* katy wrote, On 5/8/2007 1:54 PM:

Nonsense. It might have been different if Stoessel had actually
provided some evidence for his claims, but he didn't. A few anecdotes
such as an old lady who showed a shotgun and scared off an alleged
intruder is meaningless. Using Washington, DC as an example of
anything is meaningless as it's a subway ride from VA which until
recently was the "easy buy" capital of the East Coast.

So what's wrong wrong with pointing out that a heavily biased
commentator is simply spewing more of his unsupported silliness?

The supporting documentation is in his book...that was specidfied at the
beginning of the program....

I didn't watch the full program, though I did see some, and I watch
the videos on abc.com. There is no mention of gun control or gun
violence in either of Stossel's books. The recent book has a list of
supporting research in the back - nothing there relates to gun
control. It appears that gun control is an issue he's jumped on recently.

Like many others, he suggests that perhaps the VT killings could have
been prevented if students and teachers were permitted to carry guns.
This is ignoring the fact that campuses are extremely safe, with a
homicide rate that is a small fraction of the national average. (Last
year there were perhaps 20 murders on campus, which collectively are
the size of a major city.) Its hard to believe that arming a
significant number of kids would make it safer.

If nothing else, adding a million or so guns to the campuses couldn't
possibly lower the suicide rate - there are over 1000 a year. Oddly,
the suicide rate on campus is about half that in non-students of the
same age group.