I am certainly ready to defend myself if the situation calls for it. I have trained in karate, have a CCW permit (I carry 50% of the time. I cant carry at work because I work in a school district), and I always carry a knife.

Had even a small percentage of the VT students been armed, I think far fewer people would have been killed. I disagree with Samhain. These students are ADULTS, not kids, and I would think they'd be responsible enough to carry guns. I was brought up around them and was taught gun safety as a child, beginng at age 5. I was responsible enough to NOT kill people at that age. What's the difference in a 23 year old laborer vs a 23 year old college student carrying a gun?

You cant wait for the police. I called the police when a guy was beating his girlfriend in a parked car that I had driven by, and the police never showed. I wish I'd had my CCW permit then. I did manage to get him to take his attention off her and direct it toward me. I told him I'd called the cops and jumped back into my car because this guy was in a rage.

Our gun laws are strict enough. The root of the problem of violence in our society is the breakdown of the family, although in the VT case, this guy was just nuts to begin with. Why are so many of these mass killers on prescription anti-depressants? That's another valid question.