I’m firmly of the opinion that if you want to stop school shootings, you need to stop people being able to get guns. Full stop.
What disturbs me when I look at those images of many people holding candles and sobbing like they knew the people involved which many of them do not, is that I know at least *some* of those people would turn around and defend the guy’s right to bear arms.
I’m not an American. And I certainly do not wish to preach at people who are hurting and in shock, but the ONLY way to stop this from happening in the future is to take away the guns. He could not have killed as many people with a knife or any other weapon, could he?
Think about it for a minute. The bill of rights which gave people the right to keep and bear arms was written in the early 1790’s.
Can you even consider what life was like then? Do you think the people who wrote it could honestly consider what life would be like now? Do you think they could foresee the rapper gansta’s who go around shooting each other? Do you think they would have considered that at any time in the future, homicide would become a leading cause of death in their country? Do people today need to defend their homes with weapons? Is it likely a grizzly is going to turn up on your doorstep?
If you want to change things you won’t do it with a candle and tears. You can only do it by changing MINDS.
And as far as the killer being a monster or evil or mentally deranged or any of those things – I firmly suggest you get a copy of The Gift Of Fear by Gavin De Becker. If you live in the US, you NEED this book. It very well could save your life.
Yes, it’s a sad and terrible thing what happened to those poor kids who were only trying to get their educations. It’s a sad and terrible thing that someone who was so young and seemingly had so many issues was able to get access to a weapon and then go on a killing spree. It has happened before. It won’t stop. This won’t be the last time. It will happen again.
Stop and think about this for a minute. If 9/11 was able to change things to such an extent – the patriot act, the airport security, many and varied changes across a wide landscape, why can’t this inspire the same kind of change?
When a person’s right to get an education and to live long enough to do so is directly at odds with a person’s right to bear arms, what happens?
If your country gave this man the right to bear arms, isn’t something very wrong here?
I *do* live in the US… :-)
First, thanks for the book suggestion, looks like a worthwhile read. As for more strict gun controls, up to and including an outright ban – I think this person would still have done his damage using firearms.
I say this because I expect – perhaps mistakenly – that even strict controls won’t put illegal sources out of business. This shooter walked into a store and legally bought at least one handgun. He could have bought a stolen gun from an unlicensed dealer, and might have even paid less money. It’s not like he’d have been concerned about breaking laws or facing consequences…
But your point is valid, certainly in a general sense. Still, as someone living in the US, I don’t hold much hope for seeing substantive change anytime soon.