In the summer of 1966, former marine and engineering student Charles Whitman went on a killing spree at the University of Texas, located in the state’s capital of Austin. After killing his wife and mother, he proceeded to make his way to the top of the tower located at the heart of campus.

From his perch 307 feet above the campus, Whitman was able to kill 14 people and wound 32 others. However, the damage could have been much worse. In his book, Officer Ramiro Martinez, who was the first to confront Whitman, stated that civilian shooters should be credited for saving lives. He goes on to say that the civilians who took it upon themselves to return fire, made it difficult for Whitman to take careful aim without being hit.

In addition to several students grabbing their rifles and ammo and heading to the tower, despite the dangers, there is even a report of a professor at the university who grabbed his deer rifle and ammo, both of which he had on hand, and returned fire from a classroom window until he ran out of ammo.

Fast forward forty-one years. On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, a lone gunman armed with only two handguns, managed to massacre 32 people and wound several others, resulting in the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by a single gunman in United States history.

The killings took place over two separate attacks, which occurred approximately two hours apart. Reports indicate that on several occasions, students lay down in their classrooms and hoped that the gunman wouldn’t enter. In at least one instance, Cho entered the classroom and casually walked around the room shooting each student one by one, killing several.

How did the other students react to this? Did they decide to take a stand and use chairs, scissors, or anything they could get their hands on to try and take Cho out? Did they band together and overwhelm Cho with their much greater numbers? No. Instead they waited for their turn to be shot by Cho, hoping that he would either pass them by or shoot them in a place that wasn’t fatal.

As is always the case these days, the Virginia Tech massacre was followed by increased gun laws and grandstanding politicians, with some people again calling to do away with our Second Amendment rights all together. All of this was done in the name of “increased safety”.

Comparing these two tragic points in history, you can’t help but wonder how things would have been different if the students and faculty from 1966 had been present at Virginia Tech in 2007. In my opinion, Cho would have never made it to his second round of the massacre. It’s likely that he wouldn’t have even survived past his first few killings before a student with a gun would have ended Cho’s life.

As we watch our rights and freedoms dwindle away under the guise of “safety”, at what point do we say, “Enough!”, and return to common sense? History demonstrates time and time again that an armed, self-reliant society results in significantly lower crime rates, a stronger economy, and an overall higher quality of life.

The reason that a self-reliant society must also be armed is because governments do not like self-reliant people. Politicians want power, and the more people are forced to rely on the government, the more power politicians have.

Having transitioned from a self-reliant society to one that has been largely brainwashed to rely on government, we are seeing the effects on future generations. Rather than the 1966 attitude of taking matters into your own hands and helping as best you can, the 2007 attitude of the pacifist who believes that the best course of action is to wait for someone else to make the trouble go away, has, unfortunately, become the prevailing mindset.

Maybe I’m the last of dying breed or it’s just a Texas thing, but being at the whim of whatever life sends your way is no way to live. You get one shot at life. Why live it under an authoritarian government or as a frightened little lamb hoping that no harm comes your way? It’s time we stopped listening to the government and sheep tell us how to live our lives. Governments want power, and sheep want safety. I, on the other hand, want to really live, and I want my family to have the best life possible.

When you’re laying on your deathbed, do you want to look back and say, “Yep. I made it through life perfectly safe and without a scratch. Thanks government.” Or would you rather be able to say, “Wow! What a life! I lived free and on my terms, and I made the most of it for myself and my family.”

If you truly want to make the most out of your one chance on Earth, it’s time to start living, working, and voting like you really mean it! It does no good to live one way and vote power-hungry criminals into office. Governments want pacifists, but pacifists often suffer severe consequences. People who are alert and take action scare governments. People of action are often successful, well-rounded, happy people. Successful, happy people don’t rely on governments, which in turn places the power firmly in the hands of the citizens, which is where it should be.

You have a choice to make. 2007 or 1966? Pacifist or a person of action? A lamb or a lion. What’s it gonna be?

Luke Walker

Owning a firearm involves certain risks other activities don’t.

If you only consider firearms as a tool for practicing a sport, a government may as well suggest you find a sporting activity that doesn’t require a lethal weapon.

When sport shooters and hunters claim they stand by the second amendment because of their freedom to practice any sport or lifestyle they desire, they don’t realize that such an explanation makes them stand on rather fragile ground.
Maybe reading the second amendment again will help me explain the point I want to make.

“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.”

If you are American, there’s a big chance you don’t fully appreciate your own constitution. You don’t know how lucky you are, how rare and precious such as gift is.

Those of us who suffer countries with constitutions that have little backbone know better.

Maybe in European countries or safer places around the world the right granted by the second amendment isn’t as precious.
But when the need for self defense is more urgent, when you truly understand the importance of being capable of fighting for your life, you see things clearly.

Sometimes things get bad enough that being a violent crime victim is no longer a far fetched possibility. Here in Argentina, since 2001, 9 out of 10 persons where victims of a violent crime at least once.

With such a situation, a weapon for self defense is a necessary tool for self defense. Hollywood hype aside, most of the time no one gets shot, but the firearms in the hands of a trained person becomes a deterrent criminals certainly notice and will usually prefer to flee.

That being said it’s still a lethal weapon and the user must be ready to take a life to protect his own one if the situation demands it.
In safer locations, a gun be considered and unnecessary every day carry item, even by gun enthusiasts.
Now we are entering territory were principle comes into play.

Why carry in places where crime isn’t that much of a problem?

Some will say that you never know when crime or some other emergency could occur, and I’ll quickly agree with that, but there another reason, maybe even more important: Because you can. Because it’s your right, and like my Social Studies teacher told me back in High school , rights are like muscles, if you don’t exercise them you end up loosing them.

If people don’t carry, if it’s not something socially accepted or something people grow used to, a bill or decree banning such practice may slip in.

Carrying even if you never use your gun your entire life still fulfills the purpose of exercising that right.
And then, there’s the very real, very practical reason of self defense.

I doubt there’s many places any more where people can be 100% certain they wont be hurt, mugged or raped.
It never happens to you, it always happens to someone else until one day you’re someone else. When that happens, a gun is like a fire extinguisher: You have it because just in case, you hope you never have to use it, but when you do you sure are glad you have it with you.

And its not about living in fear either. No way. It’s about living in peace because you know you are capable of defending yourself.
Other people that are as helpless as sheep will tell you they don’t fear a thing either.

The difference is that you don’t fear because you know what you are capable of, while the sheep doesn’t fear out of ignorance or because he sticks his head in the sand.

Even if you one day end up drawing your weapon in self defense, 9 out of 10 times the mere presence of the weapon is enough deterrent according to NRA statistics. I assure you, they are true. No one wants to get shot. And if someone is crazy enough, you have the tool to do something about it and defend yourself and your loved ones.

Own a gun and learn how to shoot it. Carry it and exercise your right.
Hope you never need it, and hope you have it when you do.

Fernando Aguirre