College massacre survivor remembers

AUSTIN (KXAN) - John Woods is a graduate student at the University of Texas now, but he remembers it every day.

He survived the deadly 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech. A total of 32 people died, including his girlfriend Maxine.

Today he's a biology graduate student at UT-Austin. He heard about the Connecticut massacre Friday over lunch.

"I was totally blown away," Woods said. "It's tough. It hits a lot of the same chords"

Woods is doubtful that armed students could save lives in a situation like that. "The truth is all the experts and review panel and the survivors and family members don't want concealed carry," he said.

Students for Concealed Carry claim to have 43,000 members at 500 campuses, including UT. But the idea here has not gained much traction in the legislature, despite efforts by outgoing Sen. Jeff Wentworth, who introduced a bill on the floor of the Senate multiple times.

As for arming elementary school teachers, Woods said, "Do you want to force the kindergarten teacher to carry guns. I don't know many who do, and on top of that what if they do and a kid finds the gun, the next thing you know a couple of kids have gotten shot."

Woods is skeptical that guns are the best defense for some college students.

 "God, I've known a lot of college students who had the same maturity level as kindergartners, unfortunately," Woods said.