about it during the course of the day after hearing bits of information pass between a few people and following up with questions, because I missed the morning assembly where the issue was presented by the head of school. There were several rent-a-cops present around campus and classes were held as usual. Was I thinking about my cache of long arms being taken away or wishing I was carrying myself? No. I focused on the task at hand and was grateful that it was an uneventful day. All of my kids and I got to go home.
While I strongly support our 2nd amendment rights, neither taking all of our guns away nor arming citizens to the teeth will prevent these kinds of events from occurring. That is not to say that I am simply resigned to accepting them, rather that is much more than a "gun or no gun" issue. And, as several of you have noted, these events are not peculiar to the U.S.
While you continue your discussion and debate, I urge each of you to consider the fellow students, faculty, administrators and police, including the rent-a-cops on that campus and every campus worldwide. If you are so inclined, you might say a prayer and hope that they have many more uneventful days.
skatr2
