Letter to the Editor: Prevent death with concealed weapon

In response to a misguided second-year economics student's letter to the editor, a Senior at Ohio State University who was there when the bullets began to fly has written an excellent rebuttal, which has been published in the University newspaper:

January 10, 2005
The (OSU) Lantern

I would like to respond to Kent Cherny's Jan. 3 comments regarding the Damage Plan concert, where four people were murdered and the perpetrator was also killed. I attended the show that night; we were a few people away from Dimebag's side of the stage when it happened. The shooter came from behind Darrell, and the only way to do that is from backstage. The gunman had pushed past security and entered the venue backstage. The media reported several times that he climbed on the stage from the crowd, which he absolutely did not. Pat downs and metal detectors would not have prevented this tragedy from happening.

We go to Alrosa because it is an intimate setting, without a ton of security; you can crowd surf up to the stage and slap hands with your heroes without getting kicked out. More "security" is not the answer. Instead of taking away more of our freedom, we need to use the ones we have, namely our right to own a gun. We need to learn to protect ourselves and quit relying on everyone else, be it the police, government or even business owners, like Rick Catula of the Alrosa Villa. It's not his fault a deranged maniac murdered Dime. The fault lies only with the person who pulled the trigger and fortunately he is dead.

If I would have had a gun and been trained to use it, by God I would have. I have been seriously considering buying a gun and taking a training class. Conceal-carry laws are not for the criminals. Criminals can not even receive a conceal-carry permit, nor do I believe they would apply. These laws are meant for law-abiding citizens who need to protect themselves in the absence of police.

Most importantly, we lost a music legend on Dec. 8, 2004. Rest in peace Dime. We will always have your music.

Marissa Cantrell
Political Science
Senior

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