The tragic incident at Virginia Tech has precipitated an interesting (?) debate on whether guns should be allowed on campuses to thwart any repeat of the massacre. Gov Rick Perry of Texas is considering repealing the state law that prohibits arms on the University campus.. "It makes sense for Texans to be able to protect themselves from deranged individuals.." Does it make more sense to keep a deranged person away from doing any harm? Or is it more sensible not to sell firearms to a deranged person? Maybe the Governor is taking a path of least resistance steering clear of controversies. It is harder to convince the states to change their privacy laws and it is a pure uphill task to make any dent in the gun lobby. So the brilliant solution from Texas is to allow students and faculty to carry arms to the classroom and that will be enough deterrence to a person of unsound mind!
And what happens when the shooting begins? Any law enforcement officer would testify that it takes training and a high degree of skill (don't we have SWAT teams for this) to stop a mad gunman and not to inflict (or minimize) any collateral damage on innocent people. It is hard enough in a usual crime situation and would be a pure nightmare in a class full of frightened students caught in crossfire with both sides firing wildly.
Safety (to repeat the cliché) does not come from guns alone.
