I can't watch it anymore. I click the remote through the five channels (nope - no cable at my house) and it is relentless in its flow. Every media outlet is on the stick. The television streams virtually endless footage of the shootings at Virginia Tech. And then they have the temerity to show the video left by the troubled young man who perpetrated this unspeakable act. We are shocked. The nation is rocked by the horror of it all. Senseless. Brutal. A genie of death slipped from the bottle and slithered from dorm to classrooms, snuffing out young life with the greatest of ease. And somehow no one can seem to comprehend what happened. Somehow, with shaking heads and pursed lips we find ourselves cluelessly glued to the television.
How could this happen? Someone must be to blame. It has to be someone's fault. So the investigations begin and fingers are leveled. Did the University act appropriately? The police? What could have prevented this? There must, we seem to think, be an answer.
And there is, except we stand deaf and mute in the face of it.
It's the guns.
There are more registered gun dealers in the United States than there are gas stations. Guns are everywhere. And we're not talking Uncle Jack's 22 caliber hunting rifle here. We are talking about military issue fire arms designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. Semi-automatic pistols with expanded bullet clips? Sure. Stop down at the local sporting shop and pick up your own today.
Yes. It's the guns. Emotionally disturbed and mentally ill folks will always be around, but do we need to make guns so easily attainable that one can stride through the halls of university taking out thirty plus people as easy as, dare I say it, shooting ducks in a barrel?
Yes. It is the guns. But it's not just guns here within our borders. Can anyone remember how many people died in Iraq on the day of the Virginia Tech tragedy? Can anyone recall how many people died in Afghanistan on that day? Or can anyone summon up the number of people who died around the world because of weapons our nation provided in the much vaunted "free market?"
Yes indeed, it's the guns. I join the millions who mourn and hold the victims' families in prayer. But as we weep and pray, maybe we could open our eyes to the genie that we have released on the world. This is the death genie who comes in the shape of automatic pistols or semi-automatic rifles or land mines. It's the genie who sprays forth as napalm or rains down as cluster bombs. And yes. We are responsible. Instead of seeking to assign blame to a hapless university administration or to a police force doing their best, perhaps we could take a quick glance in the mirror.
Then together let's see if we can't put that genie back in the bottle. How about a little reasonable gun control? How about bringing the troops home? How about signing the International Land Mine treaty? How about paying attention to those around us so we might notice if they are in distress or disturbed?
We've heard a great deal about "personal responsibility" over the past few years. How about us being personally responsible for the death in which we all participate?
How could this happen? Someone must be to blame. It has to be someone's fault. So the investigations begin and fingers are leveled. Did the University act appropriately? The police? What could have prevented this? There must, we seem to think, be an answer.
And there is, except we stand deaf and mute in the face of it.
It's the guns.
There are more registered gun dealers in the United States than there are gas stations. Guns are everywhere. And we're not talking Uncle Jack's 22 caliber hunting rifle here. We are talking about military issue fire arms designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. Semi-automatic pistols with expanded bullet clips? Sure. Stop down at the local sporting shop and pick up your own today.
Yes. It's the guns. Emotionally disturbed and mentally ill folks will always be around, but do we need to make guns so easily attainable that one can stride through the halls of university taking out thirty plus people as easy as, dare I say it, shooting ducks in a barrel?
Yes. It is the guns. But it's not just guns here within our borders. Can anyone remember how many people died in Iraq on the day of the Virginia Tech tragedy? Can anyone recall how many people died in Afghanistan on that day? Or can anyone summon up the number of people who died around the world because of weapons our nation provided in the much vaunted "free market?"
Yes indeed, it's the guns. I join the millions who mourn and hold the victims' families in prayer. But as we weep and pray, maybe we could open our eyes to the genie that we have released on the world. This is the death genie who comes in the shape of automatic pistols or semi-automatic rifles or land mines. It's the genie who sprays forth as napalm or rains down as cluster bombs. And yes. We are responsible. Instead of seeking to assign blame to a hapless university administration or to a police force doing their best, perhaps we could take a quick glance in the mirror.
Then together let's see if we can't put that genie back in the bottle. How about a little reasonable gun control? How about bringing the troops home? How about signing the International Land Mine treaty? How about paying attention to those around us so we might notice if they are in distress or disturbed?
We've heard a great deal about "personal responsibility" over the past few years. How about us being personally responsible for the death in which we all participate?
