In wake of what happened at Virginia Tech today, I have seen a lot of discussion on different Internet forums, as I have had time to browse through some, by people using this incident as a justification for stricter gun laws.  The fact that this happened on a college campus that already bans the possession of firearms is all the more reason to tighten restrictions on civilian gun ownership, they argue.

I would reason just the opposite.  The fact that Virginia Tech, like most academic institutions, is a “gun free zone” is what made these students sitting ducks, for if there were students on campus who conceal carried or had one stashed away in their dorm room this massacre may have been stopped well before the lives of 33 people were taken today.

Something to think about…….

Sen. John McCain, once considered the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has fallen to third place in a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, and is running behind Fred Thompson, an actor and former senator who has not even entered the race.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani leads the crowded field of announced and potential contenders with support from 29% of probable Republican primary voters surveyed, followed by Thompson with 15% and McCain with 12%. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and a fundraising powerhouse, had 8%.

LA Times

The reason isn’t all that surprising. Reagan conservatism wins.

The Arizona senator’s showing in the poll is his lowest in any national survey to date, marking a new benchmark in his flagging fortunes. The surge of interest in Thompson is a sign of conservative dissatisfaction with the established field of candidates and underscores just how unsettled the Republican race remains.

“Thompson is a Reagan conservative, and that’s what I want,” said Robert Little, a poll respondent in Duluth, Ga., who views other leading Republican candidates as unreliable allies on social issues.