Ryan ChartrandI am a law-abiding citizen and I believe that criminals should not have guns. In a perfect world we wouldn’t need guns, police or even money for that matter; we could all coexist in perfect joy and harmony.
However, in our imperfect world, criminals and terrorists alike will live true to their nature and acquire weapons through whatever means necessary, legal or illegal, and use them to harm those we dearly love. Criminals do not follow laws. Legislation means nothing to criminals.
Therefore, by further limiting the ownership of firearms, we are simply making it harder for the responsible citizen to defend himself or herself. We must ultimately rely upon law enforcement personnel for our protection.
However, law-abiding citizens whom choose to take on the responsibility of personal protection should have the ability to easily access firearms so that they may effectively protect the ones they love.
I speak in complete moderation and in no way advocate for a rebirth of something as wild as the wild west. However, legally carrying a concealed weapon could save your life.
What if one of the students at Virginia Tech in the room where the second attack occurred was legally carrying a firearm? There would only be three dead students instead of 33.
While legislation exists to make it hard or impossible for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, criminals will walk the streets armed and dangerous while law-abiding citizens are left helpless.
Nathan Tsoi
Computer science freshman