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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOU_VIRGINIA_TECH_WEAPONS_VAOL-?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Seller of gun used in Va. Tech shootings due on campus
Apr 24, 11:46 AM EDT
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- A planned visit by an online weapons dealer who sold one of two guns used in the Virginia Tech mass shootings stirred controversy on campus Thursday. Eric Thompson was to speak at the school Thursday night as part of a weeklong demonstration in favor of concealed weapons on college campuses.
Ken Stanton, president of the university's chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, said the visit had not prompted objections until a school spokesman denounced it. He had received a number of complaints after Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker issued a statement saying he found it "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," Hincker said.
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.
Stanton said Thompson's connection to the shootings was random. Cho bought a Walther .22-caliber handgun through Thompson's Internet gun store based in Green Bay, Wis. The store also sold handgun accessories to the man who killed five Northern Illinois University students in February.
Stanton said he had never considered carrying a gun until the shootings at Virginia Tech, in which his friend Jeremy Herbstritt died. "I'm just someone who's seen firsthand the importance of self-protection," said Stanton, a graduate student.
Members of the student group, which claims a nationwide membership of 25,000 and 200 at Virginia Tech, are wearing empty holsters to classes this week to protest laws and policies that restrict concealed weapons on campuses.
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Comment: Larry Hincker might want to bury his head where the sun doesn't shine, but it won't help anyone. Eric Thompson affords the opportunity for people to defend themselves against those who commit murder, rape, and other acts of violence. Instead of hand-wringers whining tiresome moronic questions of "why can't we all get along" and "could we have offered more counseling to prevent this" the question we all should be asking is, "Why don't we allow students to defend themselves?"