USA: U.S. President George W. Bush orders U.S flags to fly at half staff after massacre at Virginia Tech. Tragedy spawns debate about easy access to guns in America

Record ID: 324607

  • Title: USA: U.S. President George W. Bush orders U.S flags to fly at half staff after massacre at Virginia Tech. Tragedy spawns debate about easy access to guns in America
  • Date: 18th April 2007
  • Summary: (EU) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, USA (APRIL 17, 2007) (REUTERS) TIMES SQUARE NEWSPAPER STAND
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA98THAYDOVLOZWWAX9O3E0JCS
  • Story Text: The day after a gunman killed 33 people at Virginia Tech, President Bush orders U.S. flags to fly at half staff until sunset on Sunday, April 22. The mass killing has caused many to remember other school related shootings and ponder the effectiveness of gun control in America. The day after 32 people were killed by a gunman at Virginia Tech university, President George W. Bush ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half staff until sunset on Sunday (April 22). The massacre will likely stir fresh U.S. debate over gun control and what drives people to go on shooting rampages through schools and colleges.
    According to police, a student from South Korea was the gunman who killed 32 people, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history, the latest in a string of spree killings. However police still do not know the motive for the shootings.
    It was the worst since Charles Whitman went to the top of a tower at the University of Texas on Aug. 1, 1966, and opened fire. He killed 15 people, including his mother and wife the night before, and wounded 31 others.
    Last October, a gunman shot 10 Amish girls at a one-room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, killing five before turning the gun on himself.
    In April 1999, teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, armed with guns and homemade bombs, killed 12 fellow students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado in a long-planned spree.
    School shootings have prompted changes to school safety rules and sparked debate over the availability of guns.
    On the streets of New York's Times Square, public opinion was squarely in favour of taking a new look at existing gun laws.
    "I do think they should be reviewed. I don't think guns should be allowed in America. I think it's just something that promotes dangerous situations and obviously this is an example of it," said New Yorker Bakori Davis.
    "It's a horrible, horrible tragedy you know, and you often wonder how did this guy get these guns, you know to commit such a tragedy and stuff. So I think it's definitely something that we have to look at for the safety of everyone," said Michael Gilbert, now a New Yorker but originally from Oklahoma City.
    "I think there definitely should be some sore of review. As far as if you want to ban guns I don't think that's the answer, but there definitely got to be some sort of review and discussion," said Dave Burns, a visitor from Maine.
    "We're not doing anything right now and this stuff keeps on happening," added Burns.
    Advocates of wider gun controls said the availability of guns in the United States had made it easier for people to commit murder everywhere, including in schools and colleges.
    Advocates of gun freedom such as the National Rifle Association argue that the right to bear arms is enshrined in the U.S. constitution and dispute efforts to link the incidence of gun crime with access to firearms.
    Many recent studies have looked at student-on-student violence and its causes and after Columbine intense scrutiny focused on the lives and backgrounds of the two gunmen, who committed suicide.
    It also focused on school bullying, social cliques and the potential effects of the music they listened to and the video games they played. Experts also looked for ways to spot warning signs of violence.
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