http://paulenderson.com/2007/04/30/preventing-another-virginia-tech

Speak up people!

A friend of mine once told me that the reason for this is that a gun is an easy kill. Almost no connection. With a knife, there is resistance, tactile feedback, you are an integral part of the kill. The US consitution may back the right to bear arms, but would the murder rate be lower if “arms” meant knives, not guns…

My two cents…

Nevertheless, I still feel like a day of silence is also a very nice thing to do. It is about paying respect to those lost. In some cases, silence can be far louder than people talking.

If anything, I would argue that you should participate in both ways. I know I will.

There have been 600,000 deaths to date in Iraq. Whether or not you agree with that war, where is their day?

Where is the day for the people of Darfur?

Does the blogosphere believe that American deaths are worth more? Why does the world have to stop because Americans have died.

The people killed represent only 1/1000th of all the deaths there will be from guns in the US this year.

If someone suggested a day of silence for victims of guns everywhere and arms sales then I would appreciate that and conform to it.

But wait a moment. Can’t we combine symbolism with substance? And action! I contend that we can.

Let’s dedicate a day to appreciating the right to keep and bear arms. On this day we will write and post an essay or comments on our favorite blogs. We will stress two facts.

One: If even one of the students or university personnel in Norris Hall had been armed, this tragedy might not have happened. If two or three had been armed, this tragedy certainly would not have happened.

Two: The federal and state constitutions guarantee us that the right to bear arms will not be infringed. However, the lofty seat of higher education in Virginia state has a policy forbidding bearing arms on campus. Such rules are a discrace. The university would not be allowed to banish people based upon race, gender, national origin, religion, or disability. Would they? Why not? Because federal, state, and local laws forbid that type of “rules” because they violate the rights of the people involved. Then how is it that a university, or any other institution is allowed to make and enforce a “rule” that goes against a right that federal and state governments have pledged to support? The bottom line is: if a university can ban guns, it can ban African Americans, or Mormans, or children with Down syndrome. And that’s not right!

Those who really want to go all out in memory of the men and women who were recently murdered will not only write and post. They will purchase a fire arm and carry it concealed in the face of the so called “rules,” and when challenged, expelled, or arrested, they will fight it in court. They will fight it offensively, to the full capacity of their financial and intellectual resources.

That’s called refusing to ride in the back of the bus!