The letters and editorials concerning gun control in the wake of the William Morva incident have missed a number of fundamental issues. One author suggested that had we allowed students to possess guns, the William Morva incident would not have posed a threat to students. I would suggest that if the sheriff deputy guarding Morva had not possessed a gun, Morva would never have become an armed fugitive in the first place. This serves to highlight what might have happened had students possessed guns in addition to law enforcement.
I am not arguing against the Second Amendment, which enables us to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government, foreign invasion or armed fraternity, gang or militia ? even though we have none of these things in Blacksburg. I am merely suggesting that guns should be carried only with extreme caution.
More fundamentally, Virginia Tech would have a much more difficult time attracting good professors and instructors if students carried guns. How many people are comfortable grading strangers who might be armed with anything larger than a pocket knife? Would you want to give a machete-toting student an F on a final exam? I would teach ? and do research ? somewhere else, personally.
Considering that there are so rarely murders in Blacksburg, it seems to me that permitting guns on campus would both add fuel to the fire and diminish the quality of education at Virginia Tech.
