Man Who Sold Gun Used in VT Massacre to Speak on Campus

While I agree with Eric Thompson's stance on allowing concealed-carry permits on college campuses, and elsewhere, it doesn't seem to be the brightest idea to have him speak at Virginia Tech.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The online weapons dealer who sold one of the guns used in the Virginia Tech shootings is planning to visit the campus Thursday, a decision the school's spokesman called "terribly offensive."

Dealer Eric Thompson was scheduled to speak at the school Thursday night as part of a weeklong demonstration in favor of allowing people to carry concealed weapons at colleges.

A school spokesman denounced the visit in a statement Wednesday, saying it was "terribly offensive" that Thompson would set foot on campus.

"The organizers appear to be incredibly insensitive to the families of the victims who lost loved ones and to the injured students still recovering from this horrendous tragedy," said the statement issued by spokesman Larry Hincker.

Andrew Goddard, whose son Colin was injured in the shootings, said it is Thompson's First Amendment right to speak at the school but added: "I think it's rather insensitive of him, though."

Ken Stanton, president of the university's chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the group advocating weapons on campus, said that he lost a friend in the April 2007 shootings and that it taught him "firsthand the importance of self-protection."

Virginia Tech last week marked the first anniversary of the shootings in a dormitory and classroom building in which 33 died, including shooter Seung-Hui Cho.

Organizers really need to step back and consider the emotional impact of this. It's a noble cause they're pursuing, but the message will definitely be drowned out in the ensuing uproar.

Matt Ryan Wins the Heisman

If you missed it last night, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan all but wrapped up the Heisman Trophy with his remarkable performance in Blacksburg, rallying the Golden Eagles to a stunning 14-10 victory over Virginia Tech.

It was probably easy to miss, since Boston fans were otherwise occupied. If you get a chance, catch some video of his late game heroics. It was absolutely magnificent.

It will be difficult for anyone to beat Ryan out now, especially if surprising BC keeps winning.

For the first 56 minutes of last night's game at Virginia Tech, it appeared Boston College's dreams of dancing to Bourbon Street for a shot at the national championship were going to die.

Matt Ryan's hopes for the Heisman Trophy looked shot, too.

But, the Eagles persevered through a tough, rainy environment at Lane Stadium and got a little luck in what has become a magical season with an improbable 14-10 victory over the No. 8 Hokies.

Ryan threw for two touchdowns in the final 2:11, including a 24-yarder to running back Andre Callender with 11 seconds left, to silence the sellout crowd.

Ryan could probably start for at least a dozen NFL teams right now. He'll likely be doing so this time next year.

Virginia is for Gangbangers

These images released by the Virginia Department of Tourism, shows a woman making a heart symbol as part of an upcoming 'Live Passionately' advertising campaign. The sign is one of several associated with the Gangster Disciples and the department adjusted the image to the new one at right. (AP Photo/Virginia Department of Tourism)

Maybe for their next ad campaign they can have an illustration of Michael Vick executing a dog.

Va. tourism pitch mimics gang's sign

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia is still for lovers, but the state's tourism agency will eliminate images of people making heart symbols with their hands in its upcoming advertising campaign because the gesture is also used by a violent street gang.
click here

The Virginia is for Lovers "Live Passionately" campaign will remove images of models making the hand gesture, one of several signs associated with the Gangster Disciples, Virginia Tourism Corp. officials said Friday. The gesture shows thumbs and index fingers formed into a heart.

"Our intent was to show people using their hands to make a heart to signify 'Virginia is for Lovers,' " the state's longtime tourism slogan, the agency's president Alisa Bailey said in a statement. "For the majority of people, the heart sign is a symbol of love — and the campaign's images intended to convey a love of travel and a love of Virginia."

At first, tourism officials thought the gang was a small group in South Carolina and continued with the ads.

Then the agency received e-mails this week pointing out that the gesture is flashed by members of Gangster Disciples, also known as Black Gangster Disciples. The Chicago-based group is known for its large-scale crack-cocaine operations, and was featured in a chapter of the best-seller "Freakonomics" in which a sociology graduate student gained the trust of gang members to learn about the group's operational structure.

Isn't flashing gang signs merely a cultural difference?

Gun-free Delusions

Tracy W. Price makes a powerful argument against calls for more anti-gun legislation.

The phrase "gun-free zone" is the ultimate delusion. A more accurate expression would be "defenseless zone." Like most mass murderers, the Virginia shooter was smart enough to choose victims who could not fight back. The Virginia Tech "defenseless zone" policy that made bringing a gun on campus an expellable offense was like a neon welcome sign to him, offering very high probability that he could achieve a high body count. The threat of expulsion or firing was effective in preventing law-abiding students and faculty from bringing a gun to school to defend themselves, but it did not deter the perpetrator. That's the insanity of gun-control laws; the only ones who abide by them are the law-abiding citizens.

Well-intentioned people argue that we should restrict access to guns. However, scientific research has consistently shown that restrictions on gun purchases and carriage cause large increases in violent crimes like rape, murder and multiple-victim public shootings.

Read it all. Information like this won't be found on the evening news.

Steyn: Let's be Realistic About Reality

Mark Steyn once again gets to the heart of the matter, this time, they media hysteria over guns in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.

I think we have a problem in our culture not with "realistic weapons" but with being realistic about reality. After all, we already "fear guns," at least in the hands of NRA members. Otherwise, why would we ban them from so many areas of life? Virginia Tech, remember, was a "gun-free zone," formally and proudly designated as such by the college administration. Yet the killer kept his guns and ammo on the campus. It was a "gun-free zone" except for those belonging to the guy who wanted to kill everybody. Had the Second Amendment not been in effect repealed by VT, someone might have been able to do as two students did five years ago at the Appalachian Law School: When a would-be mass murderer showed up, they rushed for their vehicles, grabbed their guns and pinned him down until the cops arrived.

But you can't do that at Virginia Tech. Instead, the administration has created a "Gun-Free School Zone." Or, to be more accurate, they've created a sign that says "Gun-Free School Zone." And, like a loopy medieval sultan, they thought that simply declaring it to be so would make it so. The "gun-free zone" turned out to be a fraud -- not just because there were at least two guns on the campus last Monday, but in the more important sense that the college was promoting to its students a profoundly deluded view of the world.

Read it all.

Meanwhile, The New York Times gets in-depth on Seung-Hui Cho. Nobody ever heard him talk, they thought there was a problem, but nobody did a damn thing about it. Cultural differences, blah blah blah.

Thanks for stepping up and taking care of your children.

Imagine If Students Were Armed

Seejanemom, one of my blog favorites, unearthed this item written by Larry Hincker, the associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech.

Read it and weep for the lives that could have been spared this week.

After the fear, and dare I say, panic from the events of Aug. 21, it is absolutely mind-boggling to see the opinions of Bradford Wiles ("Unarmed and vulnerable," Aug. 31).

I once worked for an out-of-touch manager who gave rather absurd directions. My colleagues and I would do as directed and dubbed it "malicious compliance," knowing the task to be inane and the manager's foibles would soon be apparent.

The editors of this page must have printed this commentary if for no other reason than malicious compliance. Surely, they scratched their heads saying, "I can't believe he really wants to say that."

Wiles tells us that he didn't feel safe with the hundreds of highly trained officers armed with high powered rifles encircling the building and protecting him. He even implies that he needed his sidearm to protect himself against the officers.

On that fateful Monday, campus was understandably on edge. Elvis-type sightings of the escaped prisoner around campus were rampant. People were legitimately concerned about where he might be. And although the police were relatively confident they had the suspect cornered (they were ultimately proved right), the anxiety level elsewhere on campus was very high.

Panic calls from within the Squires Student Center quickly morphed from facts into rumors, including a frantic call alleging a hostage situation. The police had no choice but to move a massive force from the manhunt site to that side of campus to deal with the hostage rumor.

The writer would have us believe that a university campus, with tens of thousands of young people, is safer with everyone packing heat. Imagine the continual fear of students in that scenario. We've seen that fear here, and we don't want to see it again.

Who among us thinks the writer of the commentary would not have been directly in harm's way if he showed himself to those tactical squads while displaying a deadly weapon? Would he even be here today to tell us the story? Contrary to his position, the writer's commentary actually gives credence to the university policy preventing weapons in classrooms.

Guns don't belong in classrooms. They never will. Virginia Tech has a very sound policy preventing same.

Astonishing arrogance from another pious, yet painfully uninformed "academic". Yes, I can imagine if responsible students were armed.One or more of them may have been able to stop the monster Seung-Hui Cho before it turned into a massacre.

Ismail's Ax Theories

Much discussion has ensued the past 24 hours over the meaning of Ismail's Ax.

What might "Ismail Ax" mean?

One theory spreading across the Web speculates that it comes from a story in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, about Ibrahim and his son, Ismail.

In Islam, Ibrahim is the father of the prophets and, upset that people in his hometown still worshiped idols and not Allah, he smashed all but one statue in a local temple with an ax. Ibrahim's son is Ismail, who also became a prophet. Ibrahim is Arabic for Abraham, who plays a significant role in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

This theory picked up speed because many bloggers wondered if the actions at Virginia Tech could be related to terrorism.

Trust me, it wasn't just bloggers who were concerned this was related to terrorism. Virtually anyone who has a pulse thought terrorism the instant they learned of this massacre.

Two theories come from literature, where Ismail is spelled Ishmael.

In James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie," Ishmael Bush is known as an outcast and outlawed warrior, according to an essay written in 1969 by William Goetzmann, a University of Texas history professor. In Cooper's book, "Bush carries the prime symbol of evil -- the spoiler's ax," the professor wrote.

Also, the narrator from "Moby Dick," Ishmael, is considered an enigma who is well educated yet considers his time on a whaling ship worthy of time at Yale or Harvard, according to education site Sparknotes.com.

Cho Seung Hui was an English major at Virginia Tech.

AJ Strata has some more thoughts on Ismail Ax, and also offers speculation here on Cho's religion.

Another Scare at Virginia Tech

Clearly, everyone is rattled after the events of Monday, and a false alarm was triggered this morning.

Virginia Tech students still on edge after the deadliest shooting in U.S. history got another scare Wednesday morning as police in SWAT gear with weapons drawn swarmed Burruss Hall, which houses the president's office.

The threat of suspicious activity turned out to be unfounded, said Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said, and the building was reopened. But students were rattled.

"They were just screaming, 'Get off the sidewalks,'" said Terryn Wingler-Petty, a junior from Wisconsin. "They seemed very confused about what was going on. They were just trying to get people organized."

One officer was seen escorting a crying young woman out, telling her, "It's OK. It's OK."

Roommates and professors began opening up Wednesday about the gunman who had killed 32 people and himself in two university buildings on Monday. Roommates said Cho Seung-Hui rarely spoke or made eye contact with them and that his bizarre behavior became even less predictable in recent weeks.

Cho started waking up as early as 5:30 a.m. instead of his usual 7 a.m., his roommate, Joseph Aust, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"I tried to make conversation with him earlier in the year when he moved in," Aust said. "He would just give one-word answers and stay quiet. He pretty much never looked me in the eye."

Aust was among many students and professors who described the killer in the worst shooting massacre in modern U.S. history as a sullen loner, and authorities said he left a rambling note raging against women and rich kids.

News reports said that Cho, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic.

Meanwhile, more details on why there was such a long delay before a lockdown was imposed.

Virginia Tech police decided against locking down the school and going on high alert after a double-murder early Monday because they were told the female victim's boyfriend was a gun nut, so considered it an isolated incident, sources said.

Cops, in fact, were questioning the boyfriend when they got calls of the second round of shootings, police said.

So there you go. Someone who's now a gun owner and has done nothing wrong is a gun nut. Good grief.

Elsewhere, check out The Evil Men Do from the Washington Times and Blue Ridge Evil at NRO.

And the drive-by media idiocy continues unabated.

UPDATE: Allahpundit has some interesting new information.

Amateur Hour for Obama

Perhaps we need to impose a seven-day waiting period on politicians before they're allowed to make idiotic comments following tragic events.

Such legislation may have spared Barack Obama the incredibly dumb statements uttered just hours after the Virginia Tech massacre, as noted in this report.

The Senator described a culture in which "the violence of children and communities" is ignored, working class jobs are outsourced overseas, and foreign policies are put into place favoring military responses.

Obama also referenced comments radio host Don Imus made last week about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

"There's a lot of different forms of violence in our society, and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other," Obama said to raucous applause. "Last week obviously had to do with Imus and the verbal violence that was directed at women who were role models for all of us."

Obama's harshest criticisms were reserved for current U.S. foreign policy that he felt implicitly said "the children in Darfur are somehow less than the children here," in addition to hammering home his contention that diplomatic means of settling foreign disputes have been given the back-burner in light of "the belief that somehow we can impose our wills on each other."

Obama called on Americans to mobilize and address a health care system "bankrupting our government" and families across the country; an education system that "despite the slogan is leaving too many children behind;" energy policies that are adversely changing climates across the globe and "leaving us to send $800 million a day to some of the most hostile nations on Earth;" and "a war that should've never been authorized or waged."

This is the sheer idiocy one expects from the Huffington Post, not a candidate for President (ok, well maybe except for Dennis Kucinich).

The Don Imus affair hadn't been milked enough, we had to drag it into this story? $800 million a day to hostile nations? What the hell is he babbling about?

More from Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, Texas Rainmaker, Conservative Times, Captain's Quarters, Stuck on Stupid, Wizbang!

Iran Sends Condolences, Issues Threats

See, if we would just dialogue with them, they'd love us.

Iran condemns Virginia Tech shooting (via Taranto).

Iran on Tuesday condemned a gunman's rampage the previous day at Virginia Tech university which left 33 people dead and was the deadliest shooting rampage in modern US history.

"While condemning this [attack], [Iran] expresses condolences with the nation and the families of those killed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press.

"Attacking innocent people, irrespective of their race and nationality, is contrary to divine and human values no matter which group or person carries out such an act under any name," the Iranian statement said.

He said that, apparently, with a straight face.

Meanwhile, the swarthy munchkin was flapping his beak again.

"The Iranian nation will stand up for its legal right and will not retreat even one iota to preserve its nuclear right," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a rally in the central Iranian city of Shiraz.

The crowd chanted "Death to America," and "Nuclear technology is our right."

Ahmadinejad is not the most powerful figure in Iran's system of rule which gives the final word on policy, including nuclear affairs, to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

We're really sorry about what happened, and, by the way, Death to America!

The Evil of Cho Seung-Hui

Now that we know his name, the questions begin. Reports are coming in from all over, one suggesting he was crazed over a girl, leaving behind a note blaming America.

More background on this piece of garbage here.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the note railed against "rich kids" and "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.

The Tribune also said Cho had been behaving strangely lately, setting a dorm room on fire and allegedly stalking women. Other reports said he had been taking medicine for depression.

Setting fires?

Stalking women?

And he's allowed to remain there? I guess maybe we didn't want to offend the poor guy.

A Virginia Tech professor said Cho's work in creative-writing class was so disturbing that he had been referred to the school's counseling service.

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as "troubled."

"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."

She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.

Good thing we have those privacy laws. Wouldn't want to infringe upon his rights.

So Rude says they're all alert to not ignore things like this, but admits she did not know when, or what the outcome was.

Wow. Very alert.

Whatever shakes out in the days ahead, let's focus the blame where it should be, on this monster who took at least 32 lives. Let's not be searching for root causes or other excuses to blame America. Focus squarely on the deranged lunatic who thought because he had some problems, it was OK to take out his rage on innocent people in the most violent possible way.

Blame Cho Seung-Hui.

Elsewhere, Michelle Malkin notes the Asian American Journalists Association is upset the killer is being called Asian. An inconvenient truth, I guess.

Hot Air also keeps the updates flowing.

UPDATE: Smoking Gun has Virginia Killer's Violent Writings.

Claudia Rosett has an interesting angle.

When the news broke about the shootings at Virginia Tech, one of the first stories that came to mind was an essay widely read in writing courses at American schools: Jo Ann Beard’s “The Fourth State of Matter.” It’s a skillfully written tale — a good teaching tool for writers, and a story I read years ago with great interest — in which the core event is the shooting spree at Iowa State University in 1991, in which a Chinese physics student murdered five people and paralyzed a sixth for life. In yesterday’s killings, there were so many eerie echoes of that horror that I pulled the story off the web and re-read it.

Now we learn that the shooter at Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-Hui, was an English major. In the course offerings at Virginia Tech this spring semester, there is “English 3724: Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction,” covering “the works of writers like Jo Ann Beard,” among others. Did Cho take this course? Did he read that story?

Multiple Shootings at Virginia Tech

***See Updates***

This story is unfolding, but it appears there is more than one shooter involved.

A gunman is currently on the loose in Blacksburg. The campus of Virginia Tech is currently the scene of at least two separate shootings. The University and authorities are advising anyone on campus to stay in buildings until further notice.

According to university officials, the suspect in an early morning shooting is still on the loose, possibly still on campus.

The shooting happened at West Ambler Johnston hall early Monday morning. University police are reportedly on the scene and investigating. The hall houses almost 900 students, mostly freshman.

It would appear that there were two separate shooting incidents. One at around 7:30 a.m. and the other around 10:30.

According to reports, one person has been killed and it would appear there are multiple injuries.

UPDATE: Fox report here, CNN here. They're looking for a possible second shooter.

UPDATE II: ABC radio report said up to 20 people killed. Apparently a single shooter, also announced as (thankfully) dead. Now this AP report says 21 killed.

A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people and wounding another 21 before he was killed, police said.

"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university president Charles Steger.

UPDATE III: Fox now reports 22 dead.

I'll say this, the discrepancy better not be a matter of factoring in the shooter among the killed.

UPDATE IV: Sure enough, it is:

At least one person was killed at West Ambler Johnston, a residence hall, but several others were injured in that shooting. At least 20 were killed at Norris Hall, an engineering building. The dead shooter puts the death toll so far at 22.

UPDATE V: A running report from the Roanoke Times. Eyewitness reports here.

UPDATE VI: ABC reports up to 29 confirmed dead, now the worst campus shooting in U.S. history. Statement from Virginia Tech president.

UPDATE VII: At 1:50 ET, an ABC radio news reporter said the shooter was among the victims, and failed to rephrase it. Ugh. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt since this is a rapidly developing story. Still, I'm sensing the media and political angle on this will be all about gun control, naturally.

UPDATE: VIII: The inevitable spin has begun. The Brady folks weigh in, via NewsBusters. NRO's Media Blog also checks in. Riehl World View on the media.

Others: Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, Mary Katherine Ham, Sister Toldjah, Ed Driscoll.com, A Blog For All, Aces of Spades, The Broken Chair, snapped shot, Instapundit, The Sandbox, Sensible Mom, Confederate Yankee, Michelle Malkin, Pat Dollard, Strata-Sphere, Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs, Riehl World View, Sweetness & Light, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, Texas Rainmaker, Blue Crab Boulevard.