Oregon is a conservative and pro-gun state unreceptive to Washington politics. Still, President Barack Obama has a deep compulsion to pass one new layer of gun law during his tenure.

Thinking the victims and student body of Umpqua College would embrace some form of gun legislation in the wake of the recent shooting, the president received a less-than-warm welcome to that idea upon his arrival.

Despite his denial, the president wanted to politicize the shooting, using this tragedy as a platform and backdrop to ram through some kind of gun legislation.

Were this a genuine motive to save lives, it would be a noble pursuit and a tribute to visit with the victims and grief-stricken families.

This president (and the Democratic Party) have long tried to peddle the idea to the public that gun laws save lives.

Their real motive is a national disarming of America.

Democrats are a socialist party and any student of history knows socialist governments and a well-armed citizenry don’t go hand in hand.

Hundreds of people have died in Virginia this year from drug overdoses, and hundreds of deaths have occurred on the state’s roads. Why isn’t the president addressing these numbers?

Horrific as mass shootings are, they are pale by comparison to deaths by other means. When the agenda is about restrictions on guns, however, this president will magnify the small and trivialize the momentous.    

Putting up more or larger gun-free zone signs will not deter the next suicide shooter. To the contrary, it’s an invitation to an assault.

It always takes a good guy with a gun to get rid of a bad guy with any type weapon. If I’m not mistaken, the president and his family are protected with guns — not signs!

A superior, gun-free sign or new law will not dissuade a determined killer armed with any type weapon who has the resolve to use it. 

Rwanda has had tens of thousands of people killed with simple machetes. A gun shooting back is always an effective deterrent.

Attacking the attacker is the only way to go. Gun legislation is very effective for the law-abiding citizens who don’t need such laws to start with.

Pretty signs and gun laws are quite worthless against deranged killers perfectly willing to sacrifice their own lives in the process. When seconds count, police are just minutes away.

One of the Oregon shooting victims said it best: “Had one person been armed at the college, so many lives could have been saved.” 

Karl Schmidt, a Maryland native, moved to Farmville in 2004. A quadriplegic, he recently wrote a book, “Sticking to my Guns,” about dealing with life from a wheelchair. His email address is tenbears@centurylink.net.