from a message forum (not me):
I was on campus at a big university during a “shooting.” What happened was a guy came on campus with a big gun and killed himself, a tragedy. What was coincidental was that there was a lecture scheduled on campus by some libertarian group advocating for looser gun control. They cancelled the talk, mostly because the entire campus shut down I reckon, but rescheduled it at an off campus location, and felt, if anything, invigorated by the shooting as an example of the need for their cause.
If people on campus had guns, many more people would be dead than the lone gunman. I was in class when a man in a suit came and told my professor to make the announcement, and the details they believed they had at that time were that there were 2 gunman at least, and people on twitter saying there was a body count in the double digits. Reports like those circulated through social networking sites and between students all day, an example is that after they evacuated the building I was in and I was walking into my dorm, I heard some kids say there was a bomb near the classroom I had just walked out of. There wasn’t, of course. It wasn’t until much later in the day did everyone have the details, but everyone was panicked the morning it happened, and if you had a gun I’m sure you would’ve had it out. People would be shooting at each other all over campus.
The next semester I got an emergency message that a young Asian was spotted holding 2 shotguns. The campus has a very large Asian population, and if gunowners were allowed to carry, I’m almost certain that it would’ve led to innocent deaths based on race. The 2 shotguns turned out to be props, of course.
I wrote all that because even though I’m sure many of you are against concealed carry regardless, I had no idea what it would be like to actually be in that kind of situation. The argument that a civilian carrying a gun would have the presence of mind, the important information, and the sober ability to protect others is ridiculous when you are talking about a shooting.
