VA Tech: A Call to Gun Control

Published May 1, 2007

By Max C. Bookman

Following the massacre at Virginia Tech, we do what we do best in the aftermath of terrible tragedies: we talk about security. In these times, phrases like, “future prevention,” “gun safety,” and “tighter security measures,” enter the daily lexicon. This American ritual began in the days following Columbine and came into fruition after September 11th. We have become obsessed with our own safety, and we are paying serious consequences for this irrational fear.

It is apparent everywhere. Schools are putting metal detectors at the doors, shopping malls are hiring security guards, communities are devising emergency evacuation plans, and airports are getting more and more ridiculous.
The NSA can now wiretap your phone without your knowledge or a warrant, and the New York MTA urges you to, “see something, say something.”

The money and time that our government has put into security this decade does not correspond with an actual increase in safety. We are creating an illusion of security.

There are two problems with our implementation of security: where we employ it, and the way we employ it.

We have a reactionary security system. When terrorists hijack a plane, we step up airport screenings. When we find that a bomb can be made out of gel, we ban shampoo and Odwalla carry-ons. When a train in Madrid is bombed, we talk about putting metal detectors in the subways.

We spend billions of dollars a year to stay one step behind, “the terrorists.” For some reason, we, as citizens, have settled for these half-baked measures that do nothing more than misallocate resources.

Guns kill more Americans annually (14,000 deaths in 2005) than all those who died in every terrorist attack on the United States combined. Why are we okay with practically stripping down to our underwear before boarding a plane, but we’re not okay with enacting laws that would restrict the sale of guns? After all, the Virginia Tech killer was no bomb-toting terrorist, he was an angry American kid who legally bought two handguns at a store in town.

The strong opposition to gun control is baffling. Curbing the sale of guns would actually make us safer. 30 people die on average from gun violence every day. How many Americans die from terrorist attacks every day?

Gun rights activists cling to the Second Amendment to support their cause, but we should not be interested in promoting the sale of arms that are specifically meant to kill people. Hunting is nice (I prefer the supermarket), but automatic assault rifles are just not necessary to kill deer. It is worth sacrificing a few macho handgun collections to save 14,000 lives a year.

The main culprits here, as usual, are politicians. Politicians like to come back from Washington saying things like, “look, I secured funds to make sure the Chittenden Superior Courthouse is safe.” But putting a metal detector at the door of a federal building does not address the root of the problem: we wouldn’t need metal detectors if we didn’t have to worry about crazy people carrying guns.

Instead of curbing our use of guns, we are spending billions of dollars on an ill-fated quest to be completely safe. If we want to live in a free society, we have to accept that we cannot always be secure. While we obsess over making America safe, we overlook that thousands of us die every year from a cause we can easily prevent. Anyone can legally purchase two handguns and kill 32 fellow students. We need to get realistic.

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