Virginia Tech

[James B.]

Paul, if half the people in the US had as much responsibility and your attitude towards firearms, I don't think the firearm issue would be much of one at all.

Problem is you have very unstable "kids" with access to the same weaponry that we adults have...or people who are responsible have. That's a recipe for disaster. I always liked the saying "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". The unfortunate part of it is that guns are IMO too easy to acquire in the US. So when you do have a whack job like this piece of crap, he is able to get his hands on something that is capable of killing, and killing in high numbers.

But the whack jocks like Cho come along only every now and again. The real problem here is gangs and the urban environment they are in. Most members of gangs range from 16-24 making most not old enough to buy a pistol. How then do they get them? Well sadly enough members of their family often purchase the guns legally and sell it to the underage gang members or those with criminal records that exclude them from having guns. What compounds the issue is we do not criminally punish those who do the buying (shill buying) often because the penalties are minor when compared to the murder case the cops have to deal with. Basicly it is not loose gun laws it is lack of enforcment of breaking the law.

The flip side to the coin is the common murders of gang members don’t affect the middle class. I live 2 miles from the bridge to DC in Alexandria; our murder rate was high last year at 3 people, yes I said 3 people and they were killed together at once over drugs. DC a mere 2 miles away had something like 230 murders last year in the bad parts of town. This is why when 32 students die people take action, it is not common for middle class people to be effected by gun violence.