Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Ethics of Emergencies
The agendas were out quickly.
Who's to say that having more guns around, which may or may not help in these sorts of extraordinary circumstances, would not cause more harm than good on balance? What's the trade-off? A student with a gun maybe stops this kid before he does as much damage as he did -- in exchange for how many more murders a year?
Only the ideologues of the right would think the answer to a shooting spree is more guns.
- In Virginia and on gun-rights blogs, some critics were challenging university rules that prohibit gun owners from carrying their weapons on the campus. A committee of the State House has considered but failed to approve legislation to override the ban, which is common at many colleges.
No one can say for sure if allowing students and faculty members to carry arms would have prevented the rampage, said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. "But they wouldn't die like sheep, at least, but more like a wolf with some fangs, able to fight back."
Who's to say that having more guns around, which may or may not help in these sorts of extraordinary circumstances, would not cause more harm than good on balance? What's the trade-off? A student with a gun maybe stops this kid before he does as much damage as he did -- in exchange for how many more murders a year?
Only the ideologues of the right would think the answer to a shooting spree is more guns.
