[caveat emptor]

Apples and oranges comparison -- air marshals are federal employees with a specific duty. The discussion is about the abrogation of the right of self-defense that exists in every person as a God-given right, not one that requires "screening and combat training". The comparison you were reaching for was the armed pilot program which is a morass of bureaucracy and bovine scatology. I'll pass, thanks.

Well, you make a good point. What I was considering was an arrangement between individuals and an institution. I might have expressed it better.

As for screening, the federal screening program obviously failed. Va Tech would have more knowledge of the individuals involved, and would be unable to pass the buck if the final decision was a bad one and was theirs.

My kids live in Virginia, have carry permits, and each have a 9mm and a .22 cal semi-automatic pistol (coincidentally). They also practice a couple of times a month on range with simulated combat situations - I don't know exact details.

As for a "God given right", you have no right, "God given" or otherwise, to carry a concealed handgun anywhere you please.

[T-Bird45]

As for a "God given right", you have no right, "God given" or otherwise, to carry a concealed handgun anywhere you please.

Since I believe that I am a creation of a Divine Creator (as acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness), I have the right to self-defense in the interest of extending the gift of the Creator. If an action of the state interferes with the tools necessary to act to ensure that right then the state no longer has the moral standing to enforce its will upon my person in that regard.

All that said, I merely argued for the right of self-defense as the central point of the discussion at hand, not necessarily for the right to carry where I please. Each individual has to make choices concerning personal safety balanced with the knowledge of the law.