It is an extreme tragedy, no doubt. 

And it will be used politically, no doubt.  Blowhards the likes of Hillary “I can’t recall” Clinton, John “My hair is still ok” Edwards will soon spewing the usual rhetoric from the left.  “This is why we need more and stricter laws governing gun ownership!”  No, this is why we need more states with concealed carry laws.  I guess my question is: If one of the shooters victims was carrying a gun, would 31 people have needlessly died?  My thought, if one person in that first building was armed and properly trained in defensive shooting the casualties would not have made it into the double digits.  Meaning that, less than 10 people would be dead or wounded. 

The gun laws that are in place are more than sufficient, if they are enforced.  Too many criminals are not fully prosecuted for their violation(s) of existing gun laws.  Many states do not refer these same criminals that they have just made deals with, in the interest of freeing up the courts, to Federal Prosecutors to pursue convictions on federal gun law violations.  If the states are not going to refer these criminals to the Federal Courts, why do we need more Federal gun laws?

            Doesn’t anyone remember any of the amendments to our Constitution?  You know that piece of paper that the media enjoys waving around when they are questioned about their judgment.  Well, there are more amendments than that first one. 

Some even go deeper than being rights that should be protected by our government.  The Second amendment is a responsibility that the left does not like to admit.  The colonists did not come to this continent to escape a government that would not allow them to hunt or target shoot.  They left Europe, England in particular, to escape a government that was overbearing and focused on continuing the way things were done.  It was a good way of life for the King and his friends.  It was an oppressive way of life for the regular Joe.  The framers of the Constitution still had this freshly imprinted in their minds.  An unarmed population cannot stand up and assert their rights and privileges, let alone defend themselves. 

Take a look at modern day England.  They have much stricter gun laws than we do here.  In the latest bans on gun ownership the parliament made ownership of shotguns more restricted to the point that many were confiscated.  Crime stats have “SHOT” up ever since, all pun intended.  The bad guy does not have to worry about being shot by one of the most efficient weapons for home defense.  The English also have a mostly unarmed police force making things safer for bad guys.  The “no gun” mind set has not worked well for national safety in England.         

Have we not learned the lessons from the past?  Does no one remember Columbine?  The lesson that should have been learned from that tragic day is that guns are not bad, deranged people are!  Yes, I know that at this early hour nothing about the shooter is being reported, but it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the guy who was pulling the trigger was not thinking like a rational human being.   

I was talking to another former Marine, and he brought up a good point.  Where were all the men at?  Why was the only guy to take a stand a seventy something elderly man?  Maybe, the feminization of our young boys and men in the school systems had them jumping out of the windows and running for their lives instead of trying to solve the problem.  If three or four guys got together and decided to take affirmative action towards the assailant, al la Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, the outcome would have been dramatically different.  Ten years from now, when my oldest son is 22, will the young men act any more decisively than those at VT did?  I doubt it.

My boys are taught in school that the use of force for any reason is unacceptable!  If they are attacked and defend themselves they will be rewarded with the same consequences as their attacker.  If this is what we are teaching our boys today who will defend us in the future?  Who will pick up a weapon and stand a post?  And that is not just military.  The police and fire personnel in your local town, village, or city have a very similar mind set as those who wear the many uniforms of our Armed Forces.