After the Virginia Tech shootings, and again after the Omaha mall shootings, liberals dominated the newspapers and TV talk shows with demands for stricter gun control. More rational voices tried to explain that you can't stop the criminal-minded (or criminally insane) from getting and using weapons, but liberals in lock step shouted all the louder.

Virginia Tech, like most American campuses, has strict rules preventing even those with legitimate concealed-carry permits from bringing guns on campus. "After all," they say, "guns are scary, and who wants to sit in a classroom thinking there's a law-abiding man or woman nearby with -- good heavens -- a loaded gun in their backpack?"

Now consider the recent shootings in Colorado. A deranged young man with a grudge against a school that kicked him out three years ago wants revenge. He has not, like the Virginia Tech shooter, been diagnosed with mental or emotional problems. In fact, his entire known criminal record consists of one traffic ticket issued earlier this year. He could have legally purchased a gun in any state in the United States, in spite of liberal politicians and gun control laws.

He pulled a handgun after being told he couldn't spend the night at the Youth With a Mission missionary training school and killed two, wounding two more. These folks were caught off guard -- no one could have expected a deadly attack on a school that simply trains young people for ministry abroad.

But immediately upon hearing the news, New Life Church in nearby Colorado Springs took action. They brought in armed security guards. No one suspected a killer was headed their way, but, just in case, they employed the use of armed security guards. Can any of us regular church members imagine armed security guards outside the doors of our church on Sunday morning? No, but thanks to the wisdom of the pastor and staff of New Life Church, armed guards were recruited to stand watch. (Notice the emphasis here: an armed killer is on the loose, and a church decides to employ armed guards. Amazing.)

Also amazing is the fact that the same deranged killer did come to the church just as a Sunday morning service was ending. He took a high-powered rifle out of the trunk of his car, opened fire in the parking lot and proceeded toward the church sanctuary.

One church member saw the gunman take out the rifle and begin firing. He recognized the firing stance, one that he had been taught in the military. Yet he remained hunkered down in his vehicle and "prayed for the gunman." Excuse me, but I'm a born-again, Bible-believing Christian, and I've spent a few years studying the word of God. I know that prayer is an effective tool. But I've also read Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3: There is a time to heal, and there is a time to kill. While the man in the car, who was presumably unarmed, prayed, the shooter went about his business.

Fortunately, the church staff had read Ecclesiastes as well, and had prepared in advance. Hearing the first rounds fired, an armed female guard headed toward the sound of the shots. She met the gunman in the main hallway, assessed the situation and shot him. He never made it more than 50 feet inside the church. Keep in mind that this man had nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition. The pastor said she may have "saved over 100 lives."

She may have saved more than 100 lives. Would those family members who lost loved ones at Virginia Tech please consider what might have happened if a courageous young lady or young man like this had been taking classes at Virginia Tech on April 16 and had had enough grit (and an accurate sense of our Constitution) to ignore the laws that forbade guns on campus? Many of those students and teachers may have been spared.

What will it take before we come to a point where people with common sense take a stand? When will we demand the right to protect ourselves and our loved ones? We must get beyond the mindless blather of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton and other liberals who demand (ultimately) that we surrender our weapons and stand helpless before pathological killers like Seung-Hui Cho in Blacksburg, Robert Hawkins in Omaha, Mathew Murray in Colorado Springs and so many others.

As for me and my house, we will be armed.

About the Author: Ludington, who lives in Roanoke, is the executive director of Arise America Ministries. The Roanoke Times and copyright 2007 Ronanoke.com