What a horrible story. My condolences go out to all who lost someone in that event. There are no words which can describe this appropriately.
A deranged individual can do so much damage with a gun... when I lived in the US, I strongly opposed the liberal laws on gun ownership, which make it so easy to get a gun. However, now I come to think: wouldn't it be better if one of the other students would have had a gun, to put an earlier end to this, before 32 had to die?
I myself would now want to have a gun, to defend myself and others against any maniac in such a situation. No good will or nice words help here, unfortunately it is only a matter of who shoots first. And I want to be the one who shoots first. Such stories make me angry. To talk about this as a "tragedy" misses the point... a tragedy is something that cannot be avoided. But such a massacre can be avoided - in principle at least. It is man-made, carried out by one human, with tools created by humans, in circumstances determined by humans. Just to label the deaths reasons as "someone being at the wrong place at the wrong time" as I hear it often, is not correct and is a fatalistic surrender.
Here in the UK the gun laws are extremely strict: the wish to self-defense is not accepted as a valid reason for applying for a gun license, and owning an unlicensed gun will be punished with a mandatory sentence of 5 years in prison. (So no gun for me...)
A campus like Virginia Tech cannot be made safe. Adding access control and weapons detectors will make the daily life unbearable, and still someone could slip through and cause havoc anyway.
One need to think about how to avoid that assassins become assassins. How do they get their idea of causing a killing spree? Where in their brain does the snap happen?
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2 comments:
Interesting that your viewpoint on gun control switched after this incident. For me, it further supports the need for tighter control. Do we really want to encourage everyone to carry a gun for self-defense? For me, guns are dangerous and scary, used for killing. The fewer, the better, ideally zero.
hi,
thanks for your comment!
I might need to clarify: what I write in this blog, is not necessarily thought through very well... it is often a more emotional response, capturing what goes through my mind. If I would present here a thorough analysis and come to a conclusion, then I would of course agree with you: my viewpoint on gun control indeed has not changed.
What I only wanted to say: I would like to have a gun for myself. Just so that I am "on the safe side", to be able to defend myself. But to implement this, for me being able to own legally a gun, would of course lower the threshold for anybody else. I am well aware, that my wish to own a gun would be against Kant's "law": that one should life a life so that it could be made a general legistlation for anybody.
I agree: fewer guns is better. Even if that means that my individual wish to own a gun would not be granted. I imagine a student campus where everyone owns a gun: this would be a horrible scenario, with many more "incidents", because sometimes people just snap. Be it when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or just from too much learning through the night - being pissed of by a roommate, and then the gun would be just handy to let off some steam...
so I agree with you: fewer guns is better.
Of course one should be aware of hoping that tight control will completely eliminate gun crimes. Someone bent on creating havoc will get their guns... this is so here in the UK where nobody can own a gun legally, not even for sportive events - and there are still (admittedly much less than in the US) gun crimes.
btw, my apparent change in opinion came not as a result from the VT massacre, but from the fact that since I have moved to the UK, I have been a victim of crime already 3 times (just theft/burglady, but the crime activity is apparently around), and one time the place where I had lived a few months ago got robbed - by people with guns. So for my own self-potection, I would like to own a gun. Is just a feeling... in reality I probably would not be safer, but more in danger with taht gun... but I like to be in control and at least have an option to do something and not to be just a helpless victim...
Thanks for sharing your opinion!
--- and again about this blog: I write my entries not very thoughtful, but just as an emotional initial response to things happening. There are a few other entries, which - when I would think them through with a more thorough analysis, with pro, con, and synthesis - would then produce a different statement than what I wrote here. If I had more time, I would do this and correct my initial statements so that they are more complete... but unfortunately I do not have that time. Therefore, my apologies to anyone who might be slightly displeased about what I write here. I just like to put a bit of a sting into some of the hot and current issues, but these blog entries do not constitute a complete picture of my opinion! :)
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