Its been two weeks since Virginia Tech was the scene of a violent attack on its campus by a loner, and the healing process has now begun.  When the shooting started, and before we knew the idenitity of the murderer, there was already talk in the media regarding how easy it was this guy to get his guns.
   What wasn't widely reported is that last year a student was punished for having a firearm on campus, and he had a CCW permit with him.  It didn't matter, the student was punished accordingly last spring (2006).  Well in August last year, there was a situation and the students were evacuated from a the student center, and Bradford B. Wiles wrote an editorial to the Roanoke TImes tittled Unarmed and Vulnerable lamenting the during the forced evacuation, he came to the realization that he was unarmed and vulnerable.  Even with the police in full body armor and carrying a various weapons to defend themselves.
   He came to a sad conclusion and feel that this can illustrate why law abiding citizens choose to carry weapons to defend themselves; 1st-wanting to maintain ones own safety and not rely on the police to do it, 2nd-Some CCW permit holders do not carry all the time due to the fear of losing ones academic or professional carrers, 3rd-The feeling of being completely helpless, and realising that there is nothing that is going to stop a predator unless they are met with an equal amount or superior amount of force, and 4th-CCW permit holders are trained, go through an extensive background check and can carry their concealed weapons anywhere that has reciprocity with your home state.  
     Sadly the VT Associate Vice President Larry Hinkler ignored this and replied, "It is absolutely mind-boggling to see the opinions of Bradford Wiles..The editors of this page must have printed this commentary if for no other reason than malious complience.  Surely they scratched their heads saying, I can't believe he really wants to say that.  Wiles tells us that he didn't feel safe with the hundreds of highly trained officers armed with high-powered rifles encircling the building and protecting him.  He even implies that he needed his sidearm to protect himself...The nerve! The writer would have us to believe that a university campus, with tens of thousands of young people, is safer with everyone packing heat.  Imagine the continual fear of students in that scenario.  We have seen fear here, and we don't want to see it again...Guns don't belong in classrooms.  They never will.  Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same"
   Pop Quiz:  Do you know the caliber of a standard Daisy Red Rider BB Gun? What about the standard paintball gun?  A BB gun is chambered for a .177 caliber BB/pellet and the average paintball gun is chambered for 6mm paintballs. To put the shooters weapons in perspective; he had two semi-automatic handguns, one a .22 cal and the other a 9mm.  The "22" round would take 4 and half bullets to equal one inch, and the 9mm round approximately 3 bullets to equal an inch.  In other words, he didn't use large caliber weapons, and he used them to take innocent life just the same.  So the diffrence between the shooter's weapons and that of mere "toys" are only .05 for a BB to a .22 round and 3mm for paintball to a 9mm round.
  While schools have become "gun free zones" and while this may make people generally feel safer, it doesn't address why other students should be made to feel insecure in not having the ability to defend themselves.  The issue that has been coming up, is why the school didn't notify the shooter's parents and what can be done in the future.
   The answer to this is simple, and it deals with a students privacy.  Since the student is an adult (even though mom & dad maybe paying the tuition) the school cannot notify the parents or guardians of any situation that may arouse the parents concern.  A possible solution would be for the parents and the student to sign a discloseure agreement. 
   This discloseure agreement would permit the school to notify the parents of any situation where their son or daughter is having problems.  Since the parents are paying for the tuition, they should know where their money is being spent and if their darling and "perfect child" is doing what they are supposed to be doing in school-i.e. learning!  Things that that the parents should be made aware of include excessive student absences, problems in the dorms, any on/off campus altercations with the police and trips to the student health center.
   While the students may balk at this, the discloseure agreement can be tailored to fit each parent/student situation.  Maybe knowing that your daughter is being treated for an intimate gyn yeast condition might be something that might not have to the parents notified for, but if she coming in for a Rx for Paxil or Zoloft in conjunction with her birthcontrol that might something to get the parents called for.
   The shooter had alot of warning signs, and hopefully during the debate for reasonable accomdations of persons with mental health problems, there can be respect for CCW holders, and people who desire to protect themselves without waiting for the police to show up after the fact.
Flashpoint:  It makes you wonder what would have happened at VT if a student with a CCW/ and weapon had been there......... Are you listening Larry?