KEY POINTS:
Disbelief at the slaughter at Virginia Tech is unlikely to dent America's love affair with guns. Similar shock followed previous massacres. But the practical effect has been very little.
Gun control has long been a litmus test defining the debate in the United States between liberals and conservatives. Guns tend to be more common and more entrenched in the culture of southern, central and mountain states, which tend to vote Republican and where hunting is a popular sport. Gun crime is rife in big cities on the east coast, which are invariably Democratic, but gun ownership among the general population is notably less common.
The gun lobby is one of the most powerful in the US and gun owners are a constituency no one wants to alienate. Its passionate feelings may be traced to the constitutional "right of the people to keep and bear arms". About 80 people daily are killed by firearms and gun violence costs US$2.3 billion ($3.1 billion) each year in medical expenses, but it is a price, gun supporters believe, that is worth paying to protect a fundamental freedom.
Virginia limits handgun buys to one per month to discourage bulk buying and resale. There is no requirement for a licence or training. Once a person passes a background check they will be issued with a permit if they apply for one. No regulations or background checks are needed to buy weapons at a Virginia gun show.
Yesterday, even amid the shock, the initial calls were for stricter security measures on campuses - not serious moves to reduce gun ownership.
In the six years after 2000, as many as 249 deaths were reported at schools and universities.
In recent years metal detectors have been installed, most of them in high schools in large urban areas with high rates of crime. Most colleges have their own campus police forces which have also been beefed up with more personnel and firepower.
Some school districts have distributed electronic tags with embedded identity checks to students who are asked to swipe them before entering school buildings or buses. Cameras have also been introduced in school buildings in several states. Nearly one in every three schools have now built bullet-proof holding areas where visitors are subjected to checks before they are allowed to proceed into the main student areas. In Florida, school districts require criminal and background checks on anyone who regularly visits schools.
- INDEPENDENT
