Every time there's an awful tragedy, the first reaction of most people is to try and find someone who is to blame. Someone or something must be held accountable. This is true whether it's an accident or someone has intentionally done a horrible deed.Did this happen because of not-very-strict gun control laws? Is it because the guy was a loner, or because he was Asian? Because he was Americanized? Depressed? Is it the fault of the University President or the Head of Security? Is it the fault of NBC for not getting him locked up after receiving a package of photos and videos showing the future killer with weapons and ranting against rich people?
Should his writings have gotten him locked up? How can you say? Stephen King writes some pretty scary stuff. Quentin Tarantino comes up with some story lines that scare the crap out of people, and that's why people pay for their products and want to meet them. Should they be locked up?
Depressed and a loner? So am I.
Is it our gun culture? I hate guns. I fucking hate them. BUT... I am a law-abiding citizen who could pass a background check and I could have a gun if I wanted one. Then... if I got more depressed and more panic-stricken and stressed, and maybe angry... really really angry... I could take that gun (that I will never own) and create a whole world of hurt and death and destruction that will have permanent damages, take lives and ruin others. Anger can do that to a normally peaceful, easy-going person. Have you ever caught a long-time lover or spouse having an affair? Has someone hurt one of your children, parents or siblings? Hurt them badly? Have you personally felt so much rage and anger that it was like something else took control of your rational faculties? Those are the kinds of things that make people temporarily crazy enough to do something VERY stupid and dangerous to themselves and others.
It takes a lot less than that to push some people over the edge. Maybe a romantic rejection or getting a bad grade or getting cut off in traffic is enough. I just read about a man who shot at some Firemen because they refused to get his cat out of a tree. The point is, how can anyone stop these things from happening?
Making guns a lot harder to get is a good start. Guns DO kill people. They not only kill people, they make it very easy for PEOPLE to kill people. Good grief, "why there should be a lot fewer guns in the hands of people" is a topic for volumes of work.
As for the deeply disturbed condition of this young man's brain -- I don't know who or what can be blamed for that. Certainly it's not one isolated thing. Another topic for a stack of books.
Graphic from fan art.
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4 comments:
Guns certainly make it easier for people to kill people. There is a sort of psychological anonymity associated with being able to destroy something or someone at a distance.
Perhaps this separation of physical distance also provides an emotional disconnect from the killing process.
I agree with you and beep. If he had to kill each person with a knife, it would have been more personal and also he'd have only killed one or two before he was stopped. Guns are awful weapons.
There was a whole myriad of things that had to line up for someone to snap like this. Then there can be a "last straw" to set it off.
Beautifully done, Blueberry. We forget that we are only human and that we all can fall, and fall very far.
The gun debate amazes me. C'mon people, how many drive by stranglings do you see on the news?
Yes. I'm a depressed, quiet, non-social loner, also.
But I hate guns, violence, and vengeance.
There was a time, when I was on anti-depressants, that I had evil, violent revenge type ideas. I stopped taking them for that reason. Makes me wonder if he was on some medication, like many of the killers that have done similar acts.
I do favor strict gun control. Banning guns is not the answer, the ones who commit these acts will still get them, and it will become a huge criminal enterprise, just like the illegal drug market. If there is demand, they will still be guns.
However they is no need for automatic and assualt type weapons, lets store them at armory or rifle ranges, make private ownership follow some strict rules. If we have to go through tests and licensing of motor vehicles, which can also be a deadly weapon, we can do it for handguns. We don't need private ownership for weapons of war and mass murder for any reason. BUT - I also don't want the police and the gov't to be the only ones with guns.
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