How can we stop the NEXT Seung Hui Cho?

Question

The Va Tech Shooting Should Serve As A Nationwide Call To Arms
By Dave Gibson (04/22/07)

The shooting spree orchestrated by Seung Hui Cho and the incredible carnage wrought by that one man, was a tragedy that did not have to occur. Regardless of his motive, had one or two students or teachers been armed--his murderous orgy in Tech's Norris Hall could have been stopped before 32 innocent lives were lost.

Last year, a Va. Tech student was disciplined for carrying a gun on campus, even though he possessed a concealed weapons permit. Va. Tech officials were quick to point out that their school was a "gun free zone." That assertion has not only proven to be naive but deadly as well.

In January 2006, House Bill 1572 was introduced in the Virginia General assembly. The legislation would have allowed students who possess a concealed weapons permit to carry their guns anywhere on campus. Most schools in Virginia have policies against students and faculty carrying guns on campus, Va. Tech is of course one of those schools. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass through the Committee on Militia, Police, and Public Safety.

Va. Tech Vice President Larry Hincker gave the following statement shortly after the aforementioned measure died in committee: "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus."

I wonder if Mr. Hincker has the courage to sit down with every family who lost a son or daughter last week and explain that statement?

As much as the liberal dictators are interested in trying to understand the painful life that supposedly led someone to commit murder, they are equally uninterested in trying to understand how a well-armed citizenry can make these mass murders a thing of the past.

In 1997, Mississippi teenager Luke Woodham killed his mother and then drove to Pearl High School where he killed two students and wounded seven more. Assistant Principal Joel Myrick ran a quarter of a mile to his vehicle and returned with his .45 pistol. Myrick confronted the teenaged killer and detained him while waiting for police to arrive. Woodham was attempting to leave the high school and planned to drive to the local middle school and continue his killing. Myrick's actions saved the lives of many children that day.

In 2002, a Nigerian student named Peter Odighizuwa shot and killed three people at the Appalachian School of Law in rural Virginia. His shooting spree was ended when fellow students Todd Ross and Ted Bessen went to their cars and retrieved their own guns. The pair returned and ordered Odighizuwa to drop his weapon and held him until police arrived.

This past February at a Salt Lake City mall, an armed off-duty police officer shot and killed a young Muslim terrorist named Sulejman Talovic. The officer (Ken Hammond), prevented a massacre as Talovic was found with a backpack full of ammunition, a shotgun, and a pistol. Before Officer Hammond ended the shooting spree, Talovic murdered five people.

Currently, Utah and Oregon are the only states in the union which allow teachers and staff to carry weapons in their schools. It is no coincidence that there has never been a school shooting spree unleashed in either of those states.

In 1975, handgun ownership was banned in Washington D.C. Since that time, violent criminals have over-taken our nation's capital. From 1976-2005, an astounding 8,278 murders have taken place in that city and guns were used in almost all of them. Well-armed thugs will always take advantage of an unarmed populous.

What the mentally ill liberals deem a 'gun free zone,' is actually seen by violent criminals as a 'free fire zone.' Cowardly thugs are always encouraged by gun control laws. Never forget that laws only apply to the law-abiding!

Answer 1

I believe it all begins with PARENTING AND THE SCHOOL. Kids should be taught from day one to live and let live, and ZERO TOLERANCE for bullying. Terrible things happen when people pick on each other in this world. Just because some people lack the mental strength that others may have does not mean they are crazy. Lots of us get insulted or ridiculed but not everyone snaps. Why? Because some people are mentally stronger and have the "thick skin" necessary to overcome these problems. However, some people are not as mentall capable of handling it so well and they can snap. Such people are not born crazy - they become that way after being subjected to abuse they cannot handle. The trouble is not the guns, it's not the music, movies or games. While these things can add fuel to the fire, these things did not create the fire. Parents and schools can help avoid these situations by keeping a better eye on the behavior and interaction between kids. Too much bullying is allowed, tolerated and ignored. These kids shooting up the place are fed up and they're not joking around anymore. And there will be more like them.

Answer 2

We can't. Even though, in hindsight, it seemed 'obvious' that Cho was about to go off, the fact is there are many, many young people who give out the same sorts of 'warning signs' every year, and the worst most of them do is commit suicide - more often, they eventually grow up, shape up, and get a life.

You can't tell who's going to 'go postal,' next. The second round of shootings, though, may have been preventable, if the investigation had gone better. That was largely a matter of bad luck, though. The first shooting just didn't look like the start of a spree, and the inititial investigation got drawn off by a false lead. Again, not really any way around that.

The idea of allowing just about anyone to become an armed, untrained, vigilante in the hopes they'll occassionaly gun down a psycho early in his killing spree doesn't strike me as a great one. But, it might work occassionally - no telling if it would net save lives though, since those same would-be heros might at times gun down innocent non-psychos.

I think what it comes down to is that the problem of people crazy enough to want to kill a bunch of other people before offing themselves is not something that can be solved by alterning the laws or procedures that sane people follow.

Answer 3

You can't. It will happen again as it has before. Some people are just defective and there is nothing you can do. If you take the guns they will make bombs. Sugar and ferrous oxide make a pretty decent field gun powder.

Allowing people to carry guns will mean fewer casualties but the maniacs will always be around and they will be able to kill before they are stopped. The world is not a nice place and
we live in such comfort and safety we forget that.

Identifying those that will do this is very hard. Some will show signs some will not. Many people exhibit the same personality traits as this young man did in their youth but would never do what he did. If we expelled everyone who wrote warped plays then we would have no Steven King or Dean Koontz to read. The things they write are obviously very warped and show signs of an imagination that is capable of acts worse than Cho's and yet they do none of the things they write about .

Answer 4

This is a general comment to anyone interested in this topic:

I'm one of those "crazy" people folks like to be afraid of, and guess what, I'm a married, middle aged woman with a college degree living on disability (and hubby's retirement income and savings) and I sew doll clothes for little girls. I also go deer hunting with my husband every fall and shoot woodchucks in the yard when they raid my vegetable garden. I'm such a MENACE to society!! Every time someone goes off and does something horribly violent, somehow I have to be answerable for it as a scapegoat, one of those mentally ill people you all are afraid of. MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE ARE NO MORE VIOLENT ON AVERAGE THAN PEOPLE WITHOUT MENTAL ILLNESS. It is discrimination and fear that makes people label us as crazies. I just cry a lot and think about dying a lot when I am really really depressed, and then we put the guns someplace else! I would NEVER shoot anyone, in fact, the shooters are always male. Maybe we shouldn't let young men have guns anymore, that is the answer. . . Winston Churchill and Abraham lincoln were mentally ill, I guess they were nutjobs? The problem is rage and hatred for others, not mental illness, per se. If his depression were very severe, or he were bipolar, or he had schizophrenia, he probably could not have planned in such detail.

I'm sure you know a lot of mentally ill people, they just don't speak up, they hide when these horrible things happen. All you people going on about the crazies, you are probably insulting some close friends and relatives whom you love who have never told you about their depression or anxiety disorders etc. Mentally ill people suffer so much already, why do you yahoo answers people have to scapegoat all of us for something we would never do?

Answer 5

I think people need to pause before they start calling someone a foul name or making fun of someone for a disability or for being unpopular. This guy was bullied and bullying can lead to psychological problems later in life. People take bullying WAY too lightly, but it can have drastic effects later on in life... especially if you're bullying someone whose sanity is already tipping the scale a bit. Why do you think the Columbine killers did what they did? It wasn't merely because they were "mentally unstable." Always the media and other progressives turn to the psychological factor. Cho and the Columbine killers had their killing sprees thoroughly planned out. Carrying out an action to the fullest degree possible takes considerable motivation. Think about what motivated them, who they killed, and why. Think before you carry out an action that would make someone like them angry.

Answer 6

You can't. You can only be reasonably prepared.

That is one of the problems with a "free" society. You have to take the good with the bad. The more steps you take to prevent the bad, the less free everyone else becomes.

Also, taking further steps to stop "bad things from happening" quickly becomes a function of diminishing returns.

Even in authoritan countries like China and the old USSR people did bad things. You can't prevent it. In a world of 6 billion people odds are that there are a number of insane and sociopathic people out there.

So your choice is, take away rights in order to give you a false sense of security, or live life in a free society and take the good with the bad.

~X~

Answer 7

KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS AND MOVE TO HAVE THEM REMOVED! You cannot stop them, without infringing on the rights of others. States, in order to cut their budgets closed institutions for the criminally insane! States that did so, witnessed a much higher crime rate. People need to be able to protect themselves, the lives of others and their property. Police always arrive after the fact andfind nothing but dead and or dying victims. I have had about enough out the anti-gun lobbyists. people should be questioning their motives and agendas. Anyone that can read should Know about the Ten Planks of Communism!

Answer 8

Arm every man, woman and child in the world.
It will work promise.
Studies have shown that the more guns available to the public the safer society is.
I mean whats so wrong with everyone carrying a concealed weapon.
And the gun manufacturers will finally make more money
than the narcotics trade worldwide.
Just do it!!!

Answer 9

I agree with you but we might have a better chance at kicking every liberal judge in the country off the bench. Whimps and Democrats have no business in the courtroom. Some affects will take a while, others will be immediate.

Answer 10

You get all those wonderful stories from the NRA magazine?

If you think - in your wildest dreams - that simply arming EVERYONE is going to stop crazies in this world, more power to ya. I say you're wrong.

And I wouldn't want to live in such a world, anyway.

Simply in terms of odds, the MORE people that are packing, the greater the odds that one of THEM might just snap at any moment, too.

Mental illnesses aren't particular to any one group of people...