Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Get Some Balls Mr. President


My thoughts are with those families who lost a loved one at Virginia Tech. I cannot fathom what they are going through.

The rest of us are going through fits of anger and shock, and I feel betrayed.

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed."

The President also said, "...Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I'm not trying to say the president is at fault here. I'm not even trying to say anything profound, I'm just confused.

So I guess anyone can get any gun on any ordinary day. Any gun. Anything? I admit I'm totally clueless about all stuff gun related. Do the gun shop dudes even ask what you plan to do with the weapon? I mean, are there not many, many types of guns, big and small, with varying degrees of killing capacity? Are guns used for anything besides killing?

A little light Googling reveals that indeed, anyone can get anything. The gun shop owner who sold the merch to the Virginia Tech student had this to say though, "He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious." I wonder what he thought a nice college kid would be doing with his new purchases? Would he be doing something that is considered not suspicious?

Ok, so we know that anyone can buy any gun. And apparently there are many gun styles to choose from, and anyone can go in and browse around, choose what they like, and after a short Federal Bureau of Investigator's instant background checker, they are off with their wares. I realize the laws vary by state but in Virginia, this was the case.

So then, as a relatively ordinary citizen (not a cop or prison wardon, for example) the
Virginia Tech shooter had the right to purchase weapons that are designed to load and reload quickly (to presumably kill a lot of whatever nice college kids kill). He also had the right to purchase as much ammunition as he could possibly carry, probably more.

Everyone who knows me knows I'm against the idea of relatively ordinary people owning guns, much less carrying those guns around with them. But if the law must remain for political and economic reasons, then it must be reviewed again. I can accept that if the majority of citizens feel they should have the right to bear arms then so be it. Fair enough, I've been outruled. But why do we all have the right to bear arms that hold so much ammunition? Or enable such quick reloading? Why? Seriously. Why? Because think about it. What happened in Virginia was horrible, a terrible, terrible tragedy that will never be forgotten. But if any clean cut looking person can make these purchases, then so can any other "normal" looking person who you work with, or go to school with, or live with for that matter.

To make the whole horrid tragedy even worse,
A court order from 2005 states that Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui was declared mentally ill and "an imminent danger to others."

Ho.ly.Fuck.

1) Anyone can buy any gun
2) Anyone can buy as much ammo as they want
3) The gun shop owner decides who he is going to sell guns to based on how they look
4) The FBI instant background checker doesn't work

This isn't about whether we have the right to bear arms. This is about the fact that the system is broke. And because of our increasingly capitalistic society, the system will remain broke until someone in that god damned white house straps on some balls and makes some changes.

All those deaths could have been avoided if the system were working. But instead of discussing how he will improve the lives and safety of every single person in this country, your president had the nerve to tell the entire campus at Virginia Tech that their friends and loved ones were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fucking Moron. Fucking Asshole. I'm so pissed.

Other Resources: America's Debate

UPDATE: Because Cho was not involuntarily committed to a mental institution, his appearance before the judge and his evaluation at a mental health facility did not show up when he bought the guns. Read more about how easy almost anyone can obtain guns and ammo: Campus killer's purchases apparently within gun laws.

7 comments:

awolfie said...

Deborah Ann can and does own a gun. Think about that one.

Head Whiner said...

More proof to the same point. Write your governors and senators and whatnot. Or run for office. I don't know what else we can do. The system is fucked.up.

Christopher Pisano said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Christopher Pisano said...

Modified for Grammatical Errors:

Laws ain't going to do shit. Look at Germany. They have very tough gun laws and this still happens.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1952869.stm

Education will be key. Adding more funding so that people like Cho and the Colombine killers can get help.

With Cho there were so many warning signs and he fell threw the cracks. We need to investigate why these cracks are so huge.

Christopher Pisano said...

And threw should be through. (last paragraph)

Head Whiner said...

where and when will the education begin?

Anonymous said...

It takes a village!