2007年4月16日

Another tragedy

As I write this, I am watching CNN news about the shootings at Virginia Tech. The worst incident in this country's history, I heard. 32 people were killed... how terrible...

I heard also that there were bomb threats in the past week on that same campus.

What's really going on? When I was living on campus, going to college, I never heard anything like that. I've never seen any people with gun on campus (or anywhere else).

But it is true that this kind of incident is very possible in this country. There is no gun control at all. That's why this could happen, or Columbine shooting happened.

When I watched the Columbine shooting documentary, "Bowling For Columbine" (by the way, this is a must see film!), I was horrified to find the truth about the gun in this country. This is ridiculous. Teenagers carry guns to middle schools or high schools; 5 or 6 yr old kid plays with the gun. Because so many people keep guns in their home. Because guns can be bought anywhere and it's cheap too. In the film, actually the director argued that the high gun ownership is not responsible for violence in America, instead there must be something about the structure of American society and phyche.. Maybe so, but I still believe that if people cannot easily acquire guns, the gun crime rate will drop...

There are just too many shooting incidents here, yet this country is very reluctant to have a gun control. I don't understand it. We don't want any more massacres like today's, but the government is doing nothing about it. When is this going to end? or will it ever end?

2 コメント:

匿名 さんのコメント...

I've been feeling the same frustration you are expressing here. Situations like the Columbine incident keep on happening and the gun control still doesn't take place in the states. Me being a Japanese, it just seemed so simple, you know, why don't they just get rid of all the guns?? Why are they just sitting on this problem and letting another tragedy happen like this? It really was eating me up, so this one term, I wrote a paper about the Columbine incident for a Criminology class. I learned so much from writing that paper. The problem had gone so far that there seem to be no easy-fix. I understand now why this problem is so hard to solve in the states. And I really try to put my energy into it whenever I see the sign that things could lead to something like this tragedy. I truly wish this is the last time I hear such tragedy, and I am sure everyone feels the same way. Would you read my paper if I email it to you?

When I was in GA (my 2nd year), there was a shooting on our campus, too. I was supposed to go out that night and my friends were driving out of the parking lot and the car got in between two guys that were fighting with a gun in one guy's hand. My friends quickly ducked and drove away and me being in the dorm at that time, I heard the gun shots. Luckily, the shooter was only trying to intimidate the other guy, so no one got hurt but I was very scared something like that could happen in such a peaceful small town.

Sorry my comment got so long...

Lothlorien(ローリエン) さんのコメント...

Please send me your paper! I am very curious. I know there are politics behind regarding a gun control in this country. But besides that, i do not see any good reason why people here want to buy guns. Are they only for the safety or something else?? I really hope this incident is the last one, but I am not so sure about it unless there is some change. Did anything change since Columbine? If not, then sure this incident was a consequence that this country is paying for...(unfortunately)
I did not know that there was a shooting incident at MGC as well. Even such a tiny town, there is a gun...