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Gun laws must be rethought in Tech aftermath

July 7, 2007 12:35 am

I learned something recently. Not all Republicans are conservatives, and at least one is gun phobic.

In typical liberal fashion, Paul Helmke ["We need sensible laws, not more guns," June 10], former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., blames society instead of the disturbed student for the multiple murders and wounded that he perpetrated on his fellow students and staff at Virginia Tech.

Liberals have passionately fought for the establishment of privacy laws, and that is a good thing, but it was these very barriers that helped defeat the current gun screening and purchasing system.

This debatable concern over civil liber- ties has witnessed concerted efforts to dismantle anti-terrorist legislation and presidential directives designed to detect, disrupt, and capture those who intend to harm us.

There will always be tension between the needs of society and those of the individual, but in aberrations such as the Tech massacre, conservatives as well as liberals may have to reexamine their strongly held positions on this issue when it comes to permitting people to acquire potentially dangerous weapons, such as automobiles.

It is worth noting that the "evil" NRA is working with our state to help shore up any perceived loopholes in these procedures. Instituting more "sensible" gun laws or resuscitating old ones, which have proved to be ineffective in reducing crime, will not cut it and never will.

Responsible gun owners are always taught to consider their target's background before firing, but I suspect that the concealed-carry holder that Mr. Helmke cites as the paragon of responsibility either lacked confidence in his skills or was more concerned about drawing fire than anything else.

However, this is not society's fault, and responsibility must be assigned to where it belongs--the narcissistic, premeditating individual who committed the crime.