It's devastating. I can't even imagine what the survivors went through... or what the families and close friends are still going through. All I know is that 32 of the most hopeful, talented, caring, giving souls are now gone. A bright future for each of them, gone. A satisfying career, gone. Artistic endeavors, all of it gone.
And that breaks my heart. To be honest with you, I haven't watched this much news coverage since Katrina demolished much of New Orleans; before that, 9-11. Only I'm not watching from some morbid interest, I'm watching to see what's being done to prevent any more of this craziness from happening.
I admit, I've watched the reports voraciously... because I can then find out how the system is flawed. What procedures are in place that no longer work (if they ever worked to begin with.)
The fact that this monster who terrorized the Virginia Tech campus was able to fill out paperwork, pass a background check, make his purchase and walk out of a Roanoke, VA gun shop within an hour is outrageous. What a shocking learning experience this has been. I was mistakenly under the impression that there was a mandatory 14-day waiting period for any gun purchase, regardless of whether an applicant passes a background check. To find out the process was entirely within legal boundaries left me totally stunned. Truth is, the system needs a complete overhaul. Petitions need to be drawn up, polished and put on the books. That would be the first step. The second step is, forget about patient confidentiality when the patient is deemed by a court to be a danger to others. Way before this event ever took place, a judge did in fact state this in a 2005 document. Why was that ignored? Good question. Like I said, there needs to be broad change for there to be any sort of prevention.
I heard it discussed early on about allowing students permits to carry concealed weapons on campus because, apparently, "security can't be everywhere." Really. I'd like to know what idiot came up with this brilliant idea, beacuse if I did, I'd tell him he's just inviting a throw-back to wild west days where stressed-out, sleep-deprived (and possibly drunk) gunslingers would have shootouts on the pavillion, putting even more innocent people at risk. Thank God they seem to have abandoned that idea for the moment.
And this brings me to the issue of gun control. Yeah, I've heard it all before: This country was founded on the right to keep and bear arms. That it would be unconstitutional to change that even a little bit. Give me a large break, because believe it or not, these are different times. I don't believe for one second that the writers of the Constitution of these United States ever could have imagined what they drafted into law could result in the way these whacked-out individuals are going into public places and picking off innocent people like flies. Plus, the intent was for militia to begin with, not the general public. So who misinterpreted the intent over the years? Quite possibly the NRA. I'm sorry, but the NRA can kiss my big toe. They can scream and rant and wave their stacks of documents and legislation all they want, it still won't change this opinion.
(more opinion coming soon)