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This Speakout has not been edited

By Michael Whiteman-Jones, Denver

Perhaps the massacre at Virginia Tech today will not only reinvigorate efforts of those lonely souls who have long worked to make our country more civilized by implementing stricter gun controls, but will also change the minds of the swaggering redneck gunslingers and killing-machine profiteers who say they believe our Constitutional right to bear arms outweighs the bloody violence that stains our society each and every day. Firearms are the second most frequent cause of death overall for Americans ages 15 to 24, according to statistics compiled by the Violence Policy Center. Since 1960, more than a million Americans have died in firearm suicides, homicides, and unintentional injuries. In 2003 alone, 30,136 Americans - 10 times the number who were killed on 9/11 - died by gunfire.

Nearly three times that number are treated in emergency rooms each year for nonfatal firearm injuries.

As appalling as the statistics are, however, numbers alone can't begin to convey the individual emotional pain and societal damage resulting from the gun violence that has become so commonplace in America. Anybody who was in Denver at the time of the Columbine shootings knows full well that it is shocking, depressing, frightening and life altering in ways that are extremely difficult to describe without tears and rage. But only those unfortunate souls whom have been direct victims of gun violence - and their ranks grow everyday - fully comprehend the terrible emptiness and grief it creates on a personal level.

America is not at war with Iraq or Iran, it is at war with itself. The biggest threat to our national security is not in the Middle East or Asia, but right there waiting in our own nightstands. Our Civil War ended long ago, but the Uncivil War goes on and on, the bodies of its victims stacking up in a vast, fetid pile while petty fools defend their rights and ignore their responsibilities.

It's time for a change. Our founding fathers never meant for the Constitution to be a static document. It can be amended - in this case, to ban firearms, especially handguns. That won't eliminate our problem with gun violence overnight, but in time - perhaps several slow decades - it will save countless lives and transform this nation from the brutal killing field it is now into something more peaceful and much, much prouder. Many other countries benefit greatly from strict gun controls, without any significant loss of freedom. In fact, it seems very clear that we'd all be more free - and happier - if we could live with little or no fear of getting shot than we would be if we were allowed to walk the streets with six-guns strapped to our hips to defend ourselves against marauders who claim the same right to bear arms that we're entitled to. My heart goes out to the families of the victims of Virginia Tech shootings, and to all those who have been senselessly killed by a bullet.

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What a typical lefty do-gooder posting. Its the laws that restrict law abidding americans from having guns-- Any where they want. I can see all those criminals saying "Damn there going to ban guns, what will I use now to rob you, I'll get a Knife , libs will ban knifes, I'll get a club, ban clubs. Ropes, bombs, weed whips, ah hell I'll just keep my gun. After all I'M A CRIMINAL. Best idea yet for the gang bangers with guns is to get as many libs as possible together and have one big GROUP HUG. Yea thats the ticket

So many people who want to do away with guns have this preconcieved idea that by doing so our nation will stop being a violent place. As with Britian, Australia, and Canada, violent crime has not stopped because guns went away. Gun crime went down in those countries, but crime as a whole went up in all of them. Guns are not the problem, human values are the problem.
The majority of deaths by gun in 2003 where suicides. So what does that tell us?
The tragic events at VT are not a wide spread epidemic in our country. The media intense media coverage brings the horrific events closer to home. But let's face the real questions, Gangs bring violence to our neighborhoods. But how do the gangs start?
Suicide among teens is growning. But what brings them to that choice? Shooters like Cho have mental disorders. Who do we identify those people and treat them?
Evil people and mental disorders will not disappear if we do away with guns. Criminals will not stop doing crime because we do away with guns. Gun bans are not the answer.

Sorry, but you are wrong, wrong, WRONG.

But I suspect you are far to involved in your self absorbed 'facts' to consider the consequences.

Just for the record, there are a whole bunch of "banned" things in our country, and they are here anyway.

People, legally or illegally, will get things that they want, regardless of bans.

BTW, not one single instance of a gun deciding to kill someone has EVER been documented. But that would be one of those 'facts' that you apparently choose to ignore.

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