Tragedy

2007-04-17 - 1:25 p.m.

The day after.

Monday-morning quarterbacking.

Why wasn't the campus locked down? Why did the gunman even have a gun, when the VA campus was declared a "gun-free zone"? What were the reasons for the rampage? The shooter is reported to be mentally ill - where were his caretakers?

And most importantly, what set him off?

We may never know. Ever.

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Much is being made that no warning was issued.

The prosecution will argue that one should have been issued, via e-mail or text message or something.

And the defense will argue that they had a suspect - a "person of interest" - in custody, so no warning was warranted.

IMHO - e-mail and/or text messages might not have worked. One, there's no way of knowing if anyone would have been at their computer to see it. Second - and I don't know their computer system, so this is a guess - their system may not notify you when you have new mail (in an effort to keep the volume level down). Third - text messages may not get to people, since any professor who has been interrupted by a cell phone would insist that all phones be turned off.

Long ago, my elementary and junior-high schools had intercoms in every room, so the office could contact any classroom at any time. Two-way conversations were possible, but the office had to initiate...so the students wouldn't abuse it.

Maybe we need that in universities, too.

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In the Blog Watch Dept.:

This item, from Boortz:

Earlier this year the Virginia General Assembly failed to act on House Bill 1572. The citizens of Virginia are permitted to carry concealed weapons if they get a proper permit from the state government --- unless you are on a college campus. This bill would have allowed college students and employees to carry handguns on campus --- with appropriate permits, of course. It died in subcommittee. After the bill was thrown out up steps Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Virginia Tech, the site of today's carnage, who says "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."

This will come back to haunt. The rest of Boortz' column on this is here.

Mark Evanier made the following entry, which I read as being typed in a rather sarcastic tone:

I think we can best honor the memory of the victims by using the tragedy to lobby hard for our particular views on Gun Control. Whatever you believe, just insist that this proves you're right. Hey, if you can use it to swing a little public sentiment in your direction, you may even be glad all those people were shot.

There was a response here, and Mark explains himself better. I think he has a good point - the extremists will yell and scream and point, and nothing will get done.

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I will make one prediction: this is going to be used as an example for BOTH positions regarding gun control.

Just you watch.

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Maybe the only ones who really SHOULD have a say in what should be changed...

...are the parents of the dead.

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Work calls.

Be seeing you.

Brin - 2007-04-17 16:29:21 -
The parents of the dead have the right to know whether or not proper procedure was followed, and they also have the right to find in a court of law whether or not the campus administration did enough to protect their children. We shall see.

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