Virginia Tech

Posted Wednesday April 18, 2007 by John Gunders in |

Shocked and sickened, but sadly not surrprised. As usual, Crikey has the starkest, most sobering commentary:

Virginia state gun laws. Frequently asked questions:

Is a permit required to purchase rifles, handguns and shotguns? No.

Is registration required for rifles, handguns and shotguns? No.

Is licensing required for the owners of rifles, handguns and shotguns? No.

Do you need a permit to carry rifles and shotguns? No.

Is a permit required to carry a handgun? A permit is required only if the weapon is concealed.

Is there a one-handgun-per-month limit on gun sales? Yes

Are there limitations on assault weapons and magazines? No

May police limit the carrying of concealed handguns? No

Must child-safe locking devices be sold with guns? No

Are background checks required at gun shows? No

Are minors restricted from possessing guns? In part

Is a licence/permit required to buy handguns? No

Are all guns registered with law enforcement? No

Is safety training required for handgun buyers? No

Is it illegal for holders of concealed-weapon permits to carry guns into schools? Yes

Your Comments

  1. John Gunders writes:

    Test two

    Posted: 27 04 2007 - 13:38 | Permanent link to this comment

  2. Laurie writes:

    Tried posting a reply a while back but experienced more tech difficulties. Hope this works, John …

    Post:

    Another insane development in the long history of love among constituents of the United States of America for the feel of steel, so often ratified in the minds of the individual by a misinformed understanding of one of their so-called consititutional rights: the right to “bear arms”. Even the President, in his first announcement post-Virginia, declared through a spokesperson that nothing in this event diminishes the right of a person to bear arms.

    What makes this insistence on a “right to bear arms” more ridiculous is the fact that no such statement exists in the Constitution. The wording of the second amendment is: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”. There is no right for a person to bear arms. There is only a right for “the people” to bear arms, in the form a “well regulated militia”, and this of course is historically located in the struggle against the British. It is indeed a sad state of affairs that a core piece of constitution has become so easily disfigured in the popular imagination as to now render a defence of the right of a psychopath to stock up on assault weapons in order to unleash the dogs of war in public spaces.

    Posted: 30 04 2007 - 15:11 | Permanent link to this comment

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