IT’S THE GUNS

EVEN THOUGH we know more than we did Monday about who was responsible for the horrific carnage at Virginia Tech, the details are still unfolding, and so is the public discussion that tries to find sense or lessons in this tragedy.What we do know: The innocent young people who were slaughtered were not even finished being identified, and their families notified, before gun- rights advocates were broadcasting their specious argument, the same argument they used after the shooting of 10 students in an Amish school in Lancaster just six months ago:

Forget controls on gun ownership, this argument goes: If only the teacher or bystanders had been carrying guns, they could have prevented the tragedy by shooting the gunman. The only thing more offensive than that logic is how frequently gun advocates use the word “freedoms.”

If the only way to be safe from people with guns is to carry your own, then the country must become an armed camp. That’s not our idea of freedom. Controlling the easy availability of guns is as important – and probably as difficult – as elevating the discussion about guns to one that’s concerned with protecting human life. [via Daily News]