VA Tech: Nothing “Could Have Been Done”
Filed Under: Freedom & Politics, Parenting
Like many people, I’ve been flipping channels and watching the news unfold about this tragedy at VA Tech. It’s a horrible thing that happened, but I am getting really annoyed watching the media speculate about how it “could have been prevented.” Is the emergency response team at VA Tech up to speed? There were warning signs about the gunman’s mental state. Could stricter gun laws have prevented the massacre?
From what I can tell, nothing could have prevented this. There are people who are mentally ill and shit happens. I don’t mean to sound flippant. It sucks, but let’s not start crying out for more “control” or blaming those who are not to blame. The poor guys who own the gun shop have the media crawling all over them asking them if they feel guilty. For what? For owning a business? Next we’ll see a push for tighter gun control, more mental health screenings, and who knows what else. Tragedies like these should not give the government a reason to poke their noses even more into our lives.
I’m starting to think that the most important skill to teach a child is to take responsibility for themselves. Teach them that if they have a problem, THEY have the power to solve it. Teach them that they can get help and how to find it. Teach them to respect themselves and not rely on, be envious of, or point blame at others.
PHAT = Parenting, Homeschooling And Technology. That about sums up my life at the moment. 
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Margaret | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
Oh yes, you are right. More gun laws - gimme a break. Killers - whether insane or calculating - aren’t concerned with obeying gun laws. Of course I suppose it’s possible I might feel differently if it was one of my children killed… hard to say.
But actually there is one other possibility: If law-abiding students with right-to-carry permits had been able to carry on campus, perhaps someone could have killed the killer and eliminated the threat before so many died.
Amanda | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
Are you kidding me Margaret? So we should all be armed “just in case”? That way when someone starts shooting we can all shoot back! That sounds like a place I’d want my daughter to be!! What about people with short fuses? You dont think that there would be MORE shootings? How about just taking away handguns? What is the point in carrying a handgun?
The only thing I know is that while I dont agree with people carrying guns, it wasnt the guns fault. HE pulled the trigger. HE is responsible.
M | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
I agree that nothing could have prevented this event. But you cannot deny that (with a few rare exceptions) it is only in America that violence of this nature occur regularly. Why? The easy access to firearms.
A family in our community lost their oldest son in the carnage. My heart breaks for them, and for all those affected by this horrible tragedy.
Sandy | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
Shannon,
I totally agree with you and every single point that you’ve made.
Chris Bartow | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
Thought you may be interested in this.
http://www.emomsathome.com/blog/2007/04/18/help-wanted-work-at-home-doing-blog-design/
Margaret | Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
No, Amanda, I most assuredly do not think we should
all be armed. I don’t carry a gun, and don’t
expect I’d ever do so. I disagree with “right to
carry” laws that dispense permits with no training
requirements. But the idea of well-trained (a
qualifier I regret omitting from my first comment),
law-abiding, licensed men and women carrying guns
frightens me less than the idea of gun-free zones
where the law-abiding are at the mercy of the
criminal and the insane. Whether or not that would
have changed the outcome at VA Tech, no one can
say now. Shannon is right, sometimes nothing can
be done. If anyone wants to discuss further, they are welcome to contact me via my blog (link from my name should work, unless I messed up); I imagine Shannon would prefer that to a continuing conversation here!
silvermine | Apr 19, 2007 | Reply
If the shooter didn’t know if anyone was carrying or not, he probably wouldn’t have planned this. And he did plan it.
If he had gone thorugh with it anyway, there still would have been loss of life, but the people could have defended themselves. So yes, I want my daughter to be somewhere where there are bullets flying back and forth. It’s better than being somewhere where the bullets are one way.
Hell, I wish 5 students had just gotten up and attacked him with their bare hands while he was reloading. I’m not blaming the victims. But I do see ways that things could have gone differently, and would have been better for it. And from looking on the situation and determining what could have done better, well, that’s how you make changes that can help prevent the next one.
Someone could have followed up on his psychiatric issues. More of the women he stalked could have reported him to the police, He could have been ordered to a mental hospital. Many things could have been done to put him on a list to make it harder for him to get a gun. He was planning this or something like it for at least 2 months — he bought one of the guns in February.
Yes, things could have been done. They could have made carrying on campus legal. It is in plenty of places, and I have yet to hear of random gun fights of the sort that people claim will happen.
FIGHT BACK!
JayMonster | Apr 19, 2007 | Reply
Nothing that could have been done? Are you serious? There was a teacher that was so frightened of this kid, that she threatened to quit if he wasn’t removed from her class.
But nobody could be bothered to even put a note in his file? He had issues. But nobody followed up.
There was plenty that could have been done.
Then, this ticking timebomb was able to go and legally buy firearms, and plot this out, and execute it. (not that this has anything to do with the first part)
I don’t have a problem with the shop owner, since he did absolutely nothing wrong. But if you don’t believe there is a problem with gun control, you are sadly mistaken.
It is theorized that he had extended clips, because of the frequency and number of shots he was able to get off in such a short period of time. These were illegal, and could not have been purchased - except the law banning them expired in 2004, and the GOP in the search for votes allowed it to expire.
I am not going to start assigning blame since the greatest part of it rests with the shooter. But to say, oh well, nothing could be done is just plain wrong.
Shannon - PHAT Mommy | Apr 19, 2007 | Reply
JayMonster, the suggestions you make are exactly what bother me about this whole thing. There are TONS of college students who act freaky. They’re full of hormones and brooding and on drugs. I’ll bet plenty of them freak out their professors. Are you suggesting that any student - any person - who acts bizarre should be “followed up” on? Should we all have to go through regular mental evaluations just to be allowed to live a free life?
How would a “note in his file” have prevented this? Sure he had issues. Maybe his parents should have “followed up.” It sounds to me like you are suggesting the free people in this country be tagged through a government database and every one of our indiscretions be noted in our file. Sorry, but that’s totalitarianism.
Kerry | Apr 20, 2007 | Reply
I totally agree with your post. Bad things happen and the only thing we can control is ourselves.
In addition to teaching our children personal responsibility, we should also teach them (forgive me!) to play dead.
JayMonster | Apr 23, 2007 | Reply
Teenagers act “freaky” yes. And as such, most college professors are quite aware and familiar how to deal with it, and have quite a threshold before something a student does bothers them.
So, yes, when a College Professor threatens to quit if a particular student is not removed from her classroom, then yes something is wrong, and should be followed up on.
There is nothing “totalitarian” about it. This kid made a college professor that scared. He threatened two other female students that went to the police.
Perhaps if somebody had suggested he see a counselor somewhere along the line? Maybe?
My comment about a “note in his file” was really more about the initial coverage of this case. Clearly this kid has some problems, but the initial coverage suggested that “nothing was known about him.” and how completely “unremarkable” he was. Well, as details filter out, this was clearly not the case.
You keep wanting to suggest that there is “nothing to be done” from a federal level. And as far as the student himself goes you are right. But from a standpoint of the college. Well… went a student threatens other students and faculty… YES I certainly thing that they have an obligation to all involved to “take a look” at who and what they are dealing with. No big brother government database needed.
I do note however, that you chose not to address the extended magazine clips (which IS where Federal Government comes into play). They allowed that ban to fall by the wayside in 2004. Why? To win the votes of a few gun enthusiasts that need “extra rounds” to take out a deer with a handgun? Pul-leez.
An Old quote back from the days the Brady Bill finally was passed. “If you are the type of person that cannot wait five days to buy a handgun… You are exactly the kind of person that needs to wait five days to buy a handgun.” (originator unknown)