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One year later, remember them

Posted to: Editorials Opinion

GUN CONTROL GROUPS wishing to protest on the Virginia Tech campus this week should abide by the physician's maxim to "First, do no harm."

Wednesday is the first anniversary of the rampage that took the lives of 32 students and faculty, in addition to their killer. Tech officials have organized memorial events on the Drillfield that will be attended by families who lost children and spouses in the tragedy.

The Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence and ProtestEasyGuns.com wanted to stage a lie-in on the university lawn that same day. Tech officials accommodated them by permitting a protest at a different location, separated from the ceremonies.

If the groups go ahead, they risk attracting counter-protests from gun-rights organizations, who have thus far agreed to stay away. That kind of spectacle would be an unseemly intrusion on a day that should be set aside for grieving and remembering. It could also repel many who would otherwise be open to the gun-control cause.

Such groups exist because their members want to wipe away the pain caused by gun violence in this country. They should take care not to contribute in any way to the unbearable pain so many in the Virginia Tech community will be feeling this week.

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Do no harm

When will the VP decide to take it's own advice?

More people are killed in hospitals each year than by legitimate owners of firearms.

If the editorial board of the VP had its way not only would I have to step outside my business to smoke a cigarette but I would be unable to defend myself when attacked.

The son of a friend of mine underwent surgery the other day for injuries that occurred after an assault on him when he was taking a smoke break outside of a bowling alley in a location with a smoker ban and a gun ban.

The VP editorial board seems to be encouraging both bans and thus more assaults on law abiding citizens. The VP editorial board can pound sand.

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