The courage of idiots

Fucking fuck John Derbyshire.

Fucking fuck Nathaniel Blake.

And fucking fuck all of the mindless gun loving zombies that delude themselves into thinking that more guns would solve the problems of gun violence.

How dare these cretins impugn the courage of the students, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech, as they face the trauma, shock and loss brought about by this violent tragedy. Indeed Mr. Derbyshire, it is easy to say things. It is entirely another matter to do things while under fire.

Neither of these crawling idiots seems to have given the least thought to the circumstances involved in these shootings. Derbyshire has this to say, "Handguns aren't very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can't hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am. And even if hit, a .22 needs to find something important to do real damage—your chances aren't bad."

First off, a handgun doesn't need to be very accurate at close range. It just needs to hit the victim. Second, the fact that Derbyshire can't hit shit on a range, under controlled circumstances tells us nothing but that Derbyshire sucks. There are 32 bodies on slabs that would argue that the killer was indeed much better with his weapons than Derbyshire is with his. Third, I invite Mr. Derbyshire to face a .22 wielding shooter to prove out his theory that it isn't that bad. Hell, for safety's sake, instruct the shooter to aim for the legs. Then Derbyshire can tell us all about how it isn't so bad having a shattered knee, how the gouts of blood from a severed artery are just kid stuff, after all it was only a .22.

Here's a hypothetical or two:

- Shooter opens the door steps inside and opens fire. People scream and seek cover. It's a classroom, there are desks and backpacks and a clutter of chairs to contend with. As friends and peers fall wounded and bleeding a hero emerges from the crowd and charges toward the shooter, tackles him, disarms him and subdues him. There is much cheering and rejoicing.

- Shooter enters the room and opens fire. The unbelievable shock of just the deafening report of a firearm in an enclosed space disorients the students as they seek cover. Should a person rise to charge the shooter they have to cover perhaps only six or ten feet. The floor is covered with a chaotic mix of bodies either hit or hiding, overturned chairs, jackets, books and bags, to say nothing of the slick blood spilled by those closest to the shooter and most likely to have been struck by the first rounds. Upon rising, the would be hero presents the largest target in the room, the closer the hero gets, the larger that target becomes. Noble dead hero get an extra moment of prayer at the memorial.

- Shooter moves from room to room wreaking havoc. Pistol packing hero no. 2 steps out of another class, down the hall, to end the spree, fires on the shooter and takes him down. At the same time, a gun toting professor springs into action, steps into the hall, sees a body (the shooter) on the ground and another young person with a gun in their hand. No time for questions, hero down. Police arrive, see two young people bleeding out on the floor, the professor turns toward the police, gun in hand. Bye-bye tenure.

- All kinds of people on campus are packing. Shooter arrives and opens fire, all the guns come into play and we have crossfire. Forensic investigators spend days checking ballistics to figure out just who managed to shoot who. Stray bullets rip through doors, windows and people moving erratically in the confusion and panic. Yeah, that's the fucking answer then, more guns.

Given the bizarre passion that America has for firearms, it is unlikely that even the strictest of gun control legislation will have much effect. There are hundreds of thousands of guns of every description on the streets and in homes across that great nation. With the enormous political and economic clout of the gun lobby, there is virtually no likelihood of strict gun control measures being passed. Perhaps if America spent a fraction of it's personal weaponry budget on mental health care and education, a few of these incidents might be avoided. While stricter laws might prevent new weapons from hitting the market, there is little to prevent the guns already on the streets from falling into wrong hands. Prohibition just drives the price up and creates a lethal black market.

None of these speculations will do anything to assuage the grief of the families, friends and peers of the victims of this latest rampage. And the vulgar ravings of creatures like John Derbyshire and Nathaniel Blake are a slap in the face to those grieving and a vile fucking insult to the memories of young people, whose lives were snuffed out by a psychotic young man.