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Far from the Blacksburg campus of Virginia Tech and the DeKalb campus of Northern Illinois University, a Wisconsin business owner recently found himself shaken by an unfortunate connection to the shootings at those two schools. Eric Thompson, owner of TGSCOM, one of the nation’s largest online retailers of firearms and firearm accessories, was shocked to learn that his company sold a .22 pistol to the Virginia Tech shooter and a holster and two 9mm magazines to the NIU shooter.

A victim of chance, Mr. Thompson’s own shock and grief over these two tragedies was quickly compounded by media attention that inaccurately insinuated he was somehow to blame for these school shootings. Mr. Thompson quickly found himself the recipient of hate mail and death threats from misguided individuals searching for a way to deal with their own grief.

In the aftermath of all of this, Mr. Thompson sought the opportunity to turn his unfortunate connection to these tragedies into way to promote laws and policies that would make campuses safer. He found that opportunity in Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Mr. Thompson offered to support SCCC’s second national collegiate Empty Holster Protest by loaning holsters to SCCC members and by serving as a guest speaker for SCCC’s Virginia Tech chapter. SCCC gratefully accepted both offers.

Sadly, as is often the case in the world of politics, SCCC’s opponents wasted no time in twisting the facts for political gain. Virginia Tech spokesperson Lary Hincker, who just one week earlier tactfully avoided denouncing the anti-gun protest that gun control advocates planned to coincide with Virginia Tech’s official remembrance ceremonies on the April 16 anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, was quick to denounce not only Mr. Thompson’s planned speech but also his very presence on the Virginia Tech campus. Mr. Hinker stated, “I find it terribly offensive to learn that the gun-seller of the weapons used in the Virginia Tech campus murders would set foot on this campus.”

To assume that Mr. Thompson’s presence at Virginia Tech is offensive is to assume that either this law abiding business owner or the products he sold share some of the blame for the actions of a deranged killer. Mr. Thompson and his employees, who never met the Virginia Tech killer (the .22 pistol was shipped to a local gun dealer who conducted the background check and completed the transaction), acted within the letter of the law. Mr. Thompson is no more to blame for the Virginia Tech massacre than the owner of the gas station that sold diesel fuel to Timothy McVeigh is to blame for the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.

Not content with declaring Mr. Thompson’s mere presence on the Virginia Tech campus offensive, Mr. Hincker went on to add, “The organizers appear to be incredibly insensitive to the families of the victims who lost loved ones and to the injured students still recovering from this horrendous tragedy.” In light of the fact that many of the members of Virginia Tech’s SCCC chapter, including chapter leader Ken Stanton, lost friends in the April 16, 2007, shooting spree, this comment lacks weight.

In an effort to be sensitive to the surviving victims and the families of those lost, SCCC’s Virginia Tech chapter refused to give interviews or allow any public displays on the anniversary of the massacre. Unlike the anti-gun organizations Larry Hincker carefully avoided denouncing, SCCC’s Virginia Tech chapter recognized the importance of reserving that day as a day to remember the thirty-two students and faculty members whose lives were tragically cut short.

This is not the first time Larry Hincker’s comments have garnered the ire of gun rights advocates. After the Virginia Tech shootings, gun rights advocates were quick to point to Mr. Hincker’s well-publicized comment on the defeat of a piece of state legislation that would have allowed students and faculty with concealed handgun permits to carry concealed handguns on campus. In response to the bill being voted down by the Virginia General Assembly, Mr. Hincker stated—just a few months prior to the Virginia Tech massacre—“I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus.” In light of the April 16, 2007, shooting spree on Mr. Hincker’s campus, gun rights advocates were quick to point out that feeling safe is clearly not the same as being safe.

Andy Goddard and Lori Haas—each the parent of a student wounded in the shooting spree—also spoke out against Mr. Thompson’s presence on the Virginia Tech campus. Though Colin Goddard and Emily Haas, both of whom have made full recoveries from the injuries they received in the attack, long ago disappeared from the debates of gun control and guns on campus, Colin’s father and Emily’s mother continue to search for anyone or anything, other than the dead gunman, to blame for their children’s injuries.

Ms. Haas even went so far as to callously suggest that Mr. Thompson’s appearance was little more than a ploy to increase his company’s profits by selling more guns. Apparently, she either overlooked or ignored his announcement that he will sell guns at cost (meaning he won’t make any profit) for the next two weeks. Sadly, some victims simply can’t find solace unless they have a target for their anger.

Despite the attempts of some individuals and media outlets to paint Mr. Thompson’s appearance as profiteering and to portray SCCC’s decision to allow him to speak as insensitive, neither could be further from the truth. Mr. Thompson spoke on the issue of personal security and concealed carry—the very focus of SCCC. SCCC officials have gone out of their way to be sensitive to the feelings of the surviving victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy, and only a person seeking to place blame where none is due could possibly see Eric Thompson’s visit to the campus of Virginia Tech as offensive.

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