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By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 53 minutes ago
RICHMOND, Va. - Survivors and families of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings faced off Monday against gun-rights advocates over a bill that would prevent criminals and the mentally ill from buying firearms at gun shows.
About 100 supporters of the measure lay on the Capitol lawn to honor the victims of gun violence, as about 200 opponents stood nearby, holding signs that read, "Here Lie Disarmed Victims."
At one point, Jeff Knox, director of operations of the Manassas-based Firearms Coalition, approached survivor Colin Goddard and said students could have stopped student Seung-Hui Cho's rampage if they had been allowed to carry guns on campus.
"I would have stopped him," Knox said. "Because when I went to school, I carried a gun. It was legal; I did it."
Goddard, a Virginia Tech senior who was shot four times in the April 16 massacre, was taken aback, then said: "I feel sorry for you the fact that you feel you need to protect yourself in every situation.
"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.
Earlier Monday at a Senate committee hearing on the bill, supporters, many wearing ribbons in Tech's colors of maroon and orange, outnumbered opponents, sporting buttons reading "Guns Save Lives" by about 3 to 1.
The legislation would require unlicensed sellers at gun shows to run criminal background checks on buyers. Such checks now are required only of federally licensed gun dealers.
Cho, who killed 32 people at Tech before committing suicide, passed a background check and bought one gun from a store and a second online despite having been deemed mentally defective by a Virginia court.
more ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080122/ap_on_re_us/virginia_tech_gun_protest
"You're afraid of crazy situations happening. I've lived through this and I know that I can't continue in my life afraid of things," he said, adding that he put his "full trust" in the police to protect society.
How'd that "full trust" work out for you on April 16th, Colin?
This is just people refusing to use common sense. The student trusts the police to protect society? Can't imagine why he was a victim. They (police) sure were Johnny on the spot at VT, weren't they?
Apparently, going down to the last paragraph, the law enforcement branch can't even enforce the laws they already have properly.
The VA shooter wasn't a criminal, and by Virginia's own legal standards he wasn't mentally ill (many states abolished the insanity defense after John Hinckley, so fuck them).
You would be incorrect. Did you read up on this guy? He was a genuine, 5-star fruitloop. He WAS found mentally defective by a VA court. The court didn't follow through with the paperwork.
He would have popped on a BATF background check and denied the right to purchase firearms. One does not have to be a criminal to be denied that right. One only has to answer "yes" to one question on the form.
One of them DOES as whether you have ever been judged mentally defective, or words to that effect.
