2/26/2008

"Columbine To Va. Tech To NIU: Gun-Free Zones Or Killing Fields?"

I have a new op-ed at Investors Business Daily:

As Northern Illinois University restarts classes this week, one thing is clear: Six minutes proved too long. It took six minutes before the police were able to enter the classroom that horrible Thursday, and in that short time five people were murdered, 16 wounded.

Six minutes is actually record-breaking speed for the police arriving at such an attack, but it was simply not fast enough. Still, the police were much faster than at the Virginia Tech attack last year.

The previous Thursday, five people were killed in the city council chambers in Kirkwood, Mo. There was even a police officer already there when the attack occurred. . . .


UPDATE: Fox News is reporting a gun threat at at small Ferrum College (1,000 students). I guess I would like to know if this is a concealed handgun permit holder. If it is the school's president is threatening suspension as a first initial response. The president obviously doesn't understand the notion of deterrence. From Fox News:
Ferrum College canceled classes and went on lockdown Tuesday as police searched for a suspicious person on campus.

A Franklin County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said college President Jennifer Braaten activated an alert system and ordered the lockdown after receiving reports of a suspicious male on the campus. Classes were canceled for the day. . . .

No shots have been fired and there have been no injuries.

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4 Comments:

Blogger JoeMerchant24 said...

Dr. Lott;

Your timing is impeccable.

Just yesterday, one of our legislators asked for some information on this very topic to use in our battle against a proposed AWB in Nebraska.

Once again, thank you for your work and dedication.

2/26/2008 10:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This quote need to win some sort of award.

"'no one is in a panic mode,' Braaten said"

They've closed a college, a nearby elementary school, the campus is swarming with cops in forest camouflage and steel helmets in a state where open carry is legal AND NO ONE HAS PANICKED!

Right.

2/26/2008 1:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi John,

Have you looked into the tragic problem of family annihilators (See http://tinyurl.com/2u9h58)? These are husbands who murder their wives and kids before committing suicide. In the U.S., there are typically hundreds of victims each year. Family annihilators remind me a lot of the college spree murderers that you talk about in your editorial. The key difference is that the victims of the spree murderers are random while family annihilators kill their loved ones.

2/26/2008 3:30 PM  
Blogger Dustin said...

According to this AP release the lock down was lifted last night, students are now free to leave early to go to Spring Break, no man with a gun was ever found during the all day search: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5ukiFY06MtHv6EUHZmJDXwUT1pQD8V2CEKG1

Seems like an over-reaction to me. For all we know the guy had a BB gun. Why go into panic mode for a gun sighting if nobody has made any threats? If someone had evil plans nobody would see the gun until the gunman opened fire.

2/27/2008 9:12 AM  

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