Placing Blame

Let me preface this post by saying that my thoughts are with those at Virgina Tech who have been directly affected by this horrible tragedy. I hope you all can find some normalcy in your lives sometimes soon and my sympathies go to those who lost loved ones in the horrible and until now unimaginable tragedy.

As a human I am troubled and frightened by the events that took place in Virginia on Monday. I have turned away from watching morning shows as they are consumed with the tragedy--as news is their business. I wouldn't be so irritated by their coverage if there was some actual news they were reporting. What I can't take is the hours of speculation as to why this happened? What more could the University have done? Why didn't the warning signs seem clearer before the shooting? Why didn't the police do more? and the biggest question the media doesn't seem to be willing to answer--Who is to blame?

Well I can answer that last question. Cho Seung-Hui is to blame. He is the one who purchased the guns and took the lives of 32 innocent people and injured many others. Cho Seung-Hui is the one to blame. I feel bad for the University and its constant need to defend it's actions or it's perceived lack of action. Yes Cho made a few students feel creepy and made teachers uneasy. But is that a crime? Yes he wrote violent plays, but have you seen a Quentin Tarrantino Movie? There is a difference between writing about violence and being violent. The University investigated him, the cops did too. He was evaluated by a mental health facility and released. Why do we need to blame someone else. Isn't blaming the shooter enough. He was an adult. He made a choice.

Violence is inherent in our society and within our human species. Look at our history books--as glossy as they are they are full of war and murder and rage. We cannot rid our world of violence. I know that is scary to say and admit but it is true. One has to ask how it is so easy to get a handgun? Could he have killed as many people if he was relegated to being able to buy a shotgun? Why do we have to have the right to buy automatic or semi-automatic weapons? Why are we so resistant to having gun restrictions? Most gun control advocates don't want to take away all guns, but we do want to restrict the types of guns out there. Cho would never have been able to kill the people he killed if he was only able to buy a single or even a double barrel shot gun. But most importantly--place the blame where it lies--Cho Seung-Hui is the one who pulled the trigger.

God Bless...