The tragic events at Virginia Tech have devastated our nation. Once again a lone psychopath has savagely robbed innocent people of their lives and left people wondering how a human being could be so brutal.

This article will not be a list of figures. The fact of the matter is that both sides of the debate recklessly throw around numbers, even though there are no comprehensive numbers on guns. However, no statistic would change my position, as my views stem from philosophy rather than data.

I firmly believe that every citizen in this country has a basic right to self-defense. The world is not a safe place and it never will be. Though some might hate to admit it, there are situations where a gun can indeed be used for good. A 90-pound woman can stop a 250-pound rapist if she has a gun. Parents can protect their children from a burglar if they have a gun. A properly licensed student can prevent a massacre if he or she a gun.

I am not a ‘gun nut.’ I believe that no felon or mentally unstable citizen should be able to purchase a firearm. That being said, a law-abiding citizen should be able to have the means of protection if they so choose. There are countless guns in the hands of law abiding citizens in this country. There is no doubt that these weapons are sometimes used to commit crimes, but they are likewise used for good.

Criminals, by their very definition, do not obey laws. At this stage it is pretty evident that Cho Seung-Hui bought his weapons legally. It’s possible that a simple change in the wording of the law concerning the mentally disturbed could have prevented this tragedy, but probably not. The fact that Cho bought his first weapon a month before the shooting makes it clear he was committed, and unfortunately, he still could have procured his weapons illegally.

The Second Amendment is not about hunting or target shooting. It provides the citizens of this country with the right to self defense, not just from criminals, but also tyranny.

Some might object and say my views are nothing more than paranoid rambling, that they have no place in modern society and that there are other ways to resist tyrants.

I direct those people to the words of Mahatma Gandhi: ‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.’