Gun dealer visits Virginia Tech

By Rosa Duarte

Published: April 24, 2008

Some in the Virginia Tech community are upset over gun dealer Eric Thomson’s visit to campus.
According to Ken Stanton, campus leader of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, the visit was prompted by Thomson not the students.
After a number of discussions students decided to welcome the visit and hear what Thomson had to say.
Stanton says “It was not an easy decision but in the end Mr. Thomson agreed to pay for all of his expenses to come out here and so we’re hosting more than we’re sponsoring.”
Stanton also says he’s not surprised but concerned by some of the negative reaction to the visit including that from the university, “Blaming others who are not responsible is not a good thing and it’s actually a step of the grieving process so if people are really to the point of being angry at Mr. Thomson than perhaps you know we need to look better at how we’re healing from this.”
It’s a wound that’s beginning to heal but for some in the Hokie community, a visit too soon. According to Stanton, it’s part of the healing process. “We can speculate what if Cho didn’t get the gun in the first place we can speculate what if someone had a firearm there and could’ve stopped him. All of these are bad things to do what we should do is learn from the past and prepare for the future.”