Another thought on the matter. When we immigrated in 1969 we were welcomed, as millions of our predecessors had been, by the greatest country that has ever existed. Here, even as aliens, we could own property, work, send money anywhere in the world, join political parties, criticize the government in all its branches, speak out, travel anywhere we wanted without asking permission (except to Cuba, N. Korea and Vietnam, but then neither could citizens), and in fact enjoy almost all the privileges and rights of citizens. America said "Welcome. Work hard and obey our laws. Enjoy the American Dream. Become one of our family by becoming citizens."
No other country allows such freedom and latitude to aliens. All we had to do was be fingerprinted at the port of entry, and register with the local police once a year, wherever we happened to be living at the time.
There were only three things we couldn't do, as aliens:
1) Vote
2) Run for public office
3) Own or possess a firearm
Ove the years, the looney liberals, epitomized by the ACLU, have managed to eliminate the registering requirement ("demeaning") and also, with hideous consequences, #3. Now any alien can do what this madman in Virginia did.
Why is this important? When we were able (after 5 years continuous residence), we applied for naturalization. There were tests on English proficiency* and the American Constitution and branches of government, and, most importantly, we had to be sponsored by someone who had known us continuously for the five years prior to our application, and affirmed that they knew us to be of good character.
What this is all coming to is that if this had been some years ago, when only citizens could purchase firearms, this alien madman Cho would not have been able to walk into a store and buy his Glock. He would almost certainly have been turned down for naturalization because nobody who knew him would have by any stretch of the imagination called him "of good character," not to mention his earlier trouble with the police, being called "an imminent danger to others" by a magistrate, and having been ordered to get psychiatric treatment.
*Look out. A couple of years ago, a judge conducted an entire naturalization ceremony in Spanish. And the looney liberals are chipping away at 1) and 2) also. Immigrant pressure groups, particularly Hispanic organizations like LULAC, are trying to get the law changed to allow aliens to vote (in some cases, even illegal aliens!), and the self-interested poltroons in Washington, hungry for the Hispanic vote, will probably pass such a law, particularly if Dingy Harry Reid and Nancy "Too Many Facelifts" Pelosi stay in power and, god help us, another Clinton gets into the White House (lock up the silver!!)
Exaggeration? Every one of the 9/11 hijackers could have bought a firearm (or several) just like Cho did.
A great philosopher once wrote that great troubles do not arrive like thunderclaps, but softly, as on the feet of angels.
