Cyan Bane's Hall Of Bouncing Souls: Short Thoughts on VT

Brainstorm it:

I figured that the 2nd amendment thing would come up at some point. The NRAers are going to argue that if everyone was armed to the teeth then this wouldn't happen. The other side is that if no one had guns then he wouldn't have been able to do this. Etc.

Another reaction is probably going to a call to model public places on lock-down prisons. A policemen on every corner and a metal detector by every door.

The truth is that if someone is determined to do something like this, metal detectors and gun laws are not going to stop them, just as the existing laws on murder don't stop them. I hate to think this is going to be a political issue, but I am sure that someone somewhere is going to wave the bloody shirt and call for a bigger police state. One of my coworkers already said, in all seriousness, "the problem in this country is that you can't lock people up until after the crime is committed." Minority Report, anyone?

I also expect all kinds of discussion about why this happened. The argument will be that our cultural decay is a result of blood drenched video games, movies and an exposed nipple on prime time television during the Superbowl, among other things. I don't know about all that. One thing I know, this is a horrific tragedy. The number of people killed is greater than the total number of firearm related homicides in many other countries for an entire year, but it is a fraction of a percentage point in the US. (On the other hand, Iraqis have multiple VA Tech massacres every day.)

I'll be avoiding television more than usual in the coming weeks.

# posted by Justin : 4/19/2007 08:48:00 AM

First of all, you 100% right, that is exactly what he was seeking attention.

Second, he followed the gun laws; which makes it clear that they need to be more stringent. It should be really hard to get a gun, and even harder to be allowed to own one. That doesn't mean that you are taking away the right; it is limiting it.

# posted by duane : 4/19/2007 02:21:00 PM

while i agree that the gun laws clearly failed in this situation (and i should also say that i'm fairly anti-gun in general), i'm not sure that a "mentally ill" disqualification is the right way to go, either. people who have eating disorders, for instance, are "mentally ill." people who have panic attacks can be labeled "mentally ill." my point is that you can get a diagnosis for almost anything.

# posted by Anonymous : 4/19/2007 10:36:00 PM

good point. maybe the blanket of "mentally ill" isn't the best, but maybe some kind of defintition of a subset of those people who a Dr. feels probably shouldn't be able to purchase a weapon for fear or harm to themselves or others. I know that is extremely vague and would have to be fleshed out though. (to much contempt/debate of the nra, etc I am sure).

# posted by cyan : 4/20/2007 09:54:00 AM

I believe the actual law is that anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution is restricted from buying firearms. Cho was found to be a danger to himself and others, but was allowed to voluntarily check in to a facility. This is the way that it usually goes. "You're going, but we'll let you do it yourself before we force you." Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I understand to be the case.

# posted by bullet : 4/20/2007 01:00:00 PM

My initial thought when this was going down was not about how a mentally ill person was able to buy a gun but how in the world is someone who is in this country with a student visa able to purchase one. Once again our government is focusing on impossible tasks like locking down the Mexican border and not taking care of the little things that could make a difference. Under no circumstances should anyone that is in this country on a temporary basis (buy this anyone but an American citizen) should be able to purchase a weapon in this country. I am amazed that no one in the press has even brought this up. In my mind this should have been one of the first things addresses after 9/11.

# posted by Tosh : 4/24/2007 02:52:00 PM

If the media wouldn't validate these monsters by putting them on TV after they mass kill then it might deter a few more from following through. Instead, the media could simply refuse to ever mention his name and definately don't show the world his crap. It only makes other life losers see that they can get a moment of validation.

# posted by Scott thompson : 4/27/2007 03:41:00 PM

Your Thoughts?