A Brief Look at Virginia Tech

I’m not going to address all of the aspects of this horrible event, but there is one aspect that I feel is very important: gun control. I’m writing this article with foresight. I can see this issue getting a lot of attention with the anti-gun lobbyists demanding, if they haven’t already, another gun ban. This subject is generally a partisan issue, but for the record I’m not a democrat or a republican. I support issues, not parties. So let’s deal with the law and common sense for the purpose of this discussion.

I’m bringing up this topic because all I hear on the news is how tragic this event was, and this massacre was a horrific thing. But let’s look at the possible ramifications of this incident: another gun ban. Gun bans never work; it hasn’t prevented crime or reduced crime anywhere in the world, because during a gun ban the criminals have no resistance. If I was a criminal I would give my financial support to anti-gun lobbyists. It makes sense, support those who make your job easier. An unarmed populace is an easier target. Now let’s just use a little bit of common sense. Would you tell your child to let someone punch them in the face and beat them up? Would you teach people to not defend themselves? No! Look at the animal kingdom. A dog will snap at you if they feel threatened or bothered. Are they wrong for doing that? It’s a natural instinct to protect oneself. If someone comes at you with a gun, you aren’t going to be too successful with just your fists. If the criminals bring a gun, then you need a gun. It’s a fair fight. But criminals aren’t looking for a fair fight; they are looking for the least resistance possible. Do you recall Mike Tyson ever being mugged? What about Shaquille O’Neal? I guess we’re supposed to just hope the cops are around at all times? The police can’t save you because they aren’t omnipresent. If they were, they’d prevent crimes. So if we did agree to a gun ban, can our surviving family members sue the Government if they don’t save us? No! That will never happen. So do we just de-shell the turtle and throw him to the wild? Do we de-claw the cat and put it outside to live? Do we remove the noxious odor mechanism of the skunk from its body? What if God had a weapons ban in the Old Testament? We’d have no David and Goliath. What if the British had a weapons ban for the colonists to follow? We’d have no United States of America. You don’t take away anyone’s or anything’s ability to protect their property or their life. There was a gun ban on Virginia Tech’s campus and a horrible atrocity occurred. Folks, don’t fall for a gun ban if you see it in the news.

What would our judicial system do if a student illegally brought a gun to the Virginia Tech campus and killed that gunman after he killed the first two students, and before he murdered the other thirty people? Would he be seen as a hero for unknowingly sparing many lives? Or would he be seen as a criminal? He would’ve broken the law, but he would’ve saved lives. But in this country common sense isn’t very plentiful. But here at B.G. Street, we think critically and proactively, and a gun ban makes no sense. But someone put these politicians in office. They didn’t run to Washington DC and say “the first one in is the Congressman”. No, a lot of people voted these people into office. But now we’re learning to think about these things on the front end. See folks, I’m actually providing you with a wonderful service. I’m teaching and encouraging you to be proactive, to think for yourself, to be independent. A lot of politicians, bosses and preachers want you to be under their feathers so that they can control you. Sometimes leaders are very insecure and they don’t want you to follow your own vision, dreams and aspirations. But I want you to succeed! I want you to grow and achieve, but you can’t do that if you follow the tune that’s being played. Come on folks, you can do it. You’re better than that! If guns are banned then only the government and the criminals will be armed. Where does that leave you and me? Look at a few 18^th Century quotes concerning weapons.

George Mason when the Constitution was being debated: "To disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria — a Milanese criminologist whom he admired who was also his contemporary — in On Crimes and Punishment: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."

Thomas Paine from his Thoughts on Defensive War written in 1775: "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."

Bill of Rights Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

This isn’t saying that only people involved in a militia can own guns. The Amendment says that the right of the people (the citizenry), shall not be infringed. This is a right for all citizens, and the framers intent was to give the people the ability to say no to tyranny. The Government has weapons, so the people need weapons. If you can’t say “no,” then you are a slave.

To quote Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

And from a speech to the UK House of Lords in 1770: "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"

A final point to consider: Why is there no weapons ban on the governments of the world? They can go make war and protect their interests, but we can’t protect our interests.