<p>"BLACKSBURG, Va. The online weapons dealer who sold one of the guns used in the Virginia Tech shootings visited the campus Thursday, a decision the school's spokesman called "terribly offensive."</p>
<p>Dealer Eric Thompson spoke at the school Thursday night as part of a weeklong demonstration in favor of allowing people to carry concealed weapons at colleges.</p>
<p>"For people who want to arm themselves, there shouldn't be policies in place to stop them," Thompson told about 60 students who attended his talk. There were only a few anti-gun questions posed to Thompson, and none of the protests school officials prepared for.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said about 20 officers were in and around Whittemore Hall, where the meeting was held, "to make sure everyone's rights are protected." Six officers stood in the lecture hall.</p>
<p>Thompson visited to support a chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which advocates weapons on campuses, but said he paid his own way."</p>
<p>Just think of college kids, so caff’d up and stressed out over gpa, deadlines, sleep deprivation, sexual deprivation, roommate problems, girl or boyfriend problems, concerns over monumental oppressive debt the likes of which has never been seen, raging hormones…</p>
<p>Regardless of the issue of concealed carry, I find the person who sold the products that killed so many on that campus visiting it to advocate more weaponization egregiously offensive.</p>
<p>I do have to question this guy’s motivations. I know he feels bad about the VT/NIU shootings, but why he chose to speak at VT is questionable in my mind. However, the facts of the matter are, he only shipped the pistol to a federally licensed dealer. That dealer had to run the background check on Cho. The reason Cho was not denied was because the state of Virginia failed to upload their information to the federal database. The sellers did everything by the book, but the state failed to provide the necessary information.</p>
<p>As for CCW arguments please review the mission and FAQ section of [Students</a> for Concealed Carry on Campus - ConcealedCampus.com](<a href=“http://www.concealedcampus.org%5DStudents”>http://www.concealedcampus.org)
I think you will find that you are objecting to things that are NOT being proposed. They only want licensed adults (who already carry off campus every day, without problems) to be able to carry. The statistics from across the country and from 11 universities and colleges show no indication that CCW on campus would create problems.</p>
<p>And no it does not refer to the “guns are good” mentality. Guns are inanimate objects. They hold no moral status. The USER determines whether a gun is used for good, evil, or irrelevant (target shooting, etc) purposes. A gun is a tool, nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>For heaven’s sake, this is insane. Please tell me why ANYONE (adult or student) would want a gun in college? We live in a civilized society. You don’t hunt for food in the quad.</p>
<p>I doubt very much, unless the student had an FFL license; that he sold it to him directly. It’s not possible. If he was an online dealer, then he HAD to ship it to a licensed dealer; who in turn would sell it to the individual and do the paperwork. Now, trying to read someone’s mind and determining their motives is crazy. That would be like selling someone a car and first trying to determine if they were going to go out and get drunk and do some drinking and driving.</p>
<p>I’m not defending the shooter. I’m just trying to quench some of the attitudes that somehow the dealer who sold the gun is somehow responsible for what the person who bought it did with it. That argument just doesn’t fly, and the more it is argued with emotions instead of with logic and the law, the less compelling it will be.</p>
<p>Well, sorry but he should have kept a low profile instead of showing his face on the very campus where this tragedy happened. Totally insensitive! There is no excuse for that.</p>
“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” – Edmund Burke </p>
<p>“You must understand, therefore, that there are two ways of fighting: by law or by force. The first way is natural to men, and the second to beasts. But as the first way often proves inadequate one must needs have recourse to the second.” (Niccolo Machiavelli in “The Prince”)</p>
<p>People would want to carry a firearm for the same reason that others carry pepper spray–to defend themselves from a criminal attacker. Statistically (from the FBI UCR), people who resist attackers by using firearms are less likely to suffer death or injury than if they chose an alternate tool. We do live in a civilized society, but not all people act accordingly. I lost a friend to violence on campus, and also know someone who was attacked by their ex-husband. I recognize that not all people act according to civilized norms. Therefore, I would prefer to have the best tool available to defend myself with. A police officer 2-6 minutes away is just not good enough when someone is attacking you (2-6 minutes is considered a “good” response time in most urbanized areas).</p>
<p>I think it would be flat out unfair, as well as dangerous, not to provide guns and concealed weapons permits for low-income students to defend themselves, if they couldn’t afford it otherwise. If it makes them safer, EVERYONE on campus should be required to carry a gun, and to attend weekly target practice. Otherwise, those who remain unarmed fall easy prey.</p>
<p>The guy sells guns for a living so don’t demonize him for his livelihood. There would be a much different spin if it was known that although one guy bought a gun and went on a shooting rampage most people who bought guns there used it in self defense, doing more good than harm. We shouldn’t punish this guy for what was a tragic coincidence.</p>
<p>Also, the ignorance on these forums with regards to firearms is pretty amazing. It’s fine to take an anti-gun stance, but at least do so with a good understanding of the other side of the issue.</p>
<p>Sorry, just because I disagree with you does not make me ignorant. I am not anti-gun. I grew up in a family of hunters.</p>
<p>The difference between pepper spray and a hand gun is that no one (inadvertantly or purposely) has been killed by pepper spray. If the campus is that dangerous then the market place (us, parents, students) should speak with our feet and not enroll. I know of campus environments that were shady and the outcry was so loud that the administration took great strides at improving safety that now violent crime is virtually unheard of.</p>
<p>You still did not answer my original question–why do students need guns on campus?</p>