|
|
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Virginia Tech Tragedy
|
In my travels to gather up the day's news, I noticed something:
that this tragedy at Virginia Tech touched families from not just America, but all over the globe.
From Lebanon, to Egypt, to Israel, to Palestine, to Peru, to Puerto Rico and beyond.
Shootings that involve an individual that is suicidal but seeks to take out others before they go, strike me as being America's own version of suicide bombings. They are unfortunately becoming a common occurrence in America. This latest incident has prompted calls for more gun control from some corners, while the other side has suggested that if perhaps students were allowed to carry on campus, that the scope of this tragedy may have been lessened or that this tragedy could perhaps have been prevented altogether. I'm not sure of either of those scenarios - and I am a believer in the individual's right to carry. Because - where there's a will, there's a way.
If I'm not mistaken, the two boys that committed the massacre at Columbine had either thought of or in fact had a back up plan involving bombs as well. So, clearly the guns were not the only means with which they sought to commit this crime. We live in a free society, and unfortunately this can be exploited by those seeking to harm others. Unless someone makes threats or is deemed a threat to society (which may have been the case in this particular incident), there's not much we can do in the way of preventing this type of crime. The alternative is punishing people for thought crimes, and I'm not sure that we want to go there, lest we become some type of police state.
Now, I don't want to come across as someone who believes that Americans should all lay down and die and accept such vicious acts. But I also don't believe that taking away guns from law abiding people is the answer. This individual was clearly an angry individual, and there are many others like him in our midst, I'm sure. Perhaps more vigorous intervention on the part of neighbors, friends and family may be one answer, although I know that school officials had tried to do just that in this case, to no avail.
But I digress. The real issue is of the commonality that this tragedy has produced with respect to the fact that it has affected folks from many different parts of the globe. Maybe there is some resulting positive aspect that stems from this commonality that can come out of this, despite this tragedy.
posted by Somebody @ 10:44 AM Permanent Link
 
0 Comments:
<< Home
|
| |
