Virginia Tech, Gun Control and Freedom

The Virginia Tech massacre by student ChoSeung-Hui has the gun control advocates coming out of the woodwork, screaming for more gun control. Some would do more than outlaw warfare weapons for the average citizen. The trouble is, Virginia Tech is a gun-free zone though this only applies if you are normal, if you are simply going about your business, but, obviously, not if you aren't-not if you are Cho Seung-Hui.
What the gun control extremists fail over and over to share is that there are valid reasons to own a gun. 1) The constitution itself guarantees the right of citizens to own guns without undue governmental interference. 2) A citizenry without guns is a citizenry that is a sitting duck for personal attacks or from an out-of-control government. (Patriot Act.)

Yes, accidents happen. We don't ban vehicles because of car accidents. We don't ban food because some people choke and we shouldn't ban guns because accidents happen. Guns do kill people or rather the person aiming the gun may kill. Owning a gun is a choice, deliberately using it to hurt others, or murdering others as did student Cho Seung-Hui at Virginia Tech, is also a choice.

Gun control has nothing to do with what happened at Virginia Tech with a seriously disturbed ChoSeung-Hui. Oppressive gun control does little to take guns out of the hands of those who truly desire to do damage. It does deprive the average citizen of the right to protect him/herself and family. Gun control laws did not stop what happened at Virginia Tech, nor would more restrictive laws. Someone determined to kill like ChoSeung-Hui will find a weapon to use.

Many of those who stomp for extreme gun control are also the most vocal against the police and those who try to enforce the laws. Many are also very vocal about personal privacy rights. Already those who responded to the crisis at Virginia Tech are being second guessed by arm-chair quarterbacks. You can bet lawsuits will add a further burden to a school already reeling from what happened.

But shouldn't Virginia Tech have been more on top of a situation that many knew was already a bad one? Many knew the gunman ChoSeung-Hui was seriously troubled. The buzz now is why weren't others, like his roommates, notified he posed a potential danger? I actually heard a psychologist talk about this on the media. But anyone who has been around for the last few years knows why? HIPAA-extreme privacy laws that restrict what information can be given out. Doctors can't give needed information to family, principals can't give information to teachers and a college certainly can't pass on personal information, even (or maybe especially) information that a person may pose a danger. Not about ChoSeung-Hui or anyone else.

Many of the laws now passed have little to do with safety and everything to do with stripping the average citizen of those things needed for information, protection and preservation. Add in open season for lawsuits and you have turned the massacre at Virginia Tech into a long-term tragedy for everyone.

Maybe it is time to stop taking constitutional rights from American citizens, to stop government from playing Big Brother and to encourage each citizen to value freedom and the responsibility that goes with it.