SECOND AMENDMENT SISTERS PRESS RELEASE ON VA TECH SHOOTINGS

Press Release - VA Tech Shootings Inbox

NEWS FROM THE SECOND AMENDMENT SISTERS
900 RR 620 S, Suite C-101, Box 228
Lakeway, TX 78734
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Toll-free: 877-271-6216
World Wide Web: http://www.2asisters.org
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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For additional information:
Genie Jennings, Spokesperson
E-Mail: saspress@2asisters.org
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Another school shooting has stunned the nation. The carnage at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, with over thirty people dead and almost as many wounded, is reportedly the deadliest episode of its kind in American history. Second Amendment Sisters sends our prayers and wishes to all the students, faculty, staff, their friends and families who have been impacted by this horrific tragedy.

As a country, we are shocked; we are saddened and sickened; soon, we will be angry. These are the reactions that have followed each similar event. How could this happen? Who could do this? Why weren’t our children protected? What we will most likely do, once again, is fail to learn from this latest tragedy.

We cannot protect our children once they are out of our sight. Once we send them out into the world, whether it is to the bus stop on their way to elementary school or hundreds of miles away to a university or into the workplace, we can only hope that we have given them the means to protect themselves.

Laws do not protect us. Laws are simply the rules we decide the group must follow. We know beforehand that only a portion of us will, indeed, follow those rules, so we have police. The police do not protect us; they are simply the law-enforcers. They cannot be expected to provide protection before a crime is committed. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that that is an unreasonable expectation.

We must be able to protect ourselves, and we must teach our children to do the same. We are each our own first means of defense. We each have a right to life, and a right to protect that life, and we must have the means to do so.

Guns are not permitted on the campus of Virginia Tech. Each year over 200 guns are turned in to the security department when law-abiding students, faculty and staff arrive at the school. This is done voluntarily. The man who chose to break the law against murder when he slaughtered innocent students and professors also chose to break the law against carrying a weapon onto school property.

In early 2006 the General Assembly defeated a bill that would have allowed students and employees of colleges and universities who had concealed carry permits from the Commonwealth of Virginia to take their guns onto school property. House Bill 1572 had been prompted by a student who held such a permit.

At the time VT spokesman Larry Hincker said, “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

Much effort goes into making us feel safe. That feeling does not mean that we are safe. We need to change our focus towards reality. There is nothing to fear from decent honest people having a means to protect themselves. There is a lot to fear from the disarming of innocents. This horrendous event is just another example of what happens when we let perpetrators of violence know that they have nothing to fear and great opportunity to inflict pain on the entire nation.

Second Amendment Sisters is a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the individual basic human right to self-defense.