Quick question about guns

[elevens]

We are all know about the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech this past week and I have read the post here on gun control and I just have one question/point to make.

Is it to much to ask our government to make getting a gun and license just a little bit harder than say a driver’s license? Part of me feels that if this guy was not able to walk in to the gun shop and just buy the guns in less than 5 minutes - this tragedy might have been avoided.

I am a hunter, a gun owner and a supporter of everyones right to bear arms but I just think our government needs to put some measures and policies in place (such as taking a test, attending gun safety classes, deeper back ground checks) to increase the amount of time it takes a person to purchase a gun. If someone cannot wait a week - chances are they are not the folks you want having a gun.

I am sorry for my self-opinion spray but I just found out a good friends little brother who attends VT was shot. He was hit 3 times and is currently in critical condition and we are all praying for a full recovery.

[Brock Landers]

The people who follow the rules and wait the week, and pass the background checks are who should have guns. In reality the people who cant wait and who would probably fail the background checks find it on the street with relative ease. I think more should be done in the areas you mention but also in law enforcement seeking out the illegal guns (not entirely sure how) and throwing the book at illegal gun owners. And this may impede a bit on civil rights (Patriot Act) but frankly, I dont care.

[flatlander#2]

That may slow down a someone pissed off, but someone wired this wacky, never. If this kid had to wait a year, he would have waited a year.

[Andy_B]

His guns had the serial numbers filed off. I do not think he bought those at a gun shop.

Plus for hand guns, there is a 15 day waiting period to purchase (here in michigan).

[Jer]

Part of me feels that if this guy was not able to walk in to the gun shop and just buy the guns in less than 5 minutes - this tragedy might have been avoided.

I'm almost certain it took him more than 5 minutes - probably more like 3 days. Even if the process would have taken three weeks, he still would have gotten the weapons. He was planning this over a month in advance. A guy this deliberate would have gotten weapons no matter what - legally or illegally.

[Professor Chaos]

Not to mention that this did happen is Virginia, I believe second in gun-to-peope ratio to Texas. Its stupid easy to acquire a gun. A friend of mine from DC knew a couple people people that unfortunately were in the way of the gunfire. This shit aint cool.

Im all for everyone right to own a gun, but that ammendment was created back when everyone was still afraid that the British were going to invade at any point in time and it was a way to secure everyone was ready for it. It doesnt necessarily need to be the same way now. Im proabably thinkin this cause Im a friendly fire Canuck.

[rideit]

This thread is not about skiing, so that void's Jer's opinion on the matter, apparently!

BTW, my buddy that got mauled went home today, he is fucked up for sure, but he is gonna be fine.

[Crud's Uncle]

Regardless of the law for a new gun purchase, just go on Craigslist, no waiting period for private gun sales.

[lemon boy]

Wait...this isn't a question about guns...it is a question about gun control. Why couldn't it go in one of the TWO other threads on this matter?

[yooper]

Plus for hand guns, there is a 15 day waiting period to purchase (here in michigan).

...and everyone knows how well that works in Detroit.

[William Murderface]

They were able to trace one of the guns, and it was obtained completely legally, and the process only took about 10 minutes. I agree that the process should be more in depth, and take about a week or so, but I also agree that nothing would have stopped this kid.

Aside from the regular gun control debate, this whole incident has renewed the debate among students at my school, the University of Utah, as to whether guns should be allowed on a state school campus. I don't think that having concealed weapons has anything to do with higher education, and the school agrees, unfortunantly, the state sees the matter differently.

Does anybody know if VA TECH has similar laws in place? Perhaps if it wasn't legal for him to be bringing glock 9s to campus whenever he chose to, it might have provided some sort of deterent?

[Brock Landers]

Does anybody know if VA TECH has similar laws in place? Perhaps if it wasn't legal for him to be bringing glock 9s to campus whenever he chose to, it might have provided some sort of deterent?

Somehow his actions indicate he didnt care much for the law. It is still illegal to murder people and he did that- if there was a law to repress guns at VT, I dont think that would have done very much to deter him.

[AKPogue]

They were able to trace one of the guns, and it was obtained completely legally, and the process only took about 10 minutes. I agree that the process should be more in depth, and take about a week or so, but I also agree that nothing would have stopped this kid.

Aside from the regular gun control debate, this whole incident has renewed the debate among students at my school, the University of Utah, as to whether guns should be allowed on a state school campus. I don't think that having concealed weapons has anything to do with higher education, and the school agrees, unfortunantly, the state sees the matter differently.

Does anybody know if VA TECH has similar laws in place? Perhaps if it wasn't legal for him to be bringing glock 9s to campus whenever he chose to, it might have provided some sort of deterent?

Deterrent to what exactly?? Uh don't you think that killing 33 people might get you a couple of days in prison

[StroupSkier]

His guns had the serial numbers filed off. I do not think he bought those at a gun shop.

Plus for hand guns, there is a 15 day waiting period to purchase (here in michigan).

But he did... In fact they have interviewed the owner of the gun shop where he bought the guns several times.

In VA you can buy a gun with an expididited background check, which is usually completed in a day.

[Big E]

Does anybody know if VA TECH has similar laws in place? Perhaps if it wasn't legal for him to be bringing glock 9s to campus whenever he chose to, it might have provided some sort of deterent?

One report I saw last night said that (hopefully I remember this accurately) last year VT had enacted a no-firearms policy, and any student/faculty/staff member caught with one on campus would be dismissed from the school, regardless of whether they had a permit to carry.

As others have said, though, clearly would not have been a deterrent to this guy.

[William Murderface]

Somehow his actions indicate he didnt care much for the law. It is still illegal to murder people and he did that- if there was a law to repress guns at VT, I dont think that would have done very much to deter him.

I don't know the facts of the case... I'm just thinking that perhaps he had the concealed weapons on him and snapped.

If it wasn't legal for him to bring his guns to school, maybe he wouldn't of had them readily available. Maybe he brought them to school to rampage, who knows? The point that I'm trying to express is that I don't feel any safer knowing its legal for people to bring handguns to a college campus.

[DJSapp]

Since the kid was able to get the guns legaly from a store, what would a more through background check reveal?

Nothing. The cool down periods associated with guns is to stop the hot-blooded emotional killings, not the cold, calculated, crazy ass sons-of-bitches like this guy.

[Hurricane]

We are all know about the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech this past week and I have read the post here on gun control and I just have one question/point to make.

Is it to much to ask our government to make getting a gun and license just a little bit harder than say a driver’s license? Part of me feels that if this guy was not able to walk in to the gun shop and just buy the guns in less than 5 minutes - this tragedy might have been avoided.

I am a hunter, a gun owner and a supporter of everyones right to bear arms but I just think our government needs to put some measures and policies in place (such as taking a test, attending gun safety classes, deeper back ground checks) to increase the amount of time it takes a person to purchase a gun. If someone cannot wait a week - chances are they are not the folks you want having a gun.

I am sorry for my self-opinion spray but I just found out a good friends little brother who attends VT was shot. He was hit 3 times and is currently in critical condition and we are all praying for a full recovery.

Hey douchebag, there's already like a million threads on this, thanks for starting another one.

How hard are drugs to get? They're illegal.

Deeper background checks? Deeper than their criminal record? Now STFU. Thanks.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

But he did... In fact they have interviewed the owner of the gun shop where he bought the guns several times.

In VA you can buy a gun with an expididited background check, which is usually completed in a day.

Less than a day if the store has a computer hooked into the federal database, which some bigger stores do, at least the one I got my guns at when I lived in VA. Every gun show I went to in VA had state troopers there with a computer set up to do background checks(since the vast majority of people selling at gun shows are licensed federal dealers and are therefore required to do background checks) Furthermore when I was living in Virginia they had a "one gun a month" law. I'm not sure if that bill expired or got repealed but if not, and the gun stores did their due diligence, the kid had to wait at least 30days between the purchase of his two handguns.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

It's always easier to blame something that you can control, rather than someone's irrational behavior. Rather than just accept the fact that the killer is dead, nobody is going to get any "magic" answers, and there's no other person to assign blame to... naturally, we will crusade against the next best solution to feel better about things.

When someone intentionally drives their car into a crowd and kills a dozen people, is the reaction to instantly start cracking down on driver's licensing procedures and motor vehicle sales?

[Jer]

I don't know the facts of the case... I'm just thinking that perhaps he had the concealed weapons on him and snapped.

He was planning it out at least a month in advance. He "snapped" a long time ago.

If it wasn't legal for him to bring his guns to school, maybe he wouldn't of had them readily available.

What's more illegal? - bringing a concealed weapon to school or murdering a whole bunch of people? I think the legality of his actions was probably the last thing on his mind.

The point that I'm trying to express is that I don't feel any safer knowing its legal for people to bring handguns to a college campus.

I think it would be a huge misteak to arm everyone on campus. I don't know if there is really any way to safeguard against cases like this. That said, if I were a college student, I'd seriously consider carrying since Monday.

[Jer]

This thread is not about skiing, so that void's Jer's opinion on the matter, apparently!

BTW, my buddy that got mauled went home today, he is fucked up for sure, but he is gonna be fine.

Not so! I pack when I ski. It's the best way I've found to shut up Mormons on a chairlift.

Good to hear your friend's ok. I would still be shitting myself.

[summit]

The problem is that there was nothing on this guys record that would have showed up in a background check. 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days of checking wouldn't have made the difference. He did have a criminal history or an OFFICIAL record of psychiatric problems.

Nobody has been able to explain to me how gun control could have possibly prevented this tragedy.

On the other hand some have argued that maybe, just maybe, if students weren't prohibited of exercising their CCW rights, maybe there would have been someone to stop the shooter.

Instead, in the words of one of the victims, "WE WERE SITTING DUCKS"

[hemas]

On the other hand some have argued that maybe, just maybe, if students weren't prohibited of exercising their CCW rights, maybe there would have been someone to stop the shooter.

More likely something similar (though less casulties) would have happened a lot earlier. Mixing all kinds of peeps and allowing them thier CCW rights is just going to make something like this a lot easier...

It's simple propability calculation... more guns equal more opportunities... And yes, the bodycount would be lower (provided someone actually had the balls to shoot the perpetrator, but also collateral damage casulties would be highly propable). And guess what, the fact that most peeps would be packing, well I'm rather certain that the knowledge of that would have not stopped such a person as in Va.

[Jer]

And guess what, the fact that most peeps would be packing, well I'm rather certain that the knowledge of that would have not stopped such a person as in Va.

The knowledge that one or more of his victims may have been armed probably would not have stopped the psycho's plans in this case.

However, if one of the victims was armed there is a probability that he would have been physically stopped before he reached his ultimate body count.

I don't think a nutjob like this cared much if someone was shooting back at him - he knew he was going to die anyway. However, if someone had shot back at him and severely wounded/killed him, it would have saved a lot of lives. Of course this whole disscussion is academic...