Who Can We Blame for the Virginia Tech Massacre?

The massacre at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, which left at least 33 dead, most of them young college students, is being called the worst shooting in U.S. history. There are still many unanswered questions, but perhaps the biggest question is who can we blame, besides, of course, the person who did the actual shooting, who has been identified as a 23-year-old Korean national, Cho Seung-Hui?

I'm sure we are all relieved that this was not an act of terrorism, which would have been really terrible. "Sadly, I would prefer this be a massacre of passion than one of terrorism," wrote AJ Strata after initially posting that he was "awaiting word of the gunman's nationality and religious leanings," which, of course, would prove whether it was an act of terrorism or not. In response to criticism from one blog, Strata was unapologetic. "I have no regrets in wanting to make sure this was an isolated incident and not al Qaeda's latest attack plans," wrote Strata. "And those on the left who don't get that too bad."

But after contemplating a little more about what happened, Strata was still not ready to let go of the idea that terrorists were somehow involved. "What really worries me is if this was a test for other attacks," Strata wrote. "If the man was testing College responses then the key would be to make this look like anything BUT a terrorist attack." Of course, that would be just like the terrorists to make an act of terrorism look like it wasn't an act of terrorism. Who knows how many other incidents that didn't seem like acts of terrorism at the time actually were acts of terrorism? "I find it amazing there is something 'better' about discussing mass murder as a motive over 'terrorism.' But then again, the liberal mind is a very strange place," he concluded, apparently reconsidering his earlier statement about preferring it to be a "massacre of passion."

With the killer still identified as only an "Asian man," Debbie Schlussel, who isn't one to sit around and wait for facts to come in before reaching conclusions, speculated that this bucolic university town in the Appalachian mountains may have been targeted by al Qaeda. "The shooter has now been identified as a Chinese [sic] national here on a student visa. Lovely. Yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students," wrote Schlussel, adding that Virginia Tech "has a large Muslim community, many of which are from Pakistan" and "Pakis," as she affectionately calls them, "are considered 'Asian.'"

Just in case, college students should probably keep a watchful eye on the "Asian" exchange students in their midst, like the Muslim student from the Middle East who just happened to be in the vicinity and shot video of the shootings as they were occurring. It turns out, however, that we have nothing to worry about from this Virginia Tech student, who was the subject of rampant Internet speculation that he was the gunman. He just likes guns. A lot.

But if we can't blame Muslims for this tragedy, then who can we blame? Even before the bodies were cold, a number of conservative bloggers already had the answer: liberals.

"These things do seem to take place in locations where it's not legal for people with carry permits to carry guns, though, and I believe that's the case where the Virginia Tech campus is concerned," was the first response of Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds, who updated his post to point out that liberals had stopped efforts to allow students to carry concealed handguns on campus.

Michelle Malkin also wasted little time pointing the finger at the perpetrators of this horrible tragedy, besides of course, the gunman. Her first post detailed how a bill to allow students to carry guns was killed by the Virginia legislature in committee and quoted blogger Andrew's Dad, who wrote, "Just imagine if students were armed." She also quoted a sensible reader who emailed her to say, "Imagine if sensible CCW laws allowed people to defend themselves, this tragedy could have been avoided." Although Virginia is one of the safest states in the country because of its robust support of the Second Amendment, there are still pockets of danger in the state such as college campuses and bars where guns are banned. Hopefully, this incident will move legislators to act quickly to eliminate these "gun free" zones, which will make these areas as secure as the rest of the state.

Other conservative bloggers followed with posts pointing out that arming more of our citizens is the only way to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future. "Did PC kill kids today?" wondered Discerning Texan at The Wide Awakes. In the wake of this horrible tragedy our nation's leaders also spoke out. The White House, after expressing sorrow for the victims' families, reiterated its support for the Second Amendment, just in case conservatives might think that the President would let this unfortunate incident affect his unwavering support for guns. Presidential candidate John McCain, who knows from personal experience how important it is to be well-armed from his recent excursion to a market in Iraq, also affirmed his support for the Second Amendment, but seemed to hedge a bit. "We have to look at what happened here, but it doesn't change my views on the Second Amendment, except to make sure that these kinds of weapons don't fall into the hands of bad people," he said. Unfortunately, this "bad people" loophole may be cause for some concern among members of the NRA. Before he loses NRA funding, he should probably issue a clarification and reverse himself, as he has on so many other occasions.

Luckily, Democrats seem to have gotten the message that supporting any kind of gun control at all will lose them votes, so it is unlikely that they will spearhead any efforts to reintroduce the assault weapons ban or try to pass other gun control legislation. Already some gun control nuts are pointing out that the high capacity ammo clips the shooter apparently used were illegal until the assault weapons ban was allowed to lapse. But it is unlikely that Democrats will ever stand up to the NRA again no matter how many people think that there should be some limits on who has access to certain kinds of guns and ammunition.

Many liberal blogs used this incident for partisan posturing, claiming that they were horrified by the tragedy and offering condolences to the victims. Of course, this was just a clever ruse to secure the moral high ground before they swoop down and take away our guns. If they really feel so bad about the victims, where were they when efforts were being made to protect students at Virginia Tech by arming them?

The foreign media, predictably, is using this incident to criticize U.S. gun laws. The British newspaper the Daily Mail asked, "What price the right to bear arms?" Clearly, there is something very wrong with American culture, but the problem is that there are not enough guns in our society, leaving us defenseless against those who do have guns. If this incident has taught us anything, it is that there are vulnerabilities in our society that can easily be exploited. None of us will be safe until every American is armed to the teeth and every school is an armed camp. If all of the students at Virginia Tech had carried a gun to class, this would never have happened, just as Columbine would have been prevented if we armed all of our high school students.

There will be time enough to mourn the victims, but our first priority should be to head off the gun-control nuts who are sure to exploit this incident for their own political purposes. These anti-gun fanatics will stop at nothing to push their political agenda. Before they are allowed to exploit people's emotions by getting more gun control bills passed, we should be vigilant in heading them off by eliminating gun-free zones and giving all of us permission to carry concealed handguns wherever we go so that we can all be ready the next time a psychopath bursts into a classroom, bar or church. It would be terrible if we let this tragic incident be used by those who want to take away our guns. While we are offering prayers to the families of the victims, let us also thank God that we live in a country protected by the Second Amendment.

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