Posted on 04/23/2008 2:10:11 PM PDT by neverdem
There are two types of "gun nuts," those who will say, "I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands," and those who insist on bringing their Mossberg 590 shotgun to heaven once the rapture comes.
Gun enthusiasts are an interesting crowd. They are our fathers and uncles, our neighbors and friends and often times they are our elected officials. Though there are many things wrong in this country, gun nuts often hold the gun rights issue as the No. 1 concern when heading to the polls to vote. They often have a pettiness toward their love of guns, too - using "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" as their MySpace profile song even though there are about two dozen better Beatles songs to choose from. And that's just the beginning of their pettiness.
But what has always irritated me most about many gun nuts is their audacity to use tragedies such as the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres to promote their causes for fewer restrictions on carrying handguns in public.
President Paul Zingg agrees.
"Yes, students have right to protect themselves," he said. "Do I think they should carry handguns? No."
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech school shootings, a tragedy that occurred when a gunman shot and killed 32 people and then himself in a shooting rampage. As we commemorate this tragedy, we will probably hear twisted logic from gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association to promote the idea of allowing students and professors to carry concealed handguns on campus.
They use Virginia Tech as fodder for what could have happened if more people were packing heat the day gunman Seung-Hui Cho shot so many people. Their logic goes something like this: If more students were armed on the day these events occurred, there would have been a bystander in the crowd who would have ridden in on a white stallion, weapons blazing, and valiantly stopped the gunman in his tracks. But disregard that this fairy tale fantasy relies on outside factors. One: This white knight would need the accuracy and the courage to perform such a feat. Two: The superhero would have to be miraculously standing within 100 feet or so of the gunman to be able to take him down. Three: This courageous gun owner would have to do all this without getting killed.
No evidence supports the idea that if someone in those tragedies had a gun the damage would have been prevented or minimized, Zingg said.
Gun advocates might counter by saying, "Well if he'd known more people had guns it may have prevented him from doing it." Are you kidding me? Did you see that videotape he sent NBC saying why he did it? That guy was crazy. He knew he was going to die that day and wanted to take out as many people as he could before he did it.
The bottom line is: Students and professors should not be allowed to have guns on campus. This myth that "an armed society is a polite society" is unproven and silly. I say, "an armed society is a paranoid and pompous society." Having to watch your manners and hope your gun is bigger than everyone else's is not an appealing way to go through life.
As for guns on campus, it's unsafe and unnecessary. Just because Second Amendment nuts want a Glock tucked in their pants 24/7 to overcome some mental insecurity, doesn't mean I should have to feel uncomfortable knowing a shot could accidentally go off while the teacher is lecturing.
Zingg said the key to safety on campus is "caring and vigilance for one another" and greater visibility of law enforcement. I agree.
The campus community needs to have more appreciation for University Police and respect officers "as not being rent-a-cops, because they're not," he said.
Living in a country that gives its citizens the right to bear arms has advantages and disadvantages, but arming students and professors isn't logical - it's ideological - and won't stop massacres such as Virginia Tech from happening again.
Mike Murphy can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com
*looks around*
Where’s the Super Mega Barf alert?
Jeanne Assam
Oh, don’t be too hardon this guy, he’s trying to impress his boyfriend with the article.
This guy doesn’t know a thing about guns and “gun nuts”. Maybe we should all start sending some facts to his email; see how long before he goes nuts trying to debunk us?
Is this an option? I was unaware. Hmmmmm.
EOT for me.
This is hilarious! The author is no doubt using high satire when ascribing the tactics of the antis to the RKBA folks!
But if it will save even one life...it’s for the children!
Only if everyone signs their emails with “Clinging bitterly to God”
Well, you have to understand that to a lib, “calls for gun control” are just what “IS”.
To libs, it’s like noticing whether a room has air (what IS) or a lack of air (calls for more guns). You don’t notice that a room has air.
“Is this an option? “
I think there is a five round capacity limit there, but I’m not sure.
He's just mad because he and the other panty-wetting hoplophobes that are dancing in the blood of the victims are already using that tactic.
How do I get promoted to Gun Nut Type 2?
A few Thanksgivings ago, I was arguing with a relative who was for restricting “semi-automatic rifles”.
I stopped him in his tracks when I asked him to tell me what a “semi-automatic” was.
To his credit, he didn’t do the normal change of subject, but admitted that he didn’t know.
There are two types of “gun nuts,” those who will say, “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands,” and those who insist on bringing their Mossberg 590 shotgun to heaven once the rapture comes. “
True enough. Comes down to covenantalists and dispensationalists....
Can I just plug up the mag tube with a little piece of cut broomstick to bring it down to a 5nd capacity?
The title was too long even for a barf alert.
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